A few weeks back marked the anniversary of a hip-hop milestone: the storied battle between 50 Cent's Curtis and Kanye West's Graduation. Many scholars of hip-hop lore tend to mark this one as the moment in which Ye ascended to full-blown superstardom. With singles like "Stronger" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing" at the helm, Graduation's momentum carried him to an easy victory over Fif, who certainly fought valiantly with his third studio album Curtis. Now, over a decade and change removed from this battle, Kanye West is readying the release (or is he) of his brand new studio album Jesus Is King.
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Originally meant to arrive at the tail end of September, Kanye pulled the proverbial siiiiike on the unsuspecting masses. Though a bootleg version made the rounds shortly thereafter, the buzz surrounding Ye's first foray into the spiritual realm of gospel music has been interesting to say the least. The Kanye factor alone should not be discounted, as an artist of his caliber tends to make waves whenever new music is in the cards. Yet the adherence to a relatively niche genre and the flaky release schedules have seemingly tempered the hype of Jesus Is King. It doesn't help that Ye was met with solid, yet unremarkable reviews from fans and critics alike.
That's not to say Kanye West needs a redemptive drop. He has earned the right to line his discography with whatever music he deems fit. Yet it remains curious to see how the public at large is feeling about Jesus Is King and its will-he-or-won't-he release date. As such, be sure to weigh in through our poll below. How do you feel about Kanye West's forthcoming effort? Has he retained your interested in a post-Sunday Service era?
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