Kanye West is one of the few celebrities out there who are simultaneously sacred and profane. These past few years have been difficult, to say the least for West. His public support for President Donald Trump has divided his fans. West’s statements regarding slavery and mental health have started some serious controversy. Last spring, he withdrew to Wyoming to work on albums, as well as mend emotionally. The next fall West was making headlines for his meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office.
Since earlier this year, West has seemingly been on a quest for seeking peace and calm. He has been holding Sunday morning services topped with a gospel choir performing renditions of his songs. He has been live streaming on Instagram these special services including the most famous of his friends in attendance. Some guests have included Tyler The Creator, Katy Perry, and Orlando Bloom.
But this past weekend at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival West did not give a typical headliner performance. Instead, he asked festivalgoers to come to a secret location at 9 am on Sunday morning. According to the BBC, “Some attendees were genuinely looking to be spiritually uplifted. One woman who is a Kardashian obsessive just wanted to catch a glimpse of her inspirations…’Not so much Kanye,’ she scoffed.”
The secret location? Well, festivalgoers had to get there via on Uber drop-off point in which it was a two-and-a-half-mile-long path to the spot. Rumors circulated that West had ordered 500 trucks to bring in enough dirt to build a mountain. People took to Twitter to express their opinions. They joked that the performance was just West’s way of promoting his new clothing line. It might, in fact, be true as there was a stall at the field selling “CHURCH CLOTHES”.
During his Sunday Service, West was accompanied on his mountain by notable performers like Chance The Rapper. The focus, surprisingly, was not on Kanye at all. As the BBC also noted, “It was impossible not to feel the glory and goodness of such elated renditions.”
At the end of West’s song, “Jesus Walks” he knelt down on the mountain and his “disciples” circled all around him. That song begins with the line “mostly we at war with ourselves” which essentially describes West’s own struggles this past year. He then descended the mountain with his security team flocking his side and kissed Kim Kardashian West, who was attending with their child, North West.