Kanye West, who has profiled himself in recent years as a racist and misogynist and identified with Nazi ideology, guarantees controversy. Although he apologized in the Wall Street Journal via a full-page ad, it feels strange to write a ‘normal review’ of his new album Bully. But ‘Ye’ still has such a great cultural influence, and so many fans, that the launch of his new music cannot go undiscussed.
Ye announced his twelfth album in September of 2024. Since then, it has been postponed nine times. The evening before the day it would be released, last Friday, March 27, special listening parties were organized worldwide, including in Amsterdam. It shouldn’t be a surprise anymore, but for Ye a release date is never more than a suggestion. The album didn’t appear and the internet exploded with rumors. When the album did appear on streaming services a day later, everything seemed immediately forgotten and forgiven. Also because he starts his eighteen-song album as follows, on the song ‘King’, through Duke Edwards & the Young Ones:
„The time is now, right now / This is the hour, this is the new dawn, this is the new day”
Then you think, Kanye West, the most controversial artist of our time, is taking a new path. He had apologized for his anti-Semitic and racist statements, so a new era? Please. But before you can properly reflect on that, he raps again: the hero became the villain now. And if you listen carefully, he doesn’t compare himself to just any king, but to Martin Luther King. Sigh.
Kanye West in Los Angeles in 2024.
Photo GC Images
Musically speaking Bully not bad. In any case, it’s a lot better than Vultureshis previous double album. ‘Father’ starts with solemn, intriguing church organs, as if from the time of the sacred The Life of Pablo (2013), but then turns into hard, industrial bouncy drums. Just too bald. Travis Scott without autotune appears to be able to rap quite well, it gives the song something big and menacing, but unfortunately that’s it. ‘Mama’s Favorite’ is one of the few moments where the album is moving: soft, melodic, with an outro that evokes the spirit of his mother Donda. ‘Punch Drunk’ is also a nice track that is reminiscent of earlier gospel-like, soulful work, with a light, accurate beat. But this is so short that the potential is limited by the promise.
“Preacher Man” is the best song: the soulful sample, the rhythm, Ye’s understated flow. “All the Love,” with its tinny, distorted chorus featuring rapper Andre Troutman, also sounds like an old Kanye track. That’s his tragedy: the old Kanye will always be better than the new Kanye. The question is whether he has set his own bar so low that a ‘normal’ album already sounds good.
