The road to Kanye West’s ninth studio album, “Jesus is King,” has been long and eventful. The journey began last September when the rapper tweeted that he would drop a new album, “Yandi,” on Sept. 29, 2018. He said it would coincide with his appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

However, when the day finally came, the album never materialized. Instead, Kanye drew attention on “SNL” for his after-the-credits rant about Donald Trump and his own plans to run for President in 2020, all the while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.

Although his speech drew criticism from the majority of his fan base, many were still anxious to hear Kanye’s new music. After first pushing for the album to be released in late November, the native Chicagoan later decided the project was not ready for release, tweeting, “After performing again, I realize the new album I’ve been working on isn’t ready yet.  I’ll announce the release date once it’s done. Thank you for understanding.”

However, much to the chagrin of fans everywhere, “Yandhi” never arrived.

Since the downfall of “Yandhi,” Kanye has taken a new direction in his life. Appearing to have a spiritual awakening, the controversial rapper tweeted that the “Holy Bible” was his favorite app and that recording with Chance the Rapper in Chicago restored his faith in Jesus Christ.

With this new religious mindset, Kanye launched “Sunday Service” in January 2019. It is a weekly series featuring a Christian choir that performs live music fusing the sounds of gospel, R&B and hip-hop. After his wife Kim Kardashian shared snippets of these performances, “Sunday Service” went viral and expanded from taking place on the West property or in Calabasas to more wide-scale venues like Coachella, Chicago and Atlanta. In these videos, Kanye appears carefree and joyous, a stark contrast from his angry “SNL” rant a few months prior.

As “Sunday Service” grew in popularity, so did speculation about the release of Kanye’s next studio album. On top of previewing new songs at these services, hype for the new album intensified when unfinished versions of “Yandhi” songs leaked online. With features by notable artists like Nicki Minaj, Ty Dollar $ign and the late XXXTentacion, fans grew even more anxious. The growing speculation of West’s new project was confirmed in late August when Kim tweeted a photo of the album’s title, tracklist and release date of Sept. 27, 2019.

In the days leading up to the release of “Jesus Is King,” rumors circulated that the album was once again delayed. After the project failed to surface on its original release date, fans speculated that Kanye would release it following his “Sunday Service” in Detroit on Friday. However, there were still no signs of “Jesus is King” heading into the weekend.

Kanye’s wife Kim appeared to clarify the situation by posting on her Instagram story that Kanye was making a few tweaks to the mixes and would be holding listening sessions in Chicago and New York over the weekend with the actual drop of the album coming on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Fans have grown restless after Kanye’s busy weekend where he seems to have done everything except publicly release his long-awaited album.

From dropping “Jesus Is King” merch to the mysterious appearance of “Yandhi” songs on the iTunes store as ringtones, Kanye has left fans only more confused about his upcoming project.

It is evident that no time constraints will control Kanye’s vision. He will release the album on his own terms when he feels it is ready. Until then, fans can only wait and follow along on the long road to “Jesus Is King.”