Maxi Priest Delighted With Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir’s Interpolation Of ‘Close To You’

British-Jamaican Reggae singer Maxi Priest has expressed delight with Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir’s interpolation of his 1990 hit song Close To You.

“Wow! Wow! WOW! This is so beautiful and touching. I know my mother, missionary Elliott is looking down hearing and feeling this! Thank you to the Most High, Kanye West and the Sunday Service Choir. God is Good, God is GREAT, God moves in Mysterious WAYS. This literally sent shivers through my body,” Maxi wrote on his Instagram page on Friday, where he re-shared the video initially posted by the Jesus is Majesty IG page.  

Close to You was released in 1990 as the lead single from Maxi’s gold-selling Bonafide album.  The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ascended to No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

The Jesus is Majesty page also recently shared the choir’s interpolation of Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock at the City of Refuge Church, back in December 2019.

Released in September 2005, Welcome to Jamrock was the title track for Junior Gong’s Gold-selling third studio album.  The song earned Junior Gong the Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance that year, while the full album copped the Best Reggae Album award.

The title track peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 13 in the UK.

Kanye’s Sunday Service Choir began operations in 2019, and emerged as part of Kanye West’s “rebranding as a born-again Christian.”

According to the choir’s description on Tidal, the ensemble performs at rapturous live events throughout the United States and  “made their first appearance on the rapper’s gospel-influenced, cuss-free chart-topper Jesus Is King and months later, debuted its own album Jesus Is Born.

In October 2019, Kanye brought the choir to Jamaica, for a performance at Emancipation Park. 

No sooner had he touched down on the island that he launched a website selling merchandise with Jamaica’s national emblems including a crew neck jumper with the Jamaican flag for US$200, a cap with Kingston City on the front for $50.

However, hours later he was ordered by Minister of Culture Olivia “Babsy” Grange to pull the Jamaica-branded apparel, as he had commercialized the national emblems without the expressed permission of the Government of Jamaica.

Dancehall selector Foota Hype had criticized Kanye harshly, declaring that the only reason the rapper came to the island to stage his Sunday Service that Friday in Kingston, was to exploit the Jamaican culture for personal gain, in what he described as a cleverly concocted trick.

Foota also berated some of his Dancehall industry members who were cheering, upon the announcement of Kanye’s imminent arrival, likening them to ‘Frighten Fridays.’

He had also pointed out that if Kanye were genuine, he would have invited the Jamaican artists whose songs he appropriated in his Sunday Service, such as Mr. Vegas (I Am Blessed) who was in attendance at the Emancipation Park venue, to at least put in a cameo performance and Junior Gong, whose song he had also interpolated during the performance.