Kim Burrell Slammed for Working on Jay-Z's '4:44' Album Where Rapper's Mom Comes Out as Lesbian
Popular gospel singer and pastor Kim Burrell, who was publicly vilified last December for a fiery sermon in which she preached against a "perverted homosexual spirit" embarrassing the church, is now being criticized for collaborating with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z on his new album 4:44, where his mother, Gloria Carter, comes out as a lesbian.
"The Bible speaks of these so called 'ministers' and says that they 'creep into the houses of silly women' to take advantage of their lack of covering and their sinful oppression. Kim Burrell has proven that she, driven by her desire for fame...has caused many of her followers to become confused and misled by her affectation," wrote Ex Ministries founder Eld. G. Craige Lewis about Burrell's collaboration.
Burrell, who is the founder and pastor of Love and Liberty Fellowship Church International in Texas, ripped into what she said is a spirit of homosexuality creeping into the church in December in her controversial sermon.
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"Anybody in the room who is living with a homosexual spirit, beg God to free you. If you play with it in 2017 you'll die from it. If you play with it in 2017 in God's house you'll die from it. Y'all came to hear about carnal, I came to tell you about sin," she said bluntly after calling out late megachurch pastor Eddie Long, who died in January from an undisclosed cancer, and media personality Andrew Caldwell.
"That perverted homosexual spirit is a spirit of delusion and confusion and it has deceived many men and women. And it has caused a stain on the body of Christ. And those homosexual spirits have been angry and they come up against you [saying] 'you gotta love everybody.' Sit down you serpent," she said with a strong rebuke.
She further went on to defend her condemnation of the lifestyle as biblical and said she did not regret the sermon.
In the ensuing months after the sermon went viral, however, Burrell explained in a Facebook Live video earlier this month that her brother, Kevin, died in February and Jay-Z invited her to sing on his new album's title track "4:44."
"Back in February, I lost my brother, since I've last been with you guys in December 2016, so much has happened, but I want everybody to know that I've been OK. I've been just fine and if you all want to do me one favor, don't even try to fight it. Who cares? Who cares right? When I say who cares, [I mean] from all the negative," she said.
She said on his death bed, her brother told her she would have "much success" but did not understand what it meant until Jay-Z's new album was released on June 30.
"And what he (Kevin) was telling me to go do is what was just revealed on June 30th. And I was going to LA because Jay-Z called and Jay-Z wanted me to come and do a record with him and I did. And I hope you guys are enjoying it. It's the title cut '4:44,'" she said joyfully.
She then went into a discussion of biblical numerology which Lewis describes as a "satanic practice."
"What's so great about all of that is I don't think I've ever shared this with you but my angel numbers are 222. If you ever see 222, they represent angels for me. And I looked them up and I've done so much research on what 222 could possibly mean and the 222 represent my present angels. So for them to be doubled at 4:44, he had double angels with him," she said of her brother.
"So for me to go to Jay-Z at the time, I had no idea until June 30th when it came out what the title of the song was going to be. I just knew the content and so I'm so proud to say that on June 30th the song 4:44 came out and that's me on it on the new Jay-Z record," Burrell added.
It is unclear if Burrell was aware but Jay-Z's mother, Gloria Carter, celebrates her lesbianism in the third track, "Smile," on the album. The Christian Post reached out to Burrell's church as well as her booker for comment Wednesday but a response was not available at the time this report was published.
"Mama had four kids, but she's a lesbian/Had to pretend so long that she's a thespian," the artist, whose birth name is Shawn Carter, rapped. "Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate/Society shame and the pain was too much to take."
In the spoken word outro of the song, Jay-Z's mother tells consumers of the album to "love who you love."
"Living in the shadows. Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live? In the shadows people see you as happy and free. Because that's what you want them to see. Living two lives, happy but not free," she said.
"You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love. The world is changing and they say it's time to be free. But you live with the fear of just being me. Living in the shadows feels like the safe place to be. No harm for them. No harm for me," she continued. "But life is short, and it's time to be free. Love who you love, because life isn't guaranteed. Smile."
And while Gloria Carter's inclusion has received high praise from the LGBTQ community, Lewis is now dismissing Burrell for her involvement with the project and accused her of practicing "new aged numerology."
"She says in this video that her spirit guide's number is 222. Jay-Z's new album that she is featured on is named 444. Add those numbers together and you get 666. People, please, heed the warning. I have been preaching about these things happening for 20 years and we have countless videos explaining where all of this is going. Do not be deceived! The coming of the Lord is near," Lewis said.
Other critics like Joy Brown in reacting to her video asked Burrell to "choose a side."
"So you felt you could sing on Jay-Z's album after you bashed homosexuals and here Jay-Z speaks of how his mother is a Lesbian. Choose a side," Brown declared.
[WARNING: Video below contains strong language]
