West’s musical ministry or Sunday Service as he calls it, started off as a personal endeavor to heal himself while involving close friends and family on his journey. The presence grew as social media clips began to spread, and then came the pop-up shows and festival appearances. West later realized that he wanted to document his journey and that is where the “Jesus is King” film came in.
By Philtrina Farquharson, Special to The Miami Times
Kanye West released his much-anticipated “Jesus is King” album about 12 hours later than he said he would.
West had previously confirmed it would drop at midnight, but he took to Twitter at 1 a.m. Friday to let his fans the album is still on the way, and that his team is working on fixing a few mixes.
The “Jesus is King” album had been delayed before; its release was postponed in September. USA Today reports that West asked the people who worked on “Jesus is King” album not to have premarital sex.
The “Jesus is King” album is West’s first gospel album. He created a documentary film that is playing at select IMAX theaters across the country. Fans lined up at the IMAX in Fort Lauderdale for the premiere on Thursday, unsure of what to expect as the documentary was said to set the tone for the album.
West’s musical ministry or Sunday Service as he calls it, started off as a personal endeavor to heal himself while involving close friends and family on his journey. The presence grew as social media clips began to spread, and then came the pop-up shows and festival appearances. West later realized that he wanted to document his journey and that is where the “Jesus is King” film came in.
The film depicts a special Sunday Service that took place in the Roden Crater, the never-before-seen installation from renowned artist James Turrell, in Arizona.
During the film, viewers are able to see, hear, and feel West’s famed Sunday Service come to life. The film was divided by bible verses with a song to accompany it and visuals of Turrell’s creation. Those verses seemed to shed light into West’s increased expression of the gospel.
Although a lot of people are skeptical, this expression of gospel is nothing new to Kanye West. In 2004, his fourth single “Jesus Walks” on his debut album “College Dropout,” featured a sample of “Walk with Me” as performed by the ARC choir.
In his seventh studio album “The Life of Pablo,” his opening song “Ultralight Beam” featured gospel artist Kirk Franklin and self-proclaimed Christian rapper, Chance the Rapper. If you listen closely, in the film you may hear snippets of this song.
West seems as though he has finally found a balance between music, his personal, and spiritual life.
