Songoftheday 11/10/24 - You know what the Midwest is young and restless, where restless n***** might snatch your necklace...

"Jesus Walks" - Kanye West

from the album The College Dropout (2004)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 20

(of course in the worst week for this country as of yet, this ass-clown has to be on the spinning wheel of hits of 20 years ago.)

Today's song comes from future fascist fellator Kanye West, who twenty years ago was still an amazing musical prodigy, going from being a writer and producer to releasing his debut album The College Dropout, which had already spun off two hits with "Through The Wire" and "All Falls Down" along with the #1 collab with Twista and Jamie Foxx, "Slow Jams". The next single from the record was the centerpiece of the album, "Jesus Walks". Produced by West who wrote the track with Che "Rhymefest" Smith, the song explores faith through the gritty streets of the Midwest, specifically his home in Chicago, where kids on the street avoid the police and hustle for a living. He slips into the spiritual, inserting savvy lines like "the way Kathie Lee need Regis, that's the way I need Jesus". But he lays a dare to radio, saying they warned him not to rap about God but he's gonna do it anyway (damn why did he lose his damn everlovin' mind?). There is so many memorable lines from this song it's hard to pick a standout. His production unfolds like a forward march to battle punctuated by a choir backing that hypes the chorus into a call to action. The second of the three music videos made for the song is an epic display of symbolism with the lowlifes of society on "both sides" are supposedly watched over by God....

"Jesus Walks" came a notch away from reaching the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in July of 2004, while spending two weeks at #2 on their R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart and peaked at #3 on the Rap Songs list. On the radio, the song as he predicted missed the Mainstream Top-40 chart, but climbed to #3 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop list and #16 at the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic format. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in the United Kingdom (#16), Ireland (#18), and Australia (#37). At the Grammy Awards in 2005, "Jesus Walks" won for Best Rap Song, and was nominated for Song Of The Year, losing to John Mayer for his "Daughters".

A final single from the record, "The New Workout Plan", was the pinnacle of his "prep school wear" era, and rose to #59 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.

Kanye will be back to the series.

(10/10)

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Here's the original clip for the song, where West leads a church service...