Kanye West made a special appearance at the evangelical event Awaken 2020, and came prepared with his very own testimony, according to Complex. The rapper touched on his beliefs, mental health and something he hasn’t been particularly open about in the past: his struggle with alcohol.
Backed by his trusty Sunday Service choir, Kanye West performed ‘Jesus Walks’, and then the rapper immediately began speaking to the audience about how he is a “Trojan horse for God”. Why a Trojan horse? Well according to West, he started his career with “secular” music, bringing in fans, before he moved towards a Gospel-heavy sound. This journey to God however West credits to improving his mental health dramatically, so who is to stop him?
“I’ve been to the mental hospital and back, working for the devil,” he said. “But Jesus saves. No matter how long you’ve been away, no matter how long you’ve been in the dark, the light is right there, ready to save. To give you the confidence.”
Kanye has always been fairly open about his vices, including porn and opioids, but he shared his struggles with alcohol; making reference to the infamous 2009 VMAs when he showed up Hennessy in hand on the red carpet and later crashed the stage as Taylor Swift was accepting an award. “I was drinking on the red carpet, and then running on stage a few minutes later,” he said about the evening in question. “And everyone around said, ‘Nah, he ain’t really no alcoholic.'”
He went to explain that he was able to curb his habit after nearly getting a drink one afternoon. “There was some vodka in the refrigerator at my office, and sometimes I would just go ahead and take a drink from it in the middle of the day, and I was walking toward that kitchenette area, and I stopped myself and I said, ‘Devil you’re not gonna finna beat me today,'” he told the audience. “Every day that I don’t pick up that drink, I beat the devil.”
Hallelujah, listen to ‘On God’ by Kanye West below.
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