Jay Z’s legendary career has produced several classic albums with some legendary tracks: Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, 4:44. I know just about everything about him, and one unequivocal fact I know to be true about him is that he’s obsessed-like, obsessed-with movies.Īnd once we overview just how much influence filmmakers have had on West’s career, you’ll also start to see why timing the Jesus is King album release with the film release isn’t just good marketing-it’s necessary to understanding Kanye West’s latest artistic venture. My reason for thinking this? As someone who hosts a Kanye West podcast, I’ve studied Mr. 25.Īnd that’s when I think the album will drop as well. We got to see West’s film-directed by noted music video director Nick Knight-in its entirety, but the IMAX project won’t premiere to the rest of the world until Oct. After West played the album for everyone at the Chicago show, he continued to play his entire 37-minute film. They’re titled and edited and at this point awaiting to be released.Īs someone who attended the live listening party, I’ll tell you what’s up: West’s new film, which is also titled Jesus is King. I heard the hypnotic opening “Up from the Ashes,” the divinely epic “Selah,” and the song that reunited the infamous rap duo Clipse, “Use This Gospel.” West has now hosted three live listening parties, including one in Chicago where I was present. For Yandhi, we only heard unofficial, leaked versions of songs for Jesus is King, thousands of people-including myself-have heard nearly album-ready tracks. Back in 2016, The Life of Pablo was delayed for several days after the live listen at Madison Square Garden West was mixing ye up to the last minute, and even snapped a photo of the album’s art on the way over to the listening party and then, of course, West’s supposed followup to ye, Yandhi, never materialized.īut this ’s different. And now West fans are in limbo-a familiar feeling for them.