When Kanye West's hotly anticipated album Jesus Is King dropped last week, the controversial rapper yet again divided opinion. The gospel album – which includes a track encouraging listeners to swap Instagram for church (try telling that to your wife, Kanye) – has been heralded as ‘epic’ by some but derided as ‘straight wackiness’ by others.
Either way, the album further shows Kanye’s commitment to the church. Since January, the self-styled ‘rap genius’ has appeared weekly at Sunday Service – a music-focused, gospel-led ceremony featuring informal prayer and including celebrity guests, from Courtney Love to Brad Pitt. When it first launched as an invite-only weekly event in Los Angeles, it was the hottest ticket in town.
But while Kanye, 42, becomes ever more involved with the church, there have been signs that his new ideology isn’t sitting comfortably with his marriage to reality star and internet-breaker Kim Kardashian. Indeed, there has been evidence of some friction between the couple, which played out on a recent episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. During one particularly tense exchange, Kanye scolded Kim, 39, for appearing ‘too sexy’ in her lingerie-like Thierry Mugler pink corset dress at the Met Gala. He complained that the outfit ‘affected my soul and my spirit as someone that’s married and the father of four kids’.
Kanye’s devotion to his new lifestyle, according to Grazia’s source, has undoubtedly created tension behind the scenes. ‘Kim and her edgy, ultra-glamorous image is an issue for Kanye,’ our source explains. ‘For him, it’s synonymous with the guilt he’s spoken of for objectifying and degrading women in the past through his lyrics.’ For example, when Kanye slated her Met outfit, he acknowledged his past saying that he’d gone through a ‘transition’. But Kim believes that Kanye is hypocritical. He has always encouraged her to dress confidently, and personally styled her for years in a revealing way. ‘You built me up to be this sexy person with confidence,’ Kim told Kanye. ‘Just because you’re on a journey and transformation doesn’t mean I’m in the same spot with you.’
The couple, who have been married since 2014, also have differing opinions on parenthood. While Kim wants to dress six-year-old North West like, well, a Kardashian, Kanye has banned crop tops and make-up. The dispute caused, according to Kim, a ‘big fight in the household.’
Our source adds that Kanye is ‘genuinely worried’ about Kim’s glamorous in uence on their children. Kim on the other hand, fears Kanye, who has always been spiritual – in 2004 he claimed he had accepted ‘Jesus as his saviour’ – but never so evangelical, is not ‘living in the real world.’
‘She worries about Kanye taking his new message too literally and has asked him not to be so extreme, but he’s very stubborn and lives by his own rule book,’ Grazia’s source explains. ‘Kim runs her own beauty label KKW and experimented with make-up from an early age. She believes that it’s every girl’s choice to wear make-up to make them feel strong and empowered.
Their different opinions and lifestyles have attracted some attention within their inner circle, although insiders have also noted that, with four children, two gargantuan worldwide brands (KKW and Yeezy Clothing, as well as Kim’s new shapewear range, Skims), Kanye’s new album and his dedication to Sunday Service (which has seen him perform many times around the world this year), it would be a struggle for any couple to act as though things were perfect.
‘Kanye just doesn’t do well in public and that’s the polar opposite for Kim, who thrives in the spotlight and has never met a camera she didn’t like,’ adds our source. ‘If he had his way, they would literally be living on a farm in Wyoming, while she would prefer to be pursuing Hollywood projects and going to events two or three nights a week.’
For now, though, while Kim and Kanye are at a huge crossroads in their lives and marriage, they are dedicated to each other and their family. ‘They’re a really great partnership in many areas of their lives – together and separately,’ our source adds. Indeed, Kim has always stood by Kanye during his most controversial moments, including his vocal support of President Trump last year. Last week, he described a $68 million tax refund as a ‘gift from God’, but it seems more likely to be the result of tax breaks for the wealthy, introduced by Trump. While Kim doesn’t agree with Kanye politically (she’s publicly said that while he isn’t the ‘best communicator’, he ‘has the best heart’), the huge global brand they have painstakingly built together is no small consideration either.
‘Kanye is still the first person Kim bounces her business ideas off, while he looks to her for tips about fashion and practical issues with the kids. Their friends feel the marriage can be turned around, but it’s going to require a huge commitment on both sides.’ Last year, the couple renewed their vows to celebrate their fifth anniversary, so it seems that they’re both prepared to make that commitment.
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