(AllHipHop News) Kanye West’s plan to take his Sunday Service religious concert to Jamaica has angered local pastors.
The rapper is debuting his show in Kingston’s Emancipation Park on the Caribbean island tonight, the first time he has taken the religious music event outside the U.S.
However, religious leaders in Jamaica have questioned the star’s commitment to God, despite West’s claims he is a born again Christian.
“I don’t know him (West) as a Christian and someone who is being led by the Holy Spirit,” local pastor Stephen Blake told the Jamaica Star. We have to examine the motive here.”
He is planning to take a team to the venue before the Sunday Service in an attempt to cleanse it of any evil.
“From a spiritual perspective, I am not 100 percent comfortable,” he explained. “Therefore, I am calling for the church to pray against this, just in case there is anything negative associated with this service that Kanye is coming to Jamaica to keep.”
The clergyman played down his congregation’s fears West was evil, instead expressing fears the “Jesus Walks” musician is embracing religion for publicity.
“Some say that he is the Antichrist, but nothing like that,” Blake mused. “He is just a regular man seeking to stay in the limelight. Him go mad one day, then him say Trump the next day, and then him come with religion. If his motive is to get attention and stay relevant, then that is wrong.”
Another local rector, Father Sean Major-Campbell, advised “caution” over the star’s motives but thought the event was just an “entertainment option.”
Others, including Jamaican dancehall producer Cordel ‘Skatta’ Burrell, are angry over the disruption brought by West’s event, which has been backed by the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Burrell added: “His Jesus agenda is solely for the benefit of generating sales for his upcoming gospel album and he’s only playing chess.”
The rapper’s gospel album, Jesus Is King, and an accompanying documentary film are due out next Friday.