Yes, it’s hard to separate West from his support of Donald Trump, including a visit he made to the Oval Office last year. Of course, irrespective of faith or his socially progressive beliefs, there’s an elephant in the White House - West and the infamous red hat. “Everybody in hip-hop discriminates against gay people. “If you see something and you don’t want to be that because it’s such a negative connotation toward it, you try to separate yourself from it so much, that it may be homophobic, by the time I was through with high school,” West said in that interview. West spoke out against homophobia in hip-hop on MTV in August 2004, years before even the Democrats were supportive of gay marriage or the term “woke” was popularized. Pink collared shirts, backpacks - this was not your typical hip-hop attire. As detailed in the podcast “Dissect,” the second season of which is essential listening for any fan, West was somewhat of an anomaly when he burst onto the scene. In fact, West’s views on acceptance and inclusion have been a part of his persona and his art ever since he burst on the scene with “College Dropout” in 2004. And his nonchurch church he’s built with Sunday Service is in some ways an answer to the dissatisfaction many people of faith seem to have with more traditional religious institutions. Some of the most ardent and and socially conservative religious institutions - which can be found in almost all faiths - also turn off more progressive potential members due to stances on cultural issues such as abortion and LGBTQ equality.īut West has always been a liberal, and progressive. Part of that, without a doubt, is because trust in religious institutions is hitting an all-time low this year, according to a Gallup poll. West protege and sometimes collaborator Chance the Rapper also has a new album featuring faith as a major theme.īut religious openness doesn’t sit well with everyone (take a recent Vice headline: “It’s tough to be a Chance The Rapper Fan When You’re Not A Christian.”) Large swaths of America see religion as important to their life (77 percent in a recent Pew survey), but that number is declining. Others in pop culture have reached levels of uber-fame and subsequently taken similar paths - Justin Bieber, once one of the world’s biggest teen pop stars, has been speaking with increasing openness about how faith has helped him deal with drug abuse and anxiety. But he's rarely preachy - there’s a cheerfulness to his turn to God. West has made religion a centerpiece of his art in recent years. “Cut out all the lights, He the light,” he says on “Hands On.” Although West has long been prone to hyperbole, especially when it comes to his career aspirations, "Jesus Is King" spends a lot of time trying to position West as less the center of his own universe and more the servant of a higher power. “God is king, we’re just soldiers,” are the first lyrics on the album in his opening song “Selah.” Just six years ago, West repeated the chorus “I am a God” in a song of the same name on his "Yeezus" album. But his most recent turn toward faith has renewed the cultural fascination.įull of gospel-inspired hip-hop - and just literal gospel - “Jesus Is King” contains allusions to West's past and the evolution that brought him to this point. He has evolved from mostly-anonymous producer to dynamic young rapper to awards show stage crasher.
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