Kanye West’s “Jesus is King” finally dropped on Oct. 25 after years of reveals, delays and hype. Yet for all the time Kanye put into his current project, it still manages to feel rushed and incomplete.

The first track, “Every Hour,” features a typical gospel choir, just sped up a little bit. The song itself is fun and catchy, but like most songs that follow, it feels short and repetitive.

The times when the album shined the brightest were when Kanye wasn’t front and center. The choirs are loud and powerful, the organs are pulled back and serve as a baseline for the songs, and in typical Kanye fashion, production is tight and styled, if a little bit more sporadic than usual.

The album’s major weak point is in its identity. It’s unclear if “Jesus is King” is a concept album, a fusion of gospel and rap, or just Kanye being random and unpredictable again.

Adding to the confusion, the runtime of the project doesn’t even break half an hour, making it one of Kanye’s shortest ventures to date.

Contrasting this, “The Life of Pablo,” which released in 2016, was over an hour long. Since then, Kanye’s releases have been along the lines of EPs in their lengths and song count.

The lyrics rarely break surface-level observations about Kanye’s newfound faith, one of the worst examples being from the track “Closed on Sunday.”

The lines “Closed on Sunday / You my Chick-fil-A / Hold the selfies, put the ‘Gram away” lack the slightest bit of subtlety.

“Jesus is King” is a new start for Kanye, but a rough one nonetheless.

As for his recent statements of only making gospel music from here on out and re-recording his old music without profanity, we’ll just have to wait and see as inconsistency is a trademark of Kanye’s public statements and now his most recent album.

Rating: 2 Stars