Many people may have forgotten, but Kanye West said he would release a new album, Jesus is Born, on Christmas Day.
The rapper and producer made the announcement in a pre-recorded interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Live in October, ahead of the release of his latest album, Jesus is King. He referred to it as a “Sunday Service” album.
It is unclear whether Jesus is Born will be another gospel-influenced record, a traditional hip-hop album, or West covering his favourite Christmas songs.
Jesus is King arrived after a string of delays, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
1/10 “I was the best new artist this year”
Kanye asserted this after losing the New Artist of the Year award at the 2004 American Music Awards
Getty Images
2/10 “I am the number one human being in music. That means any person that’s living or breathing is number two.”
Kanye made this claim while appearing on the Wendy Williams show in 2007. He had recently released the album ‘Graduation’ to critical acclaim
Getty Images
3/10 “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!”
In arguably the most famous incident of his career, Kanye bravely stole the microphone from then 19 year old Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for the Female Music Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
REUTERS
4/10 “I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street and people look at me… like I’m Hitler”
Kanye said this during a mid-set rant while on stage at the Big Chill festival in 2011. Despite releasing the acclaimed ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ in 2010, he was still widely disliked following the Taylor Swift incident
PA Archive/PA Images
5/10 “I am Picasso. I am Michelangelo. I am Basquiat. I am Walt Disney. I am Steve Jobs”
Kanye compared himself to these visionaries in a mid-set rant on stage in Paris, 2013
AFP/Getty Images
6/10 “My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.”
In 2013, Kanye opened up to reveal more Kanye. His pain is understandable, considering such performances as his at the BRITs in 2015, where he came on stage with an entourage of flamethrower wielding grime artists (pictured)
Getty Images
7/10 “I have to dress Kim everyday so she doesn’t embarrass me.”
Kanye tweeted this in 2014, around the time that he was designing the first Yeezy range
AFP/Getty Images
8/10 “By 50 percent [I am more influential than] Stanley Kubrick, Apostle Paul, Picasso… f***ing Picasso and Escobar. By 50 per cent more influential than any other human being.”
Kanye made this claim backstage after appearing on Saturday Night Live in 2016, he did not show his working out
Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3
9/10 “My wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don’t agree with everything Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anyone but myself.”
This quote followed Kanye’s recent expression of love for Donald Trump on Twitter, in which he claimed that he and Trump were “dragon energy”
Getty Images
10/10 “When you hear about slavery for 400 years… for 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
Kanye made this comment in a May 2018 interview with TMZ. He later clarified that, in saying slavery was a choice, he meant “we can make our own reality”
PA Wire/PA Images
1/10 “I was the best new artist this year”
Kanye asserted this after losing the New Artist of the Year award at the 2004 American Music Awards
Getty Images
2/10 “I am the number one human being in music. That means any person that’s living or breathing is number two.”
Kanye made this claim while appearing on the Wendy Williams show in 2007. He had recently released the album ‘Graduation’ to critical acclaim
Getty Images
3/10 “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!”
In arguably the most famous incident of his career, Kanye bravely stole the microphone from then 19 year old Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for the Female Music Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
REUTERS
4/10 “I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street and people look at me… like I’m Hitler”
Kanye said this during a mid-set rant while on stage at the Big Chill festival in 2011. Despite releasing the acclaimed ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ in 2010, he was still widely disliked following the Taylor Swift incident
PA Archive/PA Images
5/10 “I am Picasso. I am Michelangelo. I am Basquiat. I am Walt Disney. I am Steve Jobs”
Kanye compared himself to these visionaries in a mid-set rant on stage in Paris, 2013
AFP/Getty Images
6/10 “My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.”
In 2013, Kanye opened up to reveal more Kanye. His pain is understandable, considering such performances as his at the BRITs in 2015, where he came on stage with an entourage of flamethrower wielding grime artists (pictured)
Getty Images
7/10 “I have to dress Kim everyday so she doesn’t embarrass me.”
Kanye tweeted this in 2014, around the time that he was designing the first Yeezy range
AFP/Getty Images
8/10 “By 50 percent [I am more influential than] Stanley Kubrick, Apostle Paul, Picasso… f***ing Picasso and Escobar. By 50 per cent more influential than any other human being.”
Kanye made this claim backstage after appearing on Saturday Night Live in 2016, he did not show his working out
Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3
9/10 “My wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don’t agree with everything Trump does. I don’t agree 100% with anyone but myself.”
This quote followed Kanye’s recent expression of love for Donald Trump on Twitter, in which he claimed that he and Trump were “dragon energy”
Getty Images
10/10 “When you hear about slavery for 400 years… for 400 years? That sounds like a choice.”
Kanye made this comment in a May 2018 interview with TMZ. He later clarified that, in saying slavery was a choice, he meant “we can make our own reality”
PA Wire/PA Images
While West has been relatively quiet on social media, Complex shared a clip showing his Sunday Service choir in the studio with a note marking the Christmas Day release.
At a preview of his documentary, also titled Jesus is King, West told his Chicago audience that he was only planning to make gospel music from now on.
“It’s no surprise, but still no less disappointing, that with all of West’s last-minute meddling of the album’s mixes the record lacks cohesion,” The Independent said of West’s latest album.
“Jesus is King feels more like a collection of well-produced skits than a full studio album, and fans will no doubt be wondering whether all the hype and stress that preceded its unveiling was worth it. “Thou shalt love thy neighbour, not divide,” West raps on “On God”. But on this album and as an artist, divide is all he seems to be doing.”
