Kanye Hosting “Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Experience” In Detroit Tonight

Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella

Kanye Hosting “Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Experience” In Detroit Tonight

Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella

Kanye West was supposed to release a new album called Jesus Is King today. In one of the least surprising developments in recent memory, the album did not come out. But maybe it still will tonight?

The reason for my optimism, if you can call this strange combination of dread and curiosity optimism, is that Kanye is hosting an event in Detroit tonight called “Jesus Is King: A Kanye West Experience.” It’s happening at the Fox Theatre at 8PM local time, and admission is free — or it least it was free before tickets sold out.

Kanye has been hosting his Sunday Services across the country this year — at Coachella on Easter Sunday, in Dayton following a mass shooting, in his hometown of Chicago — but this event is notably not called Sunday Service. Maybe that’s just because it’s happening on a Friday night rather than a Sunday morning. But putting “Jesus Is King” in the title of the event, on the day the album was supposed to drop, is at least a little suspicious.

Anyway, godspeed to all Motor City residents looking for a way inside the Fox tonight. And if the album actually does materialize on a goddamn Friday night, godspeed to all the critics and bloggers out there too.

UPDATE: According to Rolling Stone, Kanye already did one performance in Detroit today, a Friday afternoon Sunday Service at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater. Meanwhile tonight’s event at the Fox is a “movie thing” according to a rep from the theatre: “We just found out about it, actually. We usually don’t [book any events day-of], but it’s Kanye West, he can get away with anything.” The event will reportedly be phone-free, with attendees forced to lock their phones in Yondr pouches. Watch footage from today’s Sunday Service below.

UPDATE 2: The Jesus Is King merch store opened Friday night, and Kim Kardashian shared on Instagrammed that the album will be out Sunday after listening sessions in Chicago and NYC this weekend. She says an IMAX film is coming next month too.

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