Kanye West’s 7th album, The Life of Pablo (TLOP) was released a few weeks ago. On this album, Kanye gives his listeners a window into his life and thoughts. Furthermore, I believe this album gives us a picture of a particular type of Christianity that characterizes our american society. The Atlantic’s review of the album is spot on with its analysis of the individual tracks as it details Kanye’s struggle between family life and the life that fame can bring. Kornhaber writes, “The struggle of a man to tamp down his lust and ambition in the name of family is, of course, one of the most over-documented struggles of 20th-century art. And the fact that West addresses it by fixating on faith . . . means he’s partaking in the same tradition that has helped keep religion relevant for thousands of years”. Kanye’s new album is about this struggle. Kanye is not consistent in thought, character, ideas, or much of anything. One look at his twitter account will show just that. TLOP even features a song right in the middle of the album (“I Love Kanye”) all about Kanye rapping about the Old and New Kanyes! Yet, this album is about Old Kanye vs New Kanye, or better said in agreement with the article mentioned above: The Life of Pablo represents Kanye’s personal identity struggle between the Kanye of Fame and the Kanye of Faith.
The Album artwork and the name itself further demonstrate this point. Two pictures brilliantly displayed upon the violent orange background : A picture of West’s mother and father’s wedding day contrasted by a singular female model. Even the contrast between the black and white of the skin colors further separate these two scenes. In black lettering, repeated 10 times on either side of the model (well sort of), are two words : “Which / One”. There is a clear divide between these two pictures and even these two words. Even the title, The Life of Pablo, begs the same question. Which Pablo is he referring to? Is it the Apostle Paul as rumored? Pablo Picasso? Maybe even Pablo Escobar? And this is how Kanye perceives his life in the moment. It is a constant identity struggle between two very different people. He so desperately wants to be the Kanye of Faith – a Kanye that loves his wife, his children, others, and most importantly, God. Yet, lurking in the background is the Kanye of Fame – a Kanye that wants to be first, to be chief, to be God, while being able to do whatever he wants and whoever he wants, without any regard to his wife, his children, and others.
This struggle is best exemplified by his opening song “Ultralight Beam”. As the first song, the listener is invited to interpret the rest of the album through this introductory lens. We can’t go into every detail of this song here, so I will focus on the main points But go listen to the whole song for yourself.
Hook 1:
I’m tryna keep my faith
We on an ultralight beam
We on an ultralight beam
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
This is everything
This is everything
This hook which is repeated throughout the song is Kanye’s cry and mantra. This is Kanye’s prayer, that God would give him a “road to Damascus” experience in order to settle his doubts and become the Kanye of Faith.
Refrain:
I’m tryna keep my faith
But I’m looking for more
Somewhere I can feel safe
And end my holy war
Sung by the Gospel choir and the Dream, This is a more explicit cry of Kanye as he is struggling to keep his feeble faith. The holy war is not some crusade against an external enemy, but against one inside Kanye. Here again, the contrast of faith and fame are seen clearly within the person of Kanye.
Verse 1, sung by Kelly Price and the choir, is about Kanye’s past actions. The song accuses the listener, that is Kanye as well, of sending depression and not blessings, and even worse, persecuting the weak to feel strong. However, the verse ends with reflecting upon God’s caring and sustaining action, saying, “And I know that you’ll take good care of your child / Oh, no longer am afraid of the night / Cause I, I look to the light.”
Verse 2, sung by Chance the Rapper, is by far, one of my favorite parts of this song. It would take too long to detail the complexities of this verse, but I will highlight a few parts. First, Chance explains that he will defend God’s name, answer skeptic’s question while feeling the pain of God. “They don’t know” refers to Luke 23:34 which is how Chance is explaining that he will begin to feel a similar pain – rejection – to that of Jesus on the cross. Chance also sings, in reference to a possible upcoming album, that this is his turn to talk. What exactly does he say? “This little light of mine / Glory be to God, yeah.” Chance exclaims that all that he has done in music is for God’s glory.
One of the most surprising parts of the song is when the famed Gospel artist, Kirk Franklin, introduces a prayer on the opening song of a Kanye album.
Father, this prayer is for everyone that feels they’re not good enough. This prayer’s for everybody that feels like they’re too messed up. For everyone that feels they’ve said “I’m sorry” too many times. You can never go too far when you can’t come back home again. That’s why I need…
Choir:
[Faith, more, safe, war]
Franklin prays for everyone that feels like there isn’t enough grace, enough forgiveness, or enough love for one who has gone astray. It seems like a reference to the story of the prodigal son who was still accepted by his father even after wandering so far away for so long.
After listening to this song for the first, second, and fourteenth time, I was astounded that Kanye West had produced something like this, something so Christian. I know that he has claimed to be a Christian in the past, but could it really be? As I listened to the rest of his album, I realized that the answer wasn’t as simple. As said previously, this album is about Kanye’s struggle.
What Does This Mean for Kanye and Christianity?
I think that this song, at minimum, displays a type of Christian faith. As demonstrated within this song and the rest of the album, it is not perfect. It is certainly not the faith of the average churchgoer that you are likely to meet on a Sunday morning throughout America. However, it might be more honest. It might be more genuine. This faith that belongs to Kanye is exactly that: faith. If we see faith as a black or white issue, a sort of us vs them, insider-outsider kind of arrangement, then we will be very confused with The Life of Pablo. The rest of songs are sometimes disturbing as are a lot of his older songs, but “Ultralight Beam” should be seen as a prologue, a lens, through which to view the rest of the album. In so doing, the listener can see that Kanye is really struggling with his bifurcated self. The faith of Kanye represents a faith that does not pretend to be perfect. Those with this kind of faith actually struggle with doubt, temptation, and sin. The world is not as black and white as we once thought, and faith can apparently come in different shades. I believe that Kanye West has, in some sense, started off on his journey to faith in Jesus Christ.
As you look around, you might begin to see people with this kind of faith. A faith that is by no means strong, but is clearly present. I believe the source of this faith is a rejection of the previous generation type of faith. Their faith, which serves as a basis for our faith, could be characterized by believing the right things and doing the right things. Someone in their day would struggle with either believing or doing. And this is why Kanye and a new generation of Christians don’t make sense, and therefore, are difficult to be cared for by the older generation: they struggle with both believing the right things and doing the right things. The redeeming factors for them is that they are both aware of their condition and they struggle against it. This new generation of Christians will struggle as they learn how to be disciples within the world, yet pledging their allegiance to Jesus–yet they are not alone.
What Does This Mean For You?
First, Kanye’s struggle is your struggle. When we hear of Kanye’s struggle against his old self, are we not reminded of our own battle? Daily, we fight sin, pride, and the lust of the heart – effectually, we are war with our flesh. We struggle against the idea that creeps deep down inside us that tells us we can be like God. Like Kanye, we sometimes fail. It will, however, most likely be to differing degrees depending on the person. And like Kanye, we must resolve, like so many of our other brothers and sisters have done, to fight sin and pursue Jesus.
Second, your help is needed. Kanye and the type of faith that he personifies is in dire need of God-fearing, Jesus-loving, Spirit-minded, Gospel-preaching, Bible-reading, sin-fighting, disciple-making Christians. The church needs to be cognizant that there are people on the thresholds, waiting to be invited in, to be mentored, to be prayed for, and to be loved. It is the church’s mission to proclaim the gospel to those who are far off and to those who are near. These people won’t look like your typical Christian, but they are hungry for the hope that you have. It is your responsibility, aided by the Holy Spirit, to teach them.
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