Should we still care about Kanye West?
There were a lot of bad attempts at Gospel Rap when I was a kid. Rap was a new thing, and people thought it could be used to sway kids to church. The problem was that none of these gospel rappers were part of the hip-hop community. They didn’t respect us. I paid them no mind.
I’ve never been a day person. As a teenager, the only way I could be coaxed out of bed was blaring morning radio. To be more precise, blaring Power 95 FM. At the time, Power 95 was the top radio station in Bermuda. Their morning programming featured the best in R&B, Pop, Soca, Reggae and the occasional radio friendly rap song.
One day, my brother and I heard a unique song playing. It was clearly gospel, but it had both R&B and hip-hop aesthetics. It was gospel, but you didn’t need to like gospel to appreciate it. It had an ear-worm quality to it as well. The Song? Kirk Franklin’s Why We Sing.
Kirk Franklin would go on to become a superstar in black communities. His music videos would regularly broadcast on BET before they were purchased by a nameless corporation. Franklin was unafraid to collaborate with people outside the traditional gospel music industry. He changed how modern gospel was produced and recorded.
Despite my freestyle rapping days being far, far gone I always get a kick out of watching (legendary NY radio host) Sway challenge young rappers to his “5 Fingers of Death.” Whenever Sway has a guest on his radio show that claims to be able to rap — whether they’re an actor, author, singer or rapper he’ll challenge them to freestyle rap on 5 different instrumentals. Those who succeed the challenge he declares them one of his, “Hyenas!”
When Lecrae, a soft-spoken Christian rapper paid Sway a visit, 5 or 6 years ago, I was shocked at his performance
Sunday Clothes may be the best rap mixtape that I’ve ever heard. Lecrae has become such a popular rapper that his albums were moved from Gospel charts to Billboard Pop charts. You may not know who he is, but he’s had 5 albums hit Billboard’s top 20. His seminal album Anomaly hit #1 on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. He’s opened doors for numerous other rappers, who are part of hip-hop culture, and also proud of their Christianity.
I mention Lecrae and Kirk Franklin here to give Kanye’s album context. In comparison to artists who have built careers combining gospel, hip-hop and pop Kanye’s attempt is awful. It simply doesn’t measure up. There are 2 songs that I like on the album. An additional song that borrows way too much from the original source material, but can be considered solid, and then a lot of over-produced, under-developed ideas.
Timbaland was brought in to rescue this album, but it would have taken a miracle to do so. Middle-aged man puns aside, I could care less about the album. I’m actually more curious about Kanye’s choir, “Sunday Service.”
No one knows what this album means for Kanye’s legacy. In his review Fantano pontificates that if Kanye delivers multiple albums of this quality, he will stop being relevant. I agree. However, if the last of Kanye’s popular media influence is used on these Sunday Service concerts, then the legacy of this period in Kanye’s career will not be for naught.
So, what is Sunday Service? Earlier in the year rumors began to spread that Kanye was hosting church services for the ultra-elite. His invite only services, featuring an all-star band and choir would regularly feature pastors who Kanye would invite to share a sermon. These church services were called “Sunday Sessions.” Images and video leaked. People were upset how exclusive these events were. However, it appeared that Kanye had always planned to share the experience to the general public, debuting the choir at Coachella.
Sunday Service concerts are presented very strategically. Publicity for the concerts are often only a week, or two before the shows. To limit scalpers, tickets are released on Ticketmaster only days before the event. Tickets are either low cost, or free. All of the Sunday Service concerts that I researched were free. These concerts have happened in major cities, and smaller towns.
In Detroit, Kanye held tryouts for locals who wanted to sing with the choir at their concert. Most of these concerts have been in the terrestrial United States, however, the week before Kanye West’s Jesus is King album dropped they performed in Jamaica.
The concert cost approximately $1 Million USD to put on, however, the Jamaican government paid nothing. They merely provided a place for the concert to happen. Jamaica benefited from tourist dollars from the event. And Kanye benefited by performing for an audience comfortable with their biggest superstars finding religion. Hopefully he heard them when they requested songs from his past that speak of religion positively. It was as if a whole island was reminding Kanye to not forget his past.
But it hasn’t all been positive for the choir. People were upset that he publicly praised President Trump at a concert. The merch sold at the concerts is insanely expensive and looks like something that I could imagine people wearing at a white-collar, low-risk-offender prison.
Both authentic and so-called Christians question if his foray into gospel is from a real place. His album probably hasn’t helped persuade people with some genuine concerns of his past. No one being critical of Kanye can do so without considering that all of this could be a way to avoid taxation.
If Kanye does get ordained, registers Sunday Sessions, or Sunday Service as a religious entity and makes his corporations subsidies of his church Kanye can stop paying taxes on his earnings.
However, Christianity is a religion built on the tenets of unconditional love and authentic forgiveness. If Kanye’s journey is real, he’s going to make mistakes. And if he isn’t genuinely Christian, does it matter? Look at the number of people who have gone to their first gospel concert because of him. How many people has he made Jesus curious? How many kids who used to go to church and stopped are going to discover artists like Lecrae, or No Malice (featured on the album)?
If all we get from this is a short-lived awesome gospel choir featuring a killer band that inspires people, I’m good with it. Who are we to judge?
