Entertainment

Kanye West May Be Quitting Rap To Only Make Gospel Music From Now On

by Lara Walsh
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Kanye West has definitely built a name for himself during his 15-year-long career with rap and hip-hop hits like "Gold Digger" and "Flashing Lights," but it sounds like that's all about to change going forward. Ahead of the highly-anticipated release of the musician's Jesus Is King album, which will reportedly drop on Sunday, Sept. 29, you might be wondering: Is Kanye West quitting rap for good? Here's why fans think the man behind hits like "Famous" and "All of the Lights" will be changing his tune to purely gospel music in the future.

After weeks of anticipation, I'm happy to announce it's officially Yeezy season, because the rapper's ninth studio album will finally be dropping late Sept. 29 following a final listening party in New York City, and Andrew Barber of the Chicago hip-hop blog FakeShoreDrive dropped some surprising scoop about Kanye's new musical phase. Following the first listening session for Jesus Is King, which was held in Detroit, 'Ye hosted a second listening event in Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 28. Barber, who was in attendance at the event, noted that Pusha-T, No Malice, and saxophonist Kenny G were going to be on the album. Meanwhile, the track "New Body," which Keeping Up with the Kardashians fans caught a sneak preview of on the show, had been dropped due to schedule issues with featured artist Nicki Minaj.

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Barber also confirmed that a few weeks after the album's release, a new accompanying IMAX documentary called Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Film will come to theaters on Oct. 25, making for a more immersive and comprehensive auditory and visual experience. Per a release from IMAX, they revealed that the documentary depicts the artist's Sunday Services that took place throughout the summer of 2019 from an installation in Arizona's Painted Dessert, saying "This one-of-a-kind experience features songs arranged by West in the gospel tradition along with music from his new album Jesus Is King — all presented in the immersive sound and stunning clarity of IMAX."

However, the biggest takeaway from the Chicago event was that the 'Ye of "Heartless" and "Mercy" was a thing of the past, as the rapper and fashion designer reportedly no longer plans to make secular music in the future, according to Barber. Instead, West will be turning his sole focus to making gospel music and continuing his trend of Sunday Service performances. Elite Daily reached out to West's rep for comment on the report that West no longer plans to make secular music, but did not hear back by the time of publication.

If true, it will definitely be a hard pill to swallow for 'Ye fans like myself who grew up on rap hits like "Stronger" and "All of the Lights." On the other hand, West has definitely been known to change his mind (remember Yandhi?), and I have a feeling that fans won't feel like they're missing out on anything when the Jesus Is King album finally drops on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 29 with a ton of exciting favorite artists as features. In the meantime, you can catch me listening to his old hits on repeat.