Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, recently sat down with radio host Kurt Alexander, better known as Big Boy, to discuss his new album “Vultures” and the controversies that have followed him.
The 46-year-old Ye turned heads in 2019 when he announced that he had committed his life to Jesus. Ye told pastor Adam Tyson, “I’ve been radically saved. I believe [the gospel] message and I want to get that message out to the world.”
And Ye did just that, holding gospel music events, which he called “Sunday Service.” At the events, choirs sang worship and preachers told people about Jesus. Some of those preachers included Joel Osteen, Rich Wilkerson, and Jamal Bryant.
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On Oct. 25, 2019, Ye released his first Christian themed album, titled “Jesus Is King.” The album went on to break multiple Billboard charts records and won the Billboard Music Awards for the Top Christian Album and Top Gospel Album in 2020. It also received a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2021.
Two years later, Ye released his second Christian album, titled “Donda,” which featured a number of secular artists, including Jay-Z, the Weeknd, Ty Dolla $ign, Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, and Marilyn Manson. “Donda” won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance in 2022.
Since then, Ye’s has gone through a divorce, courted controversy with antisemitic remarks, raised eyebrows by sharing photos of his new wife in which she is scantily clad, and returned to degrading women in the lyrics of his music.
Now, Ye is referring to himself as a god.
When the 24-time Grammy Award winner was asked if he still considered himself a man of God in spite of his return to the style of his pre-Christian days, Ye said, “I have my issues with Jesus.”
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“There’s a lot of stuff I went through that I prayed [about] and I didn’t see Jesus show up,” Ye said, adding that he had to take the challenges of his personal and professional life into “my own hands.”
Ye then voiced his displeasure with Christianity. “Christians will depend on Jesus so much that we won’t put the word in ourselves,” Ye said, “and the main thing that really I don’t rock with [is Christians saying], ‘I’m going to pray for you.’”
