Kanye West Nearly Quit Rap Because "It's the Devil's Music"

Adam Tyson, Kanye West’s pastor from Placerita Bible Church in California, recently revealed that the rapper almost quit rap.

In a new interview with Apologia Studios, Tyson narrated ‘Ye’s near-departure from the genre after the rapper called it “the devil’s music.” “One time, he told me that he wasn’t going to rap. I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Well, that’s the devil’s music,’” the pastor said around the 23:30 mark in the interview. He continued his affirmation of West’s gift, adding, “I said, ‘Hey man, rap is a genre. You can rap for God.’ I think he was already thinking about it a little bit, but I definitely said, ‘Hey bro, I think you need to use your talents that God’s given you and use that platform for God.’”

Moving on with the interview, Tyson also explained how West began attending his church earlier in May. The pastor states that a young couple — one of Kim Kardashian West‘s former nannies and a former adidas staff member who worked on YEEZY — initially applied as new members, and ‘Ye’s curiosity about the church group pushed him to reach out to Tyson. “[Kanye] said, ‘About five weeks ago, I got radically saved,’” Tyson said. “He just started telling me a little about his testimony.”

Tyson further elaborates on West’s testimony, where the rapper claims he’d been guilty of the sins attached to his position as a highly-distinguished rapper. “The guilt of sin brought him down low,” the pastor revealed. “He would say the devil basically brought him to a place where he just felt like he was in bondage to his sin. So he said, ‘I got delivered.’”

Watch the full interview above.

In case you missed it, West recently shared BTS footage of his upcoming Jesus Is King IMAX film.