Fans spent the early hours of Friday morning wondering what Kanye West was doing at the Oculus Plaza in Lower Manhattan—he still had an album to release. Jesus Is King eventually came later that day, and the Oculus showing was a performance for the Friday edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The choir is in the building! #KanyeWest #KanyeWestSundayService #teamkanye #kanye #Oculus #WTC pic.twitter.com/IpcEskoJ2G
West performed Jesus Is King's "Closed On Sunday" with a brass section and choir. Of course, the band wore dark blue to match the album rollout's aesthetic. Watch the joyous performance above.
West also made a surprise appearance on Kimmel's Thursday episode. He engaged in some back-and-forth banter about his religious faith with the host and claimed that Jesus Is King is "gonna be dropping at 12 a.m.... It’s out now." It wasn't out when the show aired.
#JIK was turned in at 4AM. I had @kanyewest approval to oversee Final mixes and mastering. It takes 8 hours for the LP to ingest into the Digital Streaming Platforms. I didn’t eat dinner so you guys could have this by Lunch time 12/1pm EST🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥#QueensAllDay
After the missed deadline, longtime collaborator Consequence told Twitter followers that Jesus Is King was turned in at 4 a.m. on Friday and would officially drop by "lunch time." The project finally came at noon.
West's Jesus Is King press run also included lengthy interviews with Big Boy and Zane Lowe. Watch both below and check out Kanye performing "Closed on Sunday" up top.
