In our interview with Travis Greene, we asked him about Kayne West and his Sunday Service, his response was, "The Bible says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, if God can use a donkey to speak, then he can use anybody and I’m fine with that.
That brief discussion led me to write this article, "Behind the Mask." Kanye West's Sunday Service was birthed out of the rapper's evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ. It started out as a way to heal himself and I'm all for that. As some I was definitely skeptical at first because of his past situations, including interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, showing a naked wax figure of her in his music video for "Famous" and others we all know about. One of the things that I took notice of was that he never seemed remorseful or aware of his actions.
So, when Kayne's Sunday Service starting taking off and was being embraced by the Gospel community, I wondered was it genuine or was he hiding behind something. Was he using Gospel music as a mask to avoid being really "seen" as the controversies that he was involved in may have started to tarnish his reputation.
It is not my place to judge anyone, Travis Greene is right, "We have all fallen short." But, one thing that the Gospel music industry and it's fans do is when the secular artists come over we eat up everything they do. Travis Greene did say something profound, he stated that Kayne's conversion could be the greatest thing the Gospel music has ever seen. That may be true, but I wondered why wouldn't he say that his release or any other Gospel artist could achieve that or should strive to achieve that.
I will have to say one thing I admire about Kayne, he's not ashamed to call himself a Christian and put it on full display. Get a Gospel/Christian artist or rapper to crossover and they'll drop that Christian title in a minute. I'm sorry, but I've been doing this a long time and have seen it happen, what's wrong with being labeled a Christian rapper or artist, be proud of it, don't think of it as being put in a box. Travis Greene is right in a way, what Kayne is doing can be the biggest thing in Gospel music and I think it's something when secular artists can put us to shame, because overall they don't hide behind masks, they are who they are.
My hope is that this is truly who Kayne is. It is a little alarming when his wife, Kim Kardashain says he's on his own journey. We're so easy to quote scriptures like, "We have all fallen short", but what about, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Many people wear masks to impress others and be fake and we ask the question, "What are you trying to hide behind?" I really can't say if Kayne is being fake, If people are getting healed I applaud that, if they are getting delivered that's great for the kingdom. So, I hope we're seeing the real man behind the mask, not some pretend person, because it will be, "One of the greatest things the Gospel music industry has ever witnessed." God loves the real us, not the person we sometimes pretend to be, He loves the person, Behind the Mask".