Yeezus!

Lord, have mercy.

Rapper Kanye West, fresh off of squashing beef with late night talk show hosts and fights with paps, caused quite a stir over the weekend when he had “Jesus” make an appearance at a Seattle concert. From Necole Bitchie:

Kanye West isn’t a stranger to making folks uncomfortable and depending on how religious you are, he may give you a few of those moments during his “Yeezus” tour. Last night, the tour kicked off in Seattle, and a crowd of over 17,000 was treated to religious-themed visuals, as Kanye ran through tracks off of his new album, while taking it back, and performing cuts like “Jesus Walks,” “Flashing Lights” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” He was also accompanied by female disciples and ballerinas in flesh-toned costumes on stage, while the set, designed by his DONDA creative company, was filled with visually stimulating imagery throughout the show. Meanwhile, folks are yelling “Blasphemy” at Ye’s decision to perform some of his show from atop a mountain, and get a visit from a guy dressed as Jesus.

 

According to MTV:

 

West went on to rap “I Wonder,” an emotional roll of “Hey Mama” and “Stronger” before an actor dressed as Jesus answered the MC’s call. “White Jesus, is that you?” Kanye asks with childlike glee, finally taking off his mask before letting out a hilarious “Oh, sh–!” The religious-themed theatrics led to his 2004 single “Jesus Walks,” which would bring the Northwest crowd closer to the show-closing “Bound 2.” At the end of his two-hour sermon, Kanye and his 12 female disciples bowed to Jesus on the mountain top, while the ‘Ye faithful gave all praises, shouting “Yeezus” until the house lights came on.

 

Um… I’m pretty sure this will get written off by many as the work of an “artist”, blah blah blah, creativity, yada yada. I’m not the most uptight, traditional chick. I understand the concept of creative license. But I’m sick of so many in the world having seemingly no respect for other people’s religious beliefs, especially we Christians. It’s not cool, edgy or bold to blasphemous (or whatever this performance was about). It’s hackneyed. It’s a silly cliche. Lady Gaga dressed as a skanky nun and Nicki Minaj brought the “Pope” as a date to last year’s Grammy’s. We get it, we get it. Unlike a number of the commenters at Necole’s blog, I’m not frightened or in rage. I’m not clutching my pearls or grabbing sniffing salts at the sight of Kanye’s “White Jesus”. I’m rolling my eyes. 

And I’ll say a prayer for him. He probably needs it.