Use This Gospel

American saxophonist Kenny G started working with West after performing for him and his wife Kim Kardashian on Valentines Day 2019.

In December 2018, West collaborator Timbaland and American record producer Federico Vindver took part in recording sessions with numerous rappers in Miami, including Saweetie and Lil Mosey.[2] West had arrived at the sessions in under 24 hours, with Vindver recalling that him and Timbaland were "blown away" when West started "playing tracks for the Yandhi project."[lower-alpha 1][2] Vindver detailed the collaborative process between West and Timbaland, saying: "Timbaland would freestyle with him in the studio — Tim on the drum machine, Kanye singing in real time. He wanted to make more healing music at that time. But he was still finding what it was."[2] Mexican-American music producer Angel Lopez recalled that "Law of Attraction" came about after a freestyle where West hummed the main melody for the track.[4] After the session, Lopez told Vindver to add vocoder to the vocal. Lopez recalled that West "went insane" after being played the track and grabbed his microphone to freestyle the chorus.[4] American singer-songwriter Ant Clemons wrote a version of the song titled "Law of Attraction", which was leaked online in July 2019.[4][5][6] Lopez recalled that out of the 70 songs that were done in sessions with Timbaland, only "Law of Attraction" was kept, which according to Lopez was "a crucial piece of music that we worked on, which kept us in the conversation a week later".[4]

On Valentine's Day 2019, West invited Kenny G to perform music for his wife Kim Kardashian in their living room.[7] After the performance, West allowed Kenny G to join him in the studio to hear and work on the album.[7] Once he had heard a number of tracks, Kenny G suggested that his saxophone "would sound really good" on "Use This Gospel".[8][7] West pulled out a microphone and Kenny G recorded his part, keeping the track for later reverb and EQ tweaks.[8] In an October 2019 interview with New Zealand DJ Zane Lowe, West recalled initially not wanting to rap until he was persuaded by No Malice of Clipse to do so on "Use This Gospel".[9] The song marked the reunion of Clipse, coming five years after No Malice promised that they would never reunite.[9] Pusha T of Clipse expressed his feelings towards the duo collaborating again in a phone call with Vulture, stating: "I'm the younger brother, man. I mean, I'm happier than — I can't even express it!"[9] He claimed that "The whole theme of the Jesus Is King album totally speaks to where my brother is" and elaborated, stating that him and West "definitely bonded, probably way more than me and Ye bonded in the creation of this."[9] A feature from Clipse was requested by West, though Pusha T had been unsure about whether or not No Malice would agree to do it.[9]

The instrumental consists of what sounds like a "open car door alert",[10] which is sampled from the song "Costume Party", by Two Door Cinema Club.[11][12] Throughout the track, harmonic vocoder tones mimicking West's melody,[13] which was handled by Federico Vindver,[4] can be heard. Towards the end of the track, Kenny G contributes a saxophone solo.[10]

"Use This Gospel" was released on October 25, 2019, as the tenth and penultimate track on West's ninth studio album Jesus Is King.[14] However, it was originally slated to be released as the album's final track.[15] At West's Sunday Service in Inglewood, California on October 27, the choir performed the song with West, Clipse and Kenny G.[16] During the closing line of No Malice's verse, “Just hold on to your brother when his faith lost”, Clipse hugged each other.[16]

In the week of Jesus Is King's release, "Use This Gospel" entered at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 17.3 million streams.[17] The entry gave Clipse their fifth track to chart on the Hot 100 and marked the duo's first entry on the chart since the single "Ma, I Don't Love Her" in 2003.[18] It also stood as the 12th track including Kenny G to chart on the Hot 100 and marked his first entry on the chart since the 2000 single "Auld Lang Syne" reached number seven in January of that year.[17][18] This became Kenny G's first track to enter the top 40 of the Hot 100 in the 2010s and led to him joining Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2 and "Weird Al" Yankovic as one of the acts with tracks to chart in the top 40 in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s; Kenny G was the first act to do this since U2 in 2017.[17] That same week, the song debuted at number seven on the US Christian Songs and Gospel Songs charts, respectively, becoming one of the seven tracks to chart identically on them.[19] In its second week on the respective charts, the song rose to number six on both of them.[20][21]

West's concert film Jesus Is King was released to accompany the album of the same name, which includes a scene in which West hums a portion of the song while he holds a baby.[22] Kanye revealed via Twitter on September 18, 2020, that "Use This Gospel" is his daughter North West's favourite song by him.[23] Simultaneously, Kanye West announced a remix of the song by American record producer Dr. Dre that features fellow rapper Eminem.[23]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[24]

• Writer(s) – Kanye West, Angel Lopez, Derek Watkins, Federico Vindver, Gene Thornton, Jahmal Gwin, Jordan Timothy Jenks, Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, Rennard East, Terrence Thornton, Timothy Mosley
• Production – West, Lopez, DrtWrk, Timbaland
• Co-production – BoogzDaBeast, Pi'erre Bourne