After a few days of rumors and some revived activity on social media, Kanye West has dropped a new song and video called “Wash Us in the Blood,” which features Travis Scott and was mixed by Dr. Dre. The song, from West’s recently announced tenth studio album “God’s Country,” is the first new music from the artist since last fall’s tag-team of his own “Jesus Is King” album and the West-led Sunday Service Choir’s “Jesus Is Born.”
As is obvious from the title, the song continues West’s recent gospel-themed music, but it’s harder edged than his last few albums, recalling the bruising beats of “Yeezy.” It also features a gospel choir (possibly sampled) and, toward the end, a brace of of self-referential lyrics”
“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.”
The remainder of the song’s lyrics alternate between rain, blood and washing metaphors and street themes (“Drop this for the thugs/
Know I grew up in the mud”).
The video is a hard-hitting mosaic of footage from recent protests, as well as from church services and even a snippet of video footage of the moments leading up to Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting in Georgia — one of the killings that has led to the mass protests in the U.S. in recent weeks. The densely edited clip, directed by Arthur Jafa, also includes computer-generated images of West.