Kanye West 2020: Jesus is King

***The following is an exert from my longer analysis of the Jupiter-Neptune square of 2019 in which I related the archetypal themes of the Jupiter-Neptune complex to the life and art of Kanye West. I am re-posting it now because Kanye West has recently announced that he is running for the US presidency, and this announcement has coincided with a sextile alignment of Jupiter and Neptune, the first major alignment since the square of 2019 (which is now approaching its second exact aspect). This somewhat surreal bid for the presidency is entirely consistent with the themes of the Jupiter-Neptune cycle, but it is also noteworthy for coinciding with a personal transit that West is currently undergoing. As an individual, West is currently experiencing the personal transit of Uranus opposite Uranus, a once-in-a-lifetime transit that tends to coincide with sudden breakthroughs amidst strong impulses towards rebellion and radical change. This confluence of factors (the personal Uranus transit combined with the general activation of the Jupiter-Neptune complex) has found dramatic expression through this act.***

In the field of pop music, 2019 marked the release of the album Jesus Is King by American rapper Kanye West. Both the album and the artist himself are paradigmatic expressions of the Jupiter-Neptune complex. West, who was born with his natal Sun in conjunction to an exact Jupiter-Neptune opposition, embodies many of the diverse - and at times paradoxical - tendencies of this archetypal complex. West's music is expansive (Jupiter) in sound, scope, and ambition, incorporating a wide range of influences, and tending towards sprawling and highly elaborate compositions. His lyrics traverse idealism (Neptune), braggadocio (Jupiter), and absurdity. West often seems to be enchanted by the trappings of wealth (Neptune→Jupiter), and with projecting an image of lavish opulence. Despite his bombastic facade, West clearly exhibits the Jupiter→Neptune trait of heightened sensitivity - and occasional vulnerability - to his tumultuous inner life, and to the happenings of the wider world. Furthermore, West's life and persona seem to exude an acute sense of unreality (Neptune) - at once enigmatic and bizarre. His many controversial, and often contradictory, statements have generated much confusion over the years.

In his cruder moments, West embodies the Sun-Jupiter-Neptune tendency towards narcissistic inflation: his larger-than-life persona, and his tendency towards self-aggrandisement, have often assumed comically exaggerated (Jupiter) proportions that have opened him to ridicule. His career spanning infatuation with his own celebrity persona has taken a variety of forms including: unflinching self-commentary, profound introspection, torrents of self-referential lyrics and imagery, and numerous self-comparisons to other famous individuals. In examining West's persona, we see a modern day Narcissus (Neptune), forever enchanted by his own reflection - an image that is entirely congruent with the placement of his Sun in hard aspect to Jupiter-Neptune: the solar ego (Sun) functioning as an object of mythical enchantment (Neptune). West has occasionally identified himself as a divine figure, although it is not clear to what extent he actually believes this, as his lyrics often straddle the line between irony and sincerity - "I am a God/So hurry up with my damn massage/In a French-ass restaurant/Hurry up with my damn croissants." 

Kanye West / GOOD Music

Given West's history of irreverence and self aggrandisement, it might seem strange that his most recent album is a work of evangelical Christianity, the fact that it doesn't is surely testament to the mystifying nature of its creator and his paradoxical persona. Jesus Is King was released in October 2019 and - with the panache for which West is renowned - combines the hip hop and gospel genres to novel effect. From an archetypal perspective, this album is an unmistakable expression of the Jupiter-Neptune complex: the title alone providing a succinct evocation of the combined archetypes of Neptune and Jupiter; of divinity (Neptune) and royalty (Jupiter); of Jesus crowned King (Jupiter→Neptune).

Prior to recording the album, West claims to have experienced a spiritual awakening that led him to embrace Christianity. This new religiosity has driven West to denounce certain aspects of his former life, which he defines as "the god of ego, the god of money, the god of pride, the god of fame." The true depth of West's conversion remains an open question, although it seems salient that at the time of recording Jesus Is King the Jupiter-Neptune square was in hard aspect alignment to West's natal Sun-Jupiter-Neptune complex. This is a highly significant personal transit for West that could signify a period of profound spiritual growth. The potential of this transit is, however, liable to the same pitfalls that have plagued West throughout his life, namely the tendency towards spiritual egotism, and an inflated sense of idealism that could later prove to be empty or naive.

The vinyl release (above), with its swirling blue artwork, bears an uncanny resemblance to the physical planet Neptune, and the album is suffused with watery motifs and baptismal references: on track "God Is", West sings "I know Christ is the fountain that filled my cup", and collaborator Ant Clemmons contributes the following vocal to "Water": 

"Clean us like the rain in spring/Take the chlorine out our conversation/Let Your light reflect on me/I promise I'm not hiding anything/It's water/We are water/Pure as water/Like a newborn daughter".

As West and Clemmons recognise, there is a deep connection between water and spirituality. Water can cleanse, purify, renew, and rejuvenate; it can reflect and illuminate. This has been understood intuitively by the world's religious traditions, and ritualised in the form of baptism. Likewise, the ocean has long been a symbol of mysticism and the sacred; of the undifferentiated source from which life emerged. It would seem that the universe is itself a living symbol, an endlessly evolving evocation of cosmic inner life; of the archetypal matrix from which we emerge, and with which we share our being.