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Kanye may have come out with his first Christian album, but his music was once like gospel music to many. Do you remember when you first heard, “Through the Wire”? It felt like church. On God.

It can be hard for people to forgive some of Kanye’s antics, tactics and comments over the last half of a decade, and some people don’t even know if they want to listen to Jesus Is King, his ninth studio album. Most people leave it at, “Is he serious? Gospel? Really?” If you are grappling with the decision whether to even give it a spin, my recommendation: just listen. I doubt you will turn it off. 

How did I listen, you ask? I waited until the Sunday after it came out to be fully submerged. What happened? I got in deeper.

I think one almost needs to have some layering of the Black gospel choir experience to really be able to critique this album. And although I didn’t have a typical “raised in the church” upbringing, I’ll say I grew up beside the church, not exactly steeped  in the culture of Black southern church goers. I know enough from having seen it collaterally my whole life. All in all, and not wanting to seem sacrilege, I think the church would say, "Amen."

Not one curse word exists that isn’t in the Bible. Not one. It has been reported that Kanye asked collaborators to “abstain from premarital sex” during the recording and crafting of the album. If that angst was present, it worked. Talk about devotion. His choir is uniformly orchestrated and the album’s introductory track, “Every Hour,” will have most people waving their hand straight up. It evoked my old choir director’s voice, “Sing, sopranos, sing.” Chills. 

Is there any classic Kanye on the album? Oh yes.

Kanye doesn’t necessarily bring the bass that so many rappers rely on today, because lyrically his style is intense, calculated and coiffed. For those missing the old Kanye, he makes a return on “Follow God.” This track has a place in a higher realm. I would suggest going back to where the sample came from, the predecessor, "Can You Lose by Following God," by Whole Truth. It has an uncanny and unparalleled ability to appear to have come from a time decades before the track was laid, and Kanye brings that song to 2019 in a remarkable way. This is the genius of Kanye; and yes, I said it — genius.

To the surprise of many, Kanye does not shy from political forays, supporting his brethren and interfusing with his wife’s criminal justice work. “And all my brothers locked up in the yard, you can still be anything you want to be … 13th amendment gotta end it, that’s on me.’’ Those are powerful words and it shows us that he isn’t disconnected and is not afraid to use his platform for good.

Perhaps one of the greatest sonic sounding songs is with staple collaborator Ty Dolla $ign in “Everything We Need.”  I fielded this through my conservative brother, and when I told him and his wife that Fred Hammond, the prolific gospel behemoth, was on the album, they both were taken aback. His wife may have clutched her pearls. Kenny G. coming out of retirement (not to serenade Kim this time) to give us all thrills after the Clipse shakes us down lyrically (both on the song "Use The Gospel") is uplifting. If the church is in the business of expanding its base, this is some gospel they need to use.

I'll admit I never stopped being a fan, even during MAGA Hat-Gate or his affinity for Candace Owens. Not even during the TMZ showdown. I can’t say that I speak Kanye, but I have reached a level of fluency and, above all, I am a fair person. Sometimes Ye was right — his take on the stigma of being categorized as a person living with mental health disorders needs to be taken seriously. Other times he was woefully uninformed or even misguided. Moving all of our judgement to the side, one thing remains: Jesus Is King is the truth with some light and a way forward for Ye. Is this a musical rebirth for Kanye? Maybe, but if you know Kanye, you know he will come and reinvent himself many lifetimes over, and that is what we love him for. Selah.