Kanye West quitting secular music to make only gospel music as fans still await for him to drop 'Jesus is King'
Kanye West has been embracing his spiritual side of late, touring the country via a number of venues and churches in the past few months and conducting Sunday services in a bid to promote his upcoming album 'Jesus Is King.' But it seems that this change is not just a temporary thing for Yeezus, with Fox Business reporting that the rapper will henceforth forgo secular music in favor of producing more gospel music.
And it's not just hearsay either. Kanye is said to have confirmed the artistic shift this past Saturday, September 28, at a listening party in Chicago for 'Jesus is King: A Kanye West Experience.' Andrew Barber, the owner of music media company Fake Shore Drive, and one of the attendees of the listening party, tweeted, "Kanye also announced that he is no longer making secular music. Only Gospel from here on out."
Barber said the rapper had told those gathered that he was "done being an entertainer." However, because everyone attending the listening session was required to leave their cell phones in locked pouches, there is no video or audio of Kanye's remarks.
'Jesus is King' will follow a religious theme and will be entirely clean of explicit lyrics. Kanye started recording it in August 2018 and originally announced the album as 'Yandhi.' It missed two initial release dates in September and November 2018 under its original title, and this past August, his wife Kim Kardashian reannounced the album with its current title.
She also recently teased the album's tracklist and said during an appearance on 'The View' that it was instrumental in him becoming a born again Christian. "Kanye started this to really heal himself and it was a really personal thing, and it was just friends and family," she revealed. "He has had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ."
Barber lavished praise on the album after giving it a listen during the listening party. "Just heard Kanye’s new album Jesus Is King and saw the accompanying film," he wrote. "My favorite track is the last song and it features the Clipse. Both Push & No Malice. Kenny G is also on it. “New Body” has been cut from the album."
"The beats on Jesus Is King sounded fire," he continued. "He definitely pulled from elements of previous sounds that people loved from WTT, 808s, Yeezus, Cruel Summer & MBDTF and put a gospel spin on them. Of course I need to hear them again, but they were knocking on the sound system he had."
The album was to drop on September 29, but didn't and the new date is yet to be announced.