Page - 122 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

122 | Andre L. Price www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 119–123 this shortcoming should not come as a surprise to listeners in light of West’s previous actions and statements surrounding Donald Trump as well as slavery in the months leading up to the album’s release. Personally, I would pass on the album. West’s comments about slavery and Donald Trump are problematic. Furthermore, I am a product of the Black church, and I prefer the old-school gospel sound popularized by the late great Mattie Moss Clark. And a good lyricist tells a story, but I am not sure of the story that West is trying to tell in Jesus Is King. The delays with its release and the changes to what songs were going to be on the project cause me to question whether Jesus Is King was rushed in order to take advantage of the mushrooming popularity of West’s “Sunday Service” concerts, which debut- ed at Coachella.7 I can imagine Jesus Is King being desirable among the most devout and dedicated Kanye West fans, those who are committed to him as a musical innovator and personality. Arguably, there was a time when West could be included in conversations about the greatest rappers of all time. I can also see this project being popular in Christian communities that might make an appeal to the potential in West (think of West’s platform and audi- ence, an audience churches have trouble reaching) to help evangelize and win “souls for Jesus” and/or in communities that buy into a brand of Christian formation and practice that elevates the inner and the spiritual over against the material and the political. Jesus Is King is the wholesome theological hip- hop that America has so badly desired since the gangster rap era of the early to mid Nineties. Bibliography Kaur, Harmeet, 2018, Kanye West Just Said 400 Years of Slavery Was a Choice, CNN Enter- tainment, 1 May, https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/entertainment/kanye-west-slavery- choice-trnd/index.html [accessed 7 June 2020]. Parke, Caleb, 2019, Kim Kardashian, Kids Baptized at Armenian Church as Kanye West Confirms He “Got Saved” This Year, Fox News, 14 October, https://www.foxnews.com/ entertainment/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-kids-sunday-service-jesus-king [accessed 1 June 2020]. TMZ, 2019, Kanye West Reveals Drastically New Tracklist. “Jesus” Comes at Midnight!!!, TMZ, 24 October, https://www.tmz.com/2019/10/24/kanye-west-jesus-is-king-track-list- kim-kardashian/ [accessed 28 May 2020]. 7 Jesus Is King was scheduled to come out a year earlier, under the name Yandhi. Coachella is an annual arts and music festival in Indio, California. The first public Sunday Service was held on 21 April 2019 at Coachella, to celebrate Easter.