'Jesus Is King' makes Billboard history: tops 5 charts, dominates top 10 Christian, Gospel lists
The new Kanye West album, Jesus Is King, made history on the Billboard Charts, ranking No. 1 on five charts as well as dominating the Top 10 slots on both the Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts.
Jesus Is King is the rapper’s first faith-based album and this week it topped the all-genre Billboard 200, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top Rap Albums charts, Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums.
He is the first artist ever to monopolize the entire top 10 slots on the Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts. The emcee actually dominates the top 11 on Hot Gospel Songs, featuring every song on the 27-minute album.
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The newly born-again Chicago native beat out Christian notables Chris Tomlin, Jordan Smith, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me and Lecrae, who ranked in multiple charts in the past.
West's top seven list on both charts are identical. See the ranking below:
No. 1: "Follow God"
No. 2: "Closed on Sunday"
No. 3: "Selah"
No. 4: "On God"
No. 5: "Everything We Need," feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Ant Clemons
No. 6: "God Is"
No. 7: "Use This Gospel," feat. Clipse & Kenny G
"Water," featuring Ant Clemons, "Hands On," featuring Fred Hammond, and "Jesus Is Lord" round out the top 10 on the Hot Christian Songs. The Hot Gospel Songs include, "Every Hour," featuring Sunday Service Choir, at No. 8, and "Water," "Hands On" and "Jesus Is Lord," in the 9-11 slots.
With nine studio albums to his credit, West's Jesus Is King, released Oct. 25, is his ninth consecutive album to debut at the top slot of The Billboard 200. The album also breaks West’s prior streaming record, giving him his biggest streaming week ever and the fifth largest overall in 2019, at 196.9 million on-demand streams, Billboard reported.
“Number one in the country right now, number one in the world right now, Jesus is King,” West declared at his Baton Rouge Sunday Service concert on Friday on Bethany Church grounds.
“Number one song, number one album and they told me I would (inaudible) if I gave my life to Christ but God is showing out,” he continued.
“Who's number one? Jesus is number one!” the rapper declared as his gospel choir sang the chorus "Father I stretch my hands to you." After the concert, 1,000 people reportedly came to faith in Jesus Christ.
For many years, West publicly projected a god complex through his blasphemous alter ego Yeezus. But in 2019, everything changed for him, and he began his Sunday Service events featuring a gospel choir that reimagined mainstream songs with Christian lyrics. West said he became a born-again Christian during this process and has now devoted his life to “working for God.”
West will reportedly continue to make faith-based music and is gearing up to release a holiday album. In a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music's Beats 1, the father of four announced his upcoming Christmas record is titled Jesus Is Born.
"I believe because God has given me a gift that I pray for and so many people love," West told Lowe, "that if I stop doing it, He might start to take all the things away."
