Use This Gospel
The song features guest appearances from hip hop duo Clipse and jazz saxophonist Kenny G. It was produced by West, Angel Lopez, DrtWrk, Federico Vindver, and Timbaland, with co-production from BoogzDaBeast and Pi'erre Bourne.
A gospel number with a maximalist style, it samples Two Door Cinema Club's "Costume Party" and includes a saxophone solo from Kenny G. Lyrically, the song features Clipse offering self-reflection from each member's different stages and West delivering traditional Christian prayer language.
[1][2] West considered this idea "cool" and pulled out a microphone to record Kenny G's part, who kept the track for later reverb and EQ tweaks.
[2] Kenny G declared he was highly proud "somebody of Kanye's caliber" that could call a lot of different people believed he "would be a person that he would want in this intimate vibe, serenading his wife".
[2] Discussing his appearance on the album prior to release, Kenny G summarized how he had "heard little snippets" that were posted online, but not the final song and was "sure it's cool" from what he listened to.
"[4] Kenny G developed a friendship with West after they worked together, recalling fond memories of trading texts with the rapper, and describing him as "very nice [and] sweet".
"[6] The rapper admitted that he had a lack of hope for a reunion due to No Malice turning down profitable gigs, though attributed this to his collaborator possibly feeling he should have been more present in his works.
He said the entire theme of the album "totally speaks to where my brother is", and elaborated, assuring that No Malice and West "bonded, probably way more than me and Ye [did]" for the song's creation.
"[6] Prior to sampling Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club on the song, West had shared the music video for their single "I Can Talk" (2009) on his blog in 2010.
[7][15] The song is constructed around dinky keys that were described as sounding like an open door car alert,[8][9][10][11] contributed by Argentine record producer Federico Vindver.
[13] On the hook, West provides traditional Christian prayer language, including the lyrics "We call on your blessings / In the Father, we put our faith" and "Use this gospel for protection, it's a hard road to heaven".
[18][22] In December 2018, West collaborator Timbaland and Vindver took part in recording sessions with numerous rappers in Miami, including Saweetie and Lil Mosey.
"[28] West and Timbaland were reported to be recording together in Miami again during January 2019 for completion of the album, alongside rappers such as Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, and YNW Melly.
[b][31] Lopez recalled that the track "Law of Attraction" stemmed from a freestyle session with Timbaland, during which West hummed its main melody.
[34] Reference tracks from British singer Dua Lipa for "Law of Attraction" were included among the leaks, although she and Ant Clemons remained off of Use This Gospel.
[42] West accompanied the release of Jesus Is King with his concert film of the same name, which includes him humming a portion of the song in a cappella during the final scene.
[49] Pitchfork's Rawiya Kameir believed the maximalism of Kanye West's previous "leather-skirt phase" covers the song's "expansive soundscape" and questioned if Kenny G's solo is "the 2019 equivalent of throwing Elton John onto a hook, just because you can", further branding "the inherent tension" between Clipse as the album's "most interesting moment" thematically.
[13] At NOW Magazine, Matthew Progress viewed it as a potential exception to the album's lackluster material, appreciating the "unprecedented reuniting" of Clipse and Kenny G's feature.
[50] Will Rosebury of Clash declared that the song features the duo's "long-awaited reunion" and saw it as "a magnificent crescendo to an album that feels like it's been meticulously composed".
[20] In The Independent, Roisin O'Connor highlighted Kenny G's "vibrant sax solo" and picked the song as one of the album's "few tracks that really hark back to West's older sounds", resembling his 2010 single "Power".
[21] Ross Horton similarly commented for The Line of Best Fit that it is one of the tracks to keep, observing how "the limitless, endless power" displayed on West's fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) is evoked.
[53] In a lukewarm review at Entertainment Voice, Adi Mehta stated that West "sticks to relatively tradition prayer language", with "some more poetic lines" performed by No Malice.
[26] Mehta also thought Kenny G's appearance is possibly "the single oddest detail" of Jesus Is King, describing him as sounding like his true self by performing with "a passion that fits the spiritual focus" and affirming he makes the song "highly original".
[26] Ben Devlin expressed similar feelings in musicOMH; he called Clipse's reunion the album's "biggest spectacle" with their verses that "go over well", but saw West's "digitised vocal harmonies" as "a little clunky" and threatening to "overshadow the proceedings".
Joey Chini provided a mixed review of "Use This Gospel" for Exclaim!, highlighting West's delivery of the "great hook", though he complained that Clipse "are criminally underused" on their reunion and viewed Kenny G's "brilliant sax solo" as completely "isolated from the rest of the song".
[23] Dean Van Nguyen from The Guardian believed the reunion "promise[s] a beautiful subplot" to the album, describing the duo as "artistically reconciled" by Pusha T's trust "in West's vision" lining up with "No Malice's insistence that his music carries a positive message".
[8] Entertainment Weekly's Brian Josephs depicted Clipse's reunion as highly "haphazard" and affirmed the verses "work well enough" due to their lyricism, but wrote that it is "mixed like they found really good gospel hums online" rather than "veterans making a song".
As part of a "last minute magic gift", Khaled asked West if he could include the remix on God Did since it perfectly fit the album's theme.
[79] Armon Sadler from Uproxx stated the remix has "an air of early 2000s Eminem nostalgia with harder-hitting drums" and moderate rock influence that he attributed to Dr. Dre, going on to assure the rapper's "usual speed raps and flow switches" are used for "a surprising effort as he makes several religious references".
[80] At Variety, Jem Aswad took particular interest in Eminem's verse for showing "a strong sense of faith" that is consistent with the message of both Jesus Is King and God Did.
