September 30, 2019

Written byJVG

Kanye West Sunday Service New York: Full Breakdown of What Went Down on September 29 2019

Kanye West's Sunday Service was notable for many reasons, from the outfit, to the freestyle, to the vibe--here's a full break down of what happened and what you need to know about the Jesus is King album release too.

In the normally unvisited-by-outsiders neighborhood of Jamaica New York, not far from JFK Airport, the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral was in for a surprise visitor for its regularly held 11:30am Sunday Service.

At the end of congregation, Mr. Kanye West stepped in the building for a pleasant surprise Sunday Service, a trend he’s been carrying since its debut of January 6th 2019 on Sundays in different cities across the US.

This particular Sunday Service was unique because it coincides with Kanye’s brand new album, Jesus is King, and included a freestyle (full lyrics at the end of the article).

Let’s check out the event and see how it all broke down, from leading up to ‘Ye stepping on stage, to what music was played, and of course, what fit and sneakers Mr. West was rocking.

Photos used, unless otherwise noted, are from our very own JV Ortiz in addition to the tip master Nathan Carpenter.

Pre event: How We Attended Kanye’s Sunday Service

The following may be worth taking note of for those who want to learn how to attend a Kanye West Sunday Service event in the future.

After following a trail of breadcrumbs across forums, word of mouth, and industry insiders, solid tips were made for the Cathedral of Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica, NY, part of the Queens borough.

A $55 Uber ride proved worth it as the (free) event turned out as expected with Kanye showing up–scarily late though.

Apart from an arguably suspicious but maybe normal amount of police cars at the entrance, it appeared that Sunday service at the Allen Cathedral.

No tweets from the Cathedral itself, Kanye (whose last Tweet was from January 1 2019), or any other official accounts.

Hope may have been low apart from a number of people looking sus and official on the phone outside, production hands that seemed overkill, and out of place hypebeasts scattered through the audience that was probably 90% avid church going locals.

Service was carried out as normal until the very end.

Kanye’s Debut

A single, special keyboard was placed center stage by hasty and professional (and out of place looking) stage hands which gave everyone hope for ‘Ye’s appearance after attending the service as usual.

Ye slipped in unannounced, just standing and looking at the crowd posted up. Some of the devout congregation were unaware of his existence or that of other celebrities in the house including Swizz Beats and LA lakers players.

What was Kanye wearing?

Kanye was wearing a vintage Ralph Lauren jacket, apparently his favorite brand. West has also been heard explaining the inequalities in the fashion world by comparing himself as a potential Ralph Lauren but having to deal with gatekeepers as a black American.

On foot Yeezys: 700 v2 “Vanta”

Rather interestingly, ‘Ye wasn’t rocking any unreleased Yeezys or anything that special or resellable  either– he was wearing Yeezy 700 Vantas, with little to no resale value.

His sweatpants remained unnamed and didn’t seem like anything special, which was appropriate as Kanye is shifting his message away from superficial fashion and music filled with animalistic tendencies to the divine.

Songs Played in Kanye’s New York Sunday Service:

After some Gospel instrumentals, Kanye started off with some classics from the Life of Pablo:

Father stretch my hands pt 1-

“I just wanna feel liberated…”

“…If I ever instigated I’m sorry”

Kanye’s repetition of the lyrics begging for freedom and asking forgiveness were a theme that the service preached that day.

He stopped before any profanities came out.

Ultra light beam

This track given a doubly divine feeling when heard inside the walls of a church.

Don’t Speak/Lord Speak

A take on Gwen Stefani’s “Don’t Speak” is a Kanye Sunday Service staple.

Hebrew Tongue Song

A song which was intro’d by Gospel music making references to a word of the Hebrew tongue.

Gospel songs:

A number of gospel songs followed, including

This is the Day

Stand on the Word-Larry Levan Gospel Remix

The predominant featuring of these tracks goes along the theme of Kanye apparently making a full transition to only Gospel music.

Kanye West Sunday Service New York Freestyle

…My boy Swizz in the house

And imma rap about this in the house
Bed Stuy (??) like Christmas in the house
I never seen nobody do like this in the house
Sunday service, don’t get nervous
Rap with a purpose not just for surface
The time is urgent
The Lord is working
His Spirit moving
He keep it grooving
He keep improving
I fall short
Where I hang up
I stand up
I get up
Throw y’all hands up
I may fall short
But I still stand up, yeah

Jesus is King Debut

We’re on IG too. Follow us here.

We keep getting teases and delays for the album, which was first set to debut on Sep 27, and we’ve been relying on Kim’s twitter since Ye isn’t active.

The album is still set to debut late evening on September 29th with digital downloads alongside merch on Kanye’s official site.

The Album Release Listening Party/Jesus is King viewing

In some news that happened right before the Sunday Service, a tip was put out with a ceiling that was soon identified to be the United Palace.

Later on, just before the live ticket sales slated at 5PM was an official tweet from United Palace giving a link to buy the tickets.

What ensued was not unlike taking an L while trying to buy shoes from Kanye: a queue, a buggy page, and leaving empty handed after a long wait.

Made it through the splash…

The positive is that the tickets were actually entirely free, but were seen on Twitter going for as high as $200 per piece after the mess went down.

What’s Kanye’s Agenda?

Kanye West is a genius, a true artist spanning the width of the human spectrum.

Despite all the criticism he has gotten, despite cries for the old Kanye…I believe, among others, that Kanye could save the world. And not with his sneakers.

Author

JVG

JV was inspired to start Six Figure Sneakerhead after having more people asking questions than he could answer about sneaker reselling when they saw the success he was having. His intention is to create the top resource for sneaker resale education worldwide and loves to see when customers succeed, and he's always accepting feedback for all offerings which are constantly updated to suit the customer needs and the current times.