As fans eagerly await the official release of Kanye West’s trailblazing “Jesus is King” album — originally scheduled for Friday, September 27 — the hip-hop superstar has reportedly announced that he will be exclusively creating faith-based music from now on.
Early Sunday morning, Andrew Barber of the Chicago hip-hop music blog Fake Shore Drive tweeted the news after attending West’s second listening of the album.
“Kanye also announced that he is no longer making secular music. Only Gospel from here on out,” Barber wrote.
No video is available from the listening session, as it was a “no phone event,” but Barber tweeted an image of the album art:
“Jesus is King” is now slated to drop Sunday evening after a third and final listening in New York. Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian West, initially announced the September 27 release back in August, before a series of roadblocks delayed the faith-filled project.
Faithwire previously covered the controversy surrounding West’s creative foray into Christian music:
According to a report from Hits Daily Double, a group of executives with Def Jam Recordings recently traveled to West’s occasional Wyoming home, where — as Variety characterized it — they may have voiced concerns about an album full of Christian-themed songs from West, who is the label’s “biggest star.”
Earlier this year West began hosting his invite-only, church-style “Sunday Services,” declaring that he is now a “born-again Christian.” On Saturday night, video surfaced on Twitter of West sharing the stage with Chance the Rapper at Chicago’s United Center, declaring“Jesus Christ is king” as the two pointed to the heavens.
The faith journey leading up to Kanye West’s latest project has drawn intrigue from fans and critics alike. Though his Yeezus-to-Jesus transformation may seem like a whirlwind, Faithwire editor Tré Goins-Phillips recently penned some sound advice for those tempted to dismiss the artist’s authenticity.
“We need to allow Christians, famous or not, the freedom to be new believers,” he writes.