Kanye West opens up about making new music for God after "overcoming alcoholism"

Kanye West has opened up about making new music again after initially saying he would no longer rap following his conversion to Christianity.

The artist also revealed that his dedication to his faith also encouraged him to stop drinking after describing himself as a “functional alcoholic”.

In an interview with GQ, he said: “I was thinking of not rapping again, because I rapped for the devil so long that I didn’t even know how to rap for God. Then one of my pastors told me, ‘My son just said that he would want a rap album about Jesus from Kanye West.’

“He didn’t say, ‘Kanye West, you should do this,’ or ‘you need to do this.’ He just told me something that a child said. And that one thing made the difference.”

Kanye West
Kanye West CREDIT: Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair

He added: “One day I was in my office working on the couture collection, and there was some Grey Goose in the fridge and I was just going to get a daytime drink, and I looked and thought, ‘Devil, you’re not going to beat me today.’ That one statement is like a tattoo.

“I haven’t had a drink since I realized I needed to take it day by day, but I never owned up, or was even told, ‘Hey, you’re a functioning alcoholic.’ People have called me a crazy person, people have called me everything—but not a functioning alcoholic. And I would be drinking orange juice and Grey Goose in the morning.”








Last year, amid his conversion, West chalked up a new record as the first artist to monopolise the entire Top 10 on two Billboard Christian songs charts with tracks from  ‘Jesus Is King’.

He also hosted a virtual Sunday Service on Sunday for Easter, in conjunction with a Miami-based church.

The rapper began holding the gospel gatherings on the first Sunday of 2019. Last Easter, he held a special edition of the events at Coachella, which fell on Easter Sunday.

Also Last year, the Sunday Service Choir released its debut album, ‘Jesus Is Born’. In a four-star reviewNME said: “Whether you believe in a higher being or have any interest in gospel music is not essential in appreciating ‘Jesus Is Born’. In fact, in keeping with West’s mission to spread the word of his god, the album could spark a more open-minded attitude to the genre among secular music fans.”