Jesus Walks - Music Videos

Music Videos

In total, three separate music videos were made for "Jesus Walks," with the second and third financed by West himself out-of-pocket. All three were premiered on June 21, 2004 at TriBeCa Cinemas, where West explained, "That song evokes so much emotion, and four minutes of imagery limits the ideas that you're supposed to give for the songs, so I had to do three." Kanye had originally wanted Hype Williams to direct the first version of "Jesus Walks" but decided not to because he had heard that Jay-Z was thinking about enlisting Williams for "99 Problems." Instead, West went with Michael Haussman for the music video, which was filmed in California and budgeted at $650,000. In the video, West is portrayed as a preacher rapping before a congregation from a pulpit while angels guide a prostitute, an alcoholic, and a drug dealer to his Baptist church.

"His hate is so all-consuming that he tries to carry the burning cross back up the mountain. That's the physical manifestation of his hate, and he wants it to get to the top of the mountain for the world to see. He's so blinded by his hate that he doesn't . But God forgives him and causes it to rain, therefore extinguishing, and that's a sort of baptism; washing away his sins. I doubt anyone's anyone got all that, but it's nice to at least make an attempt to build in some layers. I know a lot of it is going to be lost in the translation of just being a music video, but the song is so deep and powerful it necessitates going the extra step with the visual metaphors."

West was not satisfied with the music video and convinced then-label head Dame Dash to commission another, this time for $500,000. The second version was directed by Chris Milk and takes place in the deep South. The core concept behind the video, which Milk described as his most complex narrative, was to take various deplorable characters and merge them with biblical iconography in order convey the message that God is with them. The secondary objective was to display the duality of man. The video stands as the most metaphorical of the three, as it features West rapping in a hallway which is filled alternately with hellish flames and angelic light, in conjunction with footage of drug traffickers being pursued through a barren desert by police, prison camp inmates battling with guards, and a Ku Klux Klansman setting himself on fire while carrying a burning cross up a mountain. The music video was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2005 Video Music Awards where it received the award for Best Male Video. It also won Video of the Year at the 2005 BET Awards. PopMatters listed this version of "Jesus Walks" as the sixth best music video of 2004.

The final version of "Jesus Walks" was filmed in West's hometown of Chicago and co-directed by himself with Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah of Channel Zero. Filmed guerrilla-style within the course of one day at a budget of $40,000, the third version was the least expensive of the three. It depicts Jesus in the modern day, literally walking beside the protagonist as he travels from his home to church, performing miracles along the way. The video premiered on MTV.com on June 23, 2004.