Producer James Blake wants to be removed from the credits of “Bully”. But there was no beef with Kanye West.
James Blake no longer wants to be in the credits of Kanye West’s new album Bully.
After repeated announcements, Kanye West released his new album “Bully” on March 28th under the stage name Ye. The album features Nine Vicios, Travis Scott, CeeLo Green, André Troutman, Peso Pluma, Don Toliver and Ty Dolla Sign. Singer-songwriter James Blake was also involved in the production – he co-produced the album’s final track, “This One Here”.
The reason for James Blake’s credit request
He now spoke out on his music platform Vault and declared that he wanted to be removed from the song’s credits. However, the reason for this is not any disputes with Ye, but rather his small part in the song.
“My original version is a completely different production,” Blake wrote of “This One Here.” “I’m happy for the fans, but asked to be removed from the producer credits for now because I don’t want to take credit for other people’s work and this version is not what I created with Ye.”
“It’s nothing personal!” Blake added. “I’ve just gotten to the point where I don’t want to be credited as a contributor to music where I have no influence on the end result.”
“Bully” was released after months of postponements
Apparently the last track was reworked so much that it hardly has anything in common with the original. This is hardly surprising: the release of “Bully” has been postponed several times. The LP was originally supposed to come out in June 2025, then in September, in November, in January – and finally at the end of March. There, too, it did not appear as planned on Friday, March 27th, but only on Saturday.
Not a PR stunt, it looks like. Ye apparently continued to work on the album even after production was completed, so that individual lines were even changed between the CD and vinyl releases on Friday and the new upload to streaming services on Saturday. So it’s no surprise that “This One Here” no longer sounds the way Blake co-produced it.
Scandals, apology and PR strategy
One can only speculate as to whether other reasons play a role in the change in credits. After all, Ye is known for a number of scandals – including the spread of National Socialist ideas, misogynistic statements, sexual harassment and the trivialization of human trafficking.
In January 2026 he apologized for this in a letter in the Wall Street Journal. He attributed his behavior to brain damage resulting from a car accident and his bipolar disorder. However, the apology came just days before the then-scheduled release of his new album – raising questions about its sincerity.
James Blake: Behind-the-scenes producer of big names
Blake had previously collaborated with Ye, for example on the song “God Breathed”. As a background producer, he worked not only for Ye, but also for Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean and many others. He recently released his new album “Trying Times”, with which he will also be on tour in Europe in the fall.
