Kanye West

Kanye West's new album 'JESUS IS KING' is finally, actually here (stream it)

After lots of delays, and even (predictably) another 12-hour delay today, Kanye West‘s new album JESUS IS KING is officially here. Guests include a Clipse reunion, Ty Dolla $ign, Ant Clemons, Fred Hammond, Kenny G, and the Sunday Service Choir. Other contributors include Timbaland, Pi’erre Bourne, Benny Blanco, Francis Starlite, Labrinth, E*vax of Ratatat, and more. (But the rumored Nicki Minaj verse didn’t make it.) You can stream it via Spotify and Apple Music below (for other streaming services, go here).

Before announcing JESUS IS KING, Kanye had promised a new album called Yandhi, which never materialized. On “Selah,” he raps, “Everybody wanted Yandhi / Then Jesus Christ did the laundry.”

Yesterday, Ye did a nearly two-hour interview with Zane Lowe, during which he revealed he plans to release a second album this year called Jesus Is Born on Christmas Day. (We’llllll see.) He says that would be a “Sunday Service album.” You can watch the full video of that interview below too.

The JESUS IS KING film is also screening worldwide in IMAX today. Showtimes and tickets here.

Kanye also had a JESUS IS KING bus riding around NYC today, and when TMZ caught up with him to ask when he’d tour, he said “right away.”

Some first-listen thoughts: it’s a lot more listenable than ye (better beats, better rapping, less cringe-inducing lyrics). Sometimes it’s very much religious music (“God Is”), but there’s also some stuff in there that sounds like classic Kanye (“Follow God”), and sometimes he does a pretty good job at merging the two worlds (“Selah”). There’s a lot of gospel choir stuff on it, which personally I think he pulls off pretty well. And not even a Kenny G solo can damage the excitement of the Clipse reunion.