Last Christmas, Kanye West presented fans with the inspiration of Jesus was born, his ninth album and his first with the Sunday Service Choir. On Friday night, the rapper-producer turned the holiday into a new tradition, releasing a five-song EP entitled Emmanuel “Inspired by Latin and ancient music.”
Billed in a statement accompanying the surprise release as a “celebration of the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ”, the 12-minute EP, produced and composed by West, includes the Christian prayer “Requiem Aeternam” (“Eternal Rest”) and the choral work “The Magnum Mysterium”. The Sunday Service Choir is present in the entire classic project, which values Gregorian chants over production based on beats. West ends the EP with his interpretation of the ubiquitous Christian hymn “Gloria”.
West returned to committing himself to Christianity in 2019, speaking publicly about his faith and starting a long series of performances with his choir, the Sunday Service. “What I’m thinking will take a week or two now that I’ve been with Kanye West for the past 10 months,” said Jason White, the director of the Sunday Service choir, before the West 2019 album was released. Jesus is king. “I spent every Sunday riding with him.” While immersing yourself in the same spiritual themes, Emmanuel’s the short duration contrasts with that of 19 songs and 84 minutes Jesus was born.
The surprise launch of Emmanuel, which translates to “God is with us”, arrives without any drama that accompanied Jesus is the king. West worked on his first foray into gospel until the last minute, tweeting that he was still “fixing mixes” on three songs the night of his supposed release. This album featured vocal contributions from Clipse, Ty Dolla $ ign, Fred Hammond and Ant Clemons, along with Kenny G’s saxophone and production by Timbaland and Mike Dean, among others.
In November 2019, West staged the religious opera Nebuchadnezzar at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, which found West reading Bible verses backstage amid the speechless chants of the Sunday Service Choir. Last month, it was reported that West was the subject of two class actions brought by selected choir artists and team members against West because of insufficient payment around production. West has yet to comment publicly on the lawsuit.