While out and about in Paris last weekend for Fashion Week, Kanye West showed off a cool new tattoo on his arm featuring the rumored album artwork for his highly-anticipated Yeezus follow-up. The new Kanye West tattoo, which is inked in black and white on the outside of his right forearm, features four lines in the shape of a diamond with a lowercase “m” at each corner, and essentially confirms the rumored artwork for his upcoming album So Help Me God. According to Kim Kardashian though, Kanye’s tattoo and album artwork has a deeper meaning than that. Apparently, the unique four-m design is also the 13th century symbol for the Virgin Mary!
Kanye West’s new tattoo comes just a couple weeks after the rapper had his mother’s and daughter North’s birth dates inked on his wrists (not on his face, thanks to wife Kim), and has us all pretty pumped about the rapper’s seventh solo album, which is set to drop at some point this year, possibly in sneak-attack style like Beyoncé’s. Kanye first gave us a glimpse of the artwork for his new album on March 1, when he tweeted “New Album title…” followed by a photo of the four-m design and the caption “So Help Me God.” It appears that the inspiration behind Kanye West’s tattoo may also be used for his upcoming single “All Day.”
The meaning behind Kanye’s unusual four-m design remained a bit of a mystery until last week, when Kim Kardashian posted an Instagram photo of the image, along with the caption, “Sick artwork for All Day! It’s the 13th century symbol for the Virgin Mary #SoHelpMeGod.” According to West, in a recent interview with Vulture, “This new album’s coming out of a fight to want to design. It’s a joyful noise unto the Lord. It is still the struggle, but it’s the beauty from the struggle – like the song ‘Amazing Grace’ – coming out of the worst pain possible and making the most beautiful song possible.”
Although Kanye West claimed that his previous album Yeezus was influenced by his Christian beliefs and his desire to be like Christ, followers of the Christian religion criticized the rapper for his apparent lack of humility in comparing himself to Jesus. The album artwork West chose for Yeezus also came with some serious backlash, with some saying its depiction of an inverted cross and three women with red eyes was blasphemous and satanic. Hopefully, the artwork and inspiration behind Kanye West’s new So Help Me God album proves to be less controversial, because he now has the image permanently emblazoned on his arm!
