Kanye West almost gave up rap music for good. West’s pastor, Adam Tyson recently did an interview with Christan-based media outlet Apologia, and talked about West’s relationship with Christ and his musical stance.
“[Kanye] started visiting our church back in mid-May,” Tyson, who is the senior pastor at Placerita Bible Church in Newhall, Calif., said (per XXL).
West asked to speak with Tyson after attending the churching a few times.
“[Kanye] said, ‘About five weeks ago, I got radically saved,'” Tyson continued. “He just started telling me a little about his testimony.”
West shared with Tyson that he turned to Christianity after feeling drained by the sins of chasing fame in the music industry.
“One time, he told me that he wasn’t going to rap,” Tyson said. “I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘That’s the devil’s music.’ I said, ‘Hey, man. Rap is a genre. You can rap for God.’ I think he was already thinking about it a little bit, but I definitely said, ‘Hey, bro. I think you need to use your talents that God’s given you and use that platform for God.'”
On Monday (Oct. 21), West took to Twitter for the first time since New Year’s Day to announce that his forthcoming album Jesus Is King is slated to be released on Oct. 25.
“JESUS IS KING” OCT 25th” West tweeted along with a photo of a blue vinyl record that has the album’s title on it.