Kanye West has finally released his new album Jesus is King.
The long-delayed record was originally announced for a 27 September release by Kim Kardashian-West, and then "definitely" on the 29 September. However, the album never appeared and no explanation was given for the delay.
Earlier this week, a new date of 25 October was announced. After the album again failed to appear, West posted on Twitter to say he was adding final touches to certain songs on the album.
The album has now been released and is available on major streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon. You can read our review here.
Follow the updates as they happened
Hello, and welcome to The Independent's liveblog of the Kanye West album that may or may never be released.
One of the stranger revelations of Ye's recent interview with Zane Lowe? Apparently he was going around telling everyone in his studio not to have sex before marriage
Kanye West has been asking people not to have sex before marriage
The IndependentControversial artist took part in an interview where he also declared himself the ‘greatest human artist of all time’He also claimed that his support for US president Donald Trump was 'God's practical joke to all liberals'. Because of course.
A reminder, or explanation for those who have better things to be getting on with than refreshing West's Spotify page to see if he's released his new album: West was supposed to release Jesus is King, a Gospel-inspired album, on 27 September – at least according to his wife, Kim Kardashian-West. She then promised the album would "definitely" be released on 29 September. Obviously that didn't happen.
Which brings us to today, 25 October, the newly announced release date. Only, the record was supposed to drop at midnight Pacific time, which has now passed. West has since explained he's decided to change some of the mixes on three tracks, but will "not sleep" until the album is finished and released.
Oh, and Kanye has also now revealed that he's releasing ANOTHER album – that's right, even while Jesus is King is yet to appear – on Christmas Day, titled Jesus is Born.
Fortunately, I've already drawn the short straw and will be working this Christmas. Otherwise I'd start to think Kanye is personally trying to ruin my life.
Here are the details on those wild "no sex before marriage" comments.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/kanye-west-jesus-is-king-sex-marriage-new-album-release-tracklist-stream-date-a9170426.html
In case you missed it the last time Kanye West's album was delayed, this great piece by Ed Power still seems relevant
As Jesus is King fails to appear, is Kanye West trolling us all from on high?
The public’s interest in the rapper’s latest non-release is about as muted as the high-fashion sneakers he designed for Adidas, writes Ed PowerAs you can imagine, fans aren't too happy about the latest delays for the album. Some reactions below:
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
More gems from Kanye's interview with Zane Lowe:
“Give me some other examples where someone is saying what isn’t culturally what you’re supposed to say…Give me an example where someone is saying what you’re not supposed to say. You don’t want to say it, do you liberal?”
“And now—I am unquestionably, undoubtedly, the greatest human artist of all time. It’s not even a question at this point. It’s just a fact. For the greatest artist in human existence to put a red hat on was God’s practical joke to all liberals. Like, ‘Nooo, not Kanye!'”
Kanye West on the lineage of hip hop, during his Zane Lowe interview:
I love all of these people but you gotta know there’s a lineage of Jay to Ye to Drake. This person is your idol, then you get to know em, then you be friends, then you turn to frenemies, then you turn to enemies, and then you gotta bring back the positive energy. But that’s the lineage of rap kings and inspirers, because Jay was my BIGGEST inspiration. By the time I got to New York and we had the throwbacks, Big Boi had throwbacks first, but there was a little stand at Lenox and I’d be going down there doing beats with Jermaine Dupri and I’d pull up with my throwback and Jay is be like ‘man that’s nice’ then I pull up the next day with another throwback, and then day four they say, ‘what, you stay in Atlanta?'
Another bold claim from the Zane Lowe interview:
He also claimed that he would one day become leader of the Free World, saying: “There will be a time when I will be the president of the US and I will remember - any founder that didn't have the capacity to understand culturally what we were doing.”
The rapper, who identifies as a Christian, also revealed he tried to ban people working on his album from having pre-marital sex.
“I thought if we could all focus and fast - families who pray together stay together," he said.
West also touched upon his exposure to pornography from a young age, and admitted he became addicted to sex following the death of his mother in 2007, which he has previously said had a profound effect on him.
It's been five hours since Kanye said the album had been pushed back to later today and there's been nothing since. There were rumours of some kind of Sunday Service performance going on in New York, and that the album would be released as that was going on, but so far it doesn't seem to be happening.
This just in (non album-related)
Kim Kardashian-West has claimed Kanye has "banned" their daughter North from wearing makeup and crop tops due to his newfound religious beliefs.
“North is trying to get in on the makeup but she's being blocked heavily because her dad has stopped all makeup for her until she is a teenager,” Kim said at a makeup launch event, adding that the discussion had turned into “a big fight in the household right now”.
Kanye previously said: “I don't think North should wear crop tops just because I had her wearing a slip dress when she was two-years-old. I think and feel differently now, now that I'm Christian, now that I'm founder of a three billion dollar organisation and married for five years.”
Saying what we're all thinking
I've actually forgotten what it was like to not be waiting for a Kanye West album.
A reminder that this is by no means the first time Kanye has failed to produce the goods when it comes to new music. His album Yandhi, which was supposed to be released last year, never appeared and there has been no indication that he intends on dropping it anytime soon.
For Jesus is King, the original release date was 27 September, then 29 September, and most recently 25 October. We're about halfway into the day (at least in the UK) and there's still no sign of it.
WHERE IS IT?
The greatest artist of all time would release his albums... on time.
Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load
West recently gave a controversial interview with Zane Lowe on the presenter's Beats 1 show, where he announced another album, Jesus is Born, for Christmas Day.
He also explained why he refused to be silent over his support for US Donald Trump, and declared himself to be "the greatest human artist of all time".
In another revelation, West – who has identified as a Christian – said he told people working in his studio not to have sex before marriage.
