Kanye West has returned. Over the past several days, we’ve seen the Chicago icon back to his usual moves on Twitter — reminding us that he’s working with Dr. Dre, announcing new clothing deals with Gap, and more. Now, we’re able to check out the first new drop from Kanye’s forthcoming album God’s Country, titled “Wash Us In The Blood.” Those that were able to enjoy his “Nebuchadnezzar” opera got a first listen of the instrumental, which sees production from West, Dem Jointz, Boogz, FnZ, and Ronny J.
Featuring assistance from frequent collaborator Travis Scott, the high-energy track starts with a call to worship of sorts (“shower us with your love, wash us in the blood”) before Kanye changes the subject matter to his detractors and their wish for him to change:
“And they tryna control ‘Ye, they want me to calm down, they don’t want me to be Kanye, they don’t want Kanye to be Kanye, they wanna sign a fake Kanye/
They tryna sign a calm ‘Ye, that’s right I call him Calm-Ye, but don’t take me the wrong way, but don’t take me the wrong way, ‘cause God took me a long way/
They wanna edit the interviews, they wanna take it to interludes, cut a hole sinister to inner loose, you know that it’s fake if it’s in the news…/”
The accompanying visual comes courtesy of Arthur Jafa and is filled with imagery of this year’s chaos — there’s footage of patients struggling to breathe due to Coronavirus, protests that have taken place around the country, and even footage of Breonna Taylor, who lost her life at the hands of law enforcement. Kanye and Travis can be seen peppered throughout the clip, with Ye being given what looks like the helmet from Iron Man’s nano suit via special effects. In the end, we see West’s oldest daughter North during what looks like one of Kanye’s well-known Sunday Service events.
Press play on “Wash Us In The Blood” below.