"Jesus Walks" is released

Why it matters

The ARC Choir sample on "Jesus Walks" is one of the more legally fraught samples in Kanye's catalog. ARC Choir was an a-cappella vocal group affiliated with the Addicts Rehabilitation Center, a substance-abuse program in Harlem. Kanye sampled their 1997 record "Walk With Me" without clearing the publishing. The clearance was eventually worked out and ARC Choir received royalties, but the issue dragged on for years. The song itself is built around a marching-band drum pattern Kanye added underneath the choir sample. Then Kanye raps three verses that are not particularly subtle in their argument. He compares hustlers and prostitutes and Jesus and concludes that he wants Jesus to walk with all of them. Kanye's voice on the track is in the more conversational, less rage-driven register he was working in across The College Dropout. The closing prayer ("God show me the way because the Devil's tryin' to break me down") is the line most listeners remember. You can hear the song on a Sunday morning in some churches. You can also hear it at a Friday-night club. Both work.