WITH the release of “Jesus Is King” — Kanye West’s gospel-indebted ninth solo album — came a promise: On Christmas Day, West would release a second Christianity-themed album titled “Jesus Is Born.”

Despite nagging difficulties with releasing albums on time — “Jesus Is King” saw numerous delays and its predecessor, “Yandhi,” was never released — West’s latest was right on schedule, hitting streaming services on Christmas afternoon.

While “Jesus Is King” used gospel as a starting point, pulling textures from worship music to add depth to West’s typically genre-hopping brand of hip-hop, “Jesus Is Born” was promised as a more traditional approach to the genre.

West re-committed himself to Christianity in 2019, speaking publicly about his faith and kicking off a now-long-running series of performances with his choir, Sunday Service.

West has recently, in collaboration with the Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft, expanded those performances into operas.

“Jesus Is Born,” as explained by West, is his first full-length recorded effort with the Sunday Service choir. The album also has the opportunity to be classified as a Christmas album, a potentially lucrative avenue. (SD-Agencies)