So, Kanye's new album Jesus Is King has finally came out. I've listened to it like four times already before I decided to write this, and while writing this I think I'll give it its fifth playthrough just so my take is as accurate as possible. I'll go song by song to keep it organized, then talk about my overall opinion at the end.
Woah, it's way louder on YouTube than Spotify. That's a pleasant surprise, because this track is super uplifting. While Kanye isn't present himself on it his Sunday Service choir is, and they really are singing until the power of the Lord (or if you are secular, the power of neurotransmitters in response to auditory stimuli) comes down. It sets the tone for a very overtly gospel themed album, and what you'd expect is for the whole album to sound kind of like this. This track is good to put on if you just want a better mood. The pianos really set it off as well, and I like how the chant gets louder as it goes with the more rapid singing going on at once. Solid gospel.
This joint opens with organs. The very beginning is almost reminiscent of Child In Time by Deep Purple. Que up the lyrics, he goes in angrily and spits some bible knowledge. Then holy shit, the hallelujah chants just get louder and louder, then another angry hard verse. He's really going in here. It ends with some whooping and shouting of "Jesus is King* to loud drums and comes to a.... Bit too abrupt halt. That's one thing about this album, it's a roller coaster ride that jerks you a bit between epicness and soul.
Immediately it will remind you of "Father Stretch My Hands" in his previous album with that cool sample. This track is a bit of a story. He got in a fight with his dad and his dad told him he wasn't being very "Christlike". He concludes the memory with a bird scream.
This almost sounds like a typical modern rap song in some aspects, but the holy chants and acoustic tracks makes it very much a Kanye track. In fact, this song is very Kanye lyrically. The chic fil a line, the stream of consciousness, the strong opinions and slightly grandiose, angry, combative tone. My favorite part is "stand up for my home, even if I take this walk alone.". And then at the end, somebody says "chic fil a" in a high pitched voice. Very Kanye like.
This track sounds like the Jesus Walks of Graduation because of that synth beat. It actually reminds me a lot of synthwave because of the way it does the rapid synth notes and the layering, but since it is a rap song it isn't quite that. Lyrically it talks about his life and journey to finding God. It still has ego in it because he calls himself the greatest artist living, but he puts that on God.
This track has some nice opening vocals. The sound of the beat definitely has that modern rap feel to it, thanmore so the other the other tracks here. But the singing is more solid than most. The applejuice line is pretty clever. Not my favorite track but I like the vocals.
Id I'd like to remix this with the jolly Rodger bay music. It sounds like water in of itself, like liquidy. I definitely see the soundscape he was going for. Kinda like a musical baptism. Then Ye comes in with his Jesus litany. It sounds like it was recorded underwater.
The best track on the album in my opinion. Very gospelly, very powerful. It features Kanye singing without autotune, which isn't great singing but it allows Kanye to sing to God just as himself and show how much he loves him. It's not the best rap track on the album but it really encapsulates what this album is.
This is another proper rap track. This is one of those Kanye songs made for him to vent. He airs his grievances against the devil and Christians who judge him, expressing how he feels that he has been disregarded and unfairly judged by them.
This track has a car alarm as a beat, yet still managed to be among the most powerful on the album with the way he develops and builds up the song. It also has a feature from Pusha T, whose Kanye features are usually pretty solid. A lot of people consider this their favorite. It isn't mine, but I love the sax solo at the end.
This is a nice album closer. It kinda reminds me of the New Slaves outro at least in the scale of it, though I still prefer that to this. A short and sweet end to a short and sweet album that somehow feels longer than it is.
So, my verdict? As I said, it feels longer than it is. It ebbs and flows between epics and rap tracks. It has some very powerful moments. It's better than "Ye". Some people may dislike it just because it is short, I don't. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 808s, and Graduation are still better in my opinion. But I enjoy this more than Ye, Kid See Ghosts, and The Life Of Pablo. I like the lack of filler. Ye kinda did that but the album itself felt like filler minus Ghost Town, No Mistakes, and Wouldn't Leave. TLOP had wayyyy too much filler. I did not like KSG. I'm sure my opinion on all this may change someday. This is my favorite post Yeezus Kanye album. That's about all I got.
