Kanye West finally drops "Jesus is King" after taking fans on a journey
Just before midnight, Kanye West made a return to Twitter to confirm what fans had been hoping for: His long delayed album, "Jesus is King," would debut at the stroke of midnight on Friday, October 25. Fans who thought the release was too good to be true were correct – just about an hour later, West tweeted again.
"To my fans Thank you for being loyal & patient We are specifically fixing mixes on 'Everything We Need' 'Follow God' & 'Water' We not going to sleep until this album is out!" the rapper and producer tweeted, naming three songs on the album he and his team were still working on, further delaying the highly anticipated release.
By Friday morning, it appeared West had still not slept – the album wasn't out yet, and he promised not to go to bed until it was finished. He was, however, full of energy — enough energy to show up at the Oculus in lower Manhattan, near One World Trade Center.
The unannounced appearance was not unanticipated. One commuter noticed a production crew in the train terminal the night before. "Walking through Oculus to get the Path train home and 98% sure Kanye is doing something for his new album here?" the Twitter user wrote, sharing photos of the scene. "Whole production crew, subways blocked off, playing Kanye music, 'no one knows' what's going on?"
Sure enough, a choir walked through the stark white terminal – it was West's "Sunday Service" choir. Then, the superstar himself showed up.
Crowds cheered but security prevented anyone from getting too close to West. The domed building seems to be the prefect location for a West project – clean, sterile and barren – much like the house he shares with wife Kim Kardashian and their four kids.
The vaulted ceilings of the Oculus also make for seemingly perfect acoustics – which the choir took advantage of, belting out for the crowd, according to witness videos.
Then, around noon on Friday, the moment fans had been waiting for finally happened – West dropped "Jesus is King" on streaming platforms.
It was last month that West, via his wife's social media pages, announced "Jesus is King" would debut. When it didn't drop on the expected date – September 27 – West continued to string fans along. Finally, it was announced the album would debut on the same day as West's IMAX documentary of the same name.
West famously produced his music in Wyoming, which is where he sat down with radio DJ Zane Lowe for an interview that dropped on Apple's Beats 1 radio station on Thursday.
In the interview, West opened up about his affinity for the barren landscape of Wyoming. He also revealed a pornography addiction, which he said he has recovered from.
And of course, West talked about his new journey through faith and what shaped the upcoming gospel album.
"There were times where I was asking people to not have premarital sex while they were working," West said, acknowledging that may be off-putting to some. "But seriously there's times where I went to people that were working on other projects and said 'could you just work and focus on this?'"
"Families that pray together stay together," West says – then taking it a step further to say, "When people pray together, and fast together, the power is increased." He also toyed with the idea of having coworkers fast with him.
As for his political journey, West barely delved into his controversial friendship with President Trump. He did, however, call himself "the most liberal human being" and said wearing the "MAGA" hat was just "God's practical joke."
West's previous proclamation that he is a Trump supporter and that slavery was a "choice," caused an uproar among fans, who felt a disconnect from the rapper. Despite this, it appears many fans held on to hope, that West – aka Yeezus – would return.
If West has taught fans anything through this process is that patience is a virtue – and "Yeezus" is king.
