Kanye West requested those working on 'Jesus is King' to 'fast,' 'not have premarital sex'
Kanye West is opening up about his spiritual outlook, as well as some very personal requests he had for people working on his upcoming religious album.
The rapper discussed his musical and personal turn to Christianity, as well as the inspiration behind his upcoming album "Jesus is King," due Friday, in an interview with DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music Thursday.
"Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me," West told Lowe during a nearly two-hour conversation.
They touched on many topics, including what went into making West's new album, which will debut along with an IMAX film of the same title.
West described how he wanted to make sure everyone working on "Jesus is King" was committed to the project.
"There were times when I was asking people to fast during the album," he said. "This is gonna be radical what I'm about to say ... There were times when I was asking people to not have premarital sex while they were working on the album."
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In addition to requesting people avoid premarital sex, West said there were "times when I went to people that were working on other projects and said, 'Could you just work and focus on this?' "
He added: "I thought if we could all focus and fast, I mean it's known families that pray together stay together."
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In a video clip of his interview with Lowe, the rapper described how being hospitalized gave him opportunity to reflect.
In 2016, reports emerged saying West had been hospitalized due to exhaustion. In subsequent interviews with TMZ and "Breakfast Club" radio host Charlamagne tha God in 2018, West discussed how liposuction, opioid use and his wife Kim Kardashian’s Paris robbery contributed to a downward spiral that landed him in the hospital.
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"The most space that I had to think is when I went to the hospital," West told Lowe. "One of the things that happened when I went to the hospital is I started reading the Bible and I started writing, copying out Bible verses, and a person came to my house that wasn’t a Christian and told me come over, and 30 minutes later I was in handcuffs headed to the hospital."
He continued: "Now this person very well may have saved my life because, when you’re in an episode you could jump off the side of a balcony, you can stab your eye out ... You can do a lot of things when you’re ramped up like that, but one of the things that people do now is they try to discriminate against my mind and my thoughts because of that moment."
West also described how his life has improved through religion.
"There was a time I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me. I was letting you know what the Hennessy had done for me," he said, "But now I’m letting you know what Jesus has done for me, and in that I’m no longer a slave. I’m a son now, a son of God. I’m free."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kanye West asked 'Jesus is King' collaborators to avoid premarital sex