Kanye West's "Jesus Is King" Album Art Mystery Has Been Solved

BYAron A.13.4K Views
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Kanye West attends the the Versace fall 2019 fashion show at the American Stock Exchange Building in lower Manhattan on December 02, 2018 in New York City.
Third Man Records co-founder reveals where "AR 1331 A" came from.

Kanye West is just a week removed from his foray into gospel music. Jesus Is King marks a whole new direction for Kanye West, one where he embraces Christianity entirely and uses his project as a means to send across the message of God to the masses. The project is still very Kanye from the production to narcissistic bars but it hasn't necessarily been embraced by everyone. Perhaps it was Donald Trump Jr.'s co-sign that scared them away. 


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Now, the cover art is essentially a blue vinyl with Jesus Is King written at the top, 33RPMLP on the right, and Kanye West at the bottom. On the left, though, it reads, "New Songs AR 1331 A." No one has known what that means, and Kanye hasn't really addressed it. Thankfully, Third Man Records co-founder and Detroit historian, Ben Blackwell revealed what the "AR 1331 A" stands for. It’s the Archer Records (AR) pressing plant code assigned to this 1970 Detroit gospel single," it reads in a tweet.

The vinyl is a gospel single. The tweet shared a photo of the A-Side which included two songs from Rubye Shelton, "I Want The World To Know Jesus" and "God's Going To Destroy This Nation."

“I knew the past decade spent in the deepest, loneliest recesses of Archer Record Pressing nerd-dom would eventually lead me to the biggest recording artist in the world. But enough about Jack White...who is this Kanye guy?” Blackwell told Pitchfork on a statement about his findings. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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