Kanye West asked people working on his new album “Jesus is King” to refrain from premarital sex, the musical talent said Thursday, during an interview with Zane Lowe of Beats 1. West also talked about the over-saturation of porn in our culture, stating bluntly that it’s “not okay.”
“When collaborating with others on ‘Jesus Is King,’ West set up some lifestyle guidelines that they would have to abide by in order be part of the project,” Billboard reported. “Yeezy asked others to fast during portions of creating and also not partake in any premarital sex at times, which he knew would receive some blowback once it became public.”
“There were times where I was asking people not to have premarital sex while they were working on the album,” West told Lowe, noting, “When people pray together and fast together, the power is increased.”
The 42-year-old explained that he no longer views himself as a “slave” to the music industry, but as a “free” “son of God” spreading the gospel.
“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,” said West. “I’ve spread a lot of things. There was a time I was letting you know what high fashion had done for me, I was letting you know what the Hennessey had done for me, 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.”
The “Gold Digger” rapper revealed that he first interacted with porn at just five years old, and it quickly became a habit he had to kick.
“My dad had a Playboy left out at age five and it’s affected almost every choice I made for the rest of my life from age five to now, having to kick the habit,” he told Lowe. “It just presents itself in the open like it’s okay. I stand up and say, ‘You know, it’s not okay.'”
West’s Christian identity has become increasingly public, including his new album set for release on Friday having the appropriate title of “Jesus is King.”
As noted by The Daily Wire, California-area pastor Adam Tyson revealed during a podcast last week that West told him he has been “radically saved” by Christ.
“[Kanye] said, ‘About five weeks ago, I got radically saved,'” Tyson told Christian outlet Apologia, XXL magazine reported. “He just started telling me a little about his testimony.”
According to the pastor, West told him that he was raised as a Christian but began “chasing all the things of this world” after hitting it big in the music industry. “He would say the devil basically brought him to a place where he just felt like he was in bondage to his sin. So he said, ‘I got delivered.'”
“One time, he (West) told me that he wasn’t going to rap,” Tyson recalled. “I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Well, 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 just definitely said, ‘Hey, bro. I think you need to use your talents that God’s given you and use that platform for God.'”