Every Kanye West album of the past decade has carried unusually large amounts of baggage, typically unfolding as a mix of personal and public drama, and Bully is no exception. Delayed eight times since its initial 2024 announcement and previously issued as a work-in-progress last year, the album has undergone a lengthy gestation, during which much of what transpired in the rapper’s life—none of which merits repeating here—falls somewhere between disappointing and depressing.
What distinguishes Bully from 2018’s Ye and 2021’s Donda, though, is the near-total absence of any direct references to Ye’s recent struggles, seemingly assuming that the listener either arrives with sufficient context or that it’s irrelevant (indeed, a newly apologetic West would surely prefer a world in which everyone saw the latter as a given). In fact, most of the material is devoid of anything substantive, autobiographical or otherwise, as if West is wary of scaring off what remains of his fanbase. As he puts it on the sweeping, sinister-sounding title track: “All the castles in the sky come down crashin’ every time I speak my mind.”
So what we get instead are 40-or-so minutes of palatable mood music that skirts around the many elephants in the room: songs that are primarily concerned with conveying feeling—usually of the despondent variety—with the reasoning behind West’s emotions remaining, at best, ambiguous. He speaks of putting someone “through a lot, I know” over a sample of French singer Pomme’s angelic vocals on the celestial “Highs and Lows,” but we certainly aren’t hip to which situation he could be referring to or why he’s regretful about it.
Bully’s prolonged incubation period may also help explain why it feels so incoherent—neither the product of a broken man still flailing around nor one attempting amends and getting his act together. Its opening three tracks present West as returning royalty, and he goes so far as to label himself a king on the track of the same name, which flaunts a take-no-prisoners attitude.
Immediately after, though, West embraces humility on “All the Love,” only to again indulge in braggadocio of the College Dropout variety on “Punch Drunk” and “Whatever Works,” before deciding to tug at the heartstrings with “Mama’s Favorite.” There’s no discernible rhythm or methodology to the sequencing.
Yet, before and after the fairly strong stretch from “Sisters and Brothers” to “White Lines”—the closest Bully comes, thematically, to exploring what it means to bully or be bullied—the album is littered with songs that aren’t actual first-time drafts like the ones found on 2022’s Donda 2 and 2024’s Vultures 2 but are content to do as little as possible. The rage-y “This a Must” and the Don Toliver-assisted “Circles,” both under two minutes, are the most egregious offenders—perfunctory sonic doodles that Ye could whip together in a couple of hours.
Others, like “Preacher Man” and “Beauty and the Beast,” offer a solid idea or two—ingeniously incorporating dusty soul samples and strong melodies—but are so tidy that they can’t help but read like West is punching well below his musical weight class. Far too often, he’s on cruise control, going through the motions in a soulless manner that suggests he’d rather be doing something else. (Though, oddly, his monotone delivery on Latin-pop-rap crossover “Last Breath” is a welcome respite from guest Peso Pluma’s unbearably coarse vocals.)
Simply put, Bully, like all Kanye West releases, is an album about what’s up with Ye—except this one never gets around to exploring what’s actually up with him in a meaningful way. While Bully may be a small step up from his last few albums, it still lacks the confidence, ambition, craftsmanship, and consistency of quality that once defined his discography.
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funny how multiple songs directly address his mental state and repercussions of his actions following last year but you clearly failed to read the lyrics or listen closely. Tap into BULLY, Father, and King and then give this review a much needed edit.
Album concept is built around his addiction to power, ego, and the fallouts that come about when he abuses that vice.
guru is right the message is hidden in the lyrics also bully is a living album much like the life of pablo so unfinished sounds will most likely be fixed , the bragging tracks like this a must are probably going over him being in a high of his mania , the album is an obvious callback to the tasteful chaos of the life of pablo you can feel the duality much like the duality of his bipolar disorder.
in addition to my first comment , the track highs and lows has this in it’s name and the lyrics are obviously on the literal highs and lows of his career now i will go through each track telling the meaning of them
track 1 king: about his mania ” drunk off power & i was pouring up” during mania people may feel untouchable ” the pain was truly blurring my thoughts up” in his wsj apology he said ( not in direct words but same meaning) that he could not recall alot of the actions in his mania ” is it really love when it’s bought love?” this could be referring to the people who left him during his state in mania saying that they only loved him when he was valuable to be around
track 2 this a must: this is a bragging track about the highs of his mania when he feels untouchable and like a god similar to the first ” show em how you fit a billion in a clutch” he feels untouchable this is only one of many lines that brag about his fortune on the track
track 3 FATHER: this is about him coming back ” wake up to the new me ” he is reborn ; when someone is baptised they are reborn in christ the music video takes place in a church
track 4 ALL THE LOVE: sort of an apology he’s giving “all the love and all the shine” might be a stretch but it makes sense in context of the album he later says ” wounds get healed with time” further making it more obvious as an apology since it is a reworking of the song ” GAS CHAMBERS” referring to gas the Germans used on Jewish people in ww2 he is further continuing the rebirth this time through the rebirth of the song from something hateful to an apology
track 5 PUNCH DRUNK: an ” I MADE IT” track repeatedly praising God but he still seems aware of the issues going on in the world it’s his way of saying I made it but not everyone did he’s not looking down on them he’s acknowledging their struggle and in the sample it says ” I can do all things through christ” possibly telling those people struggling that their story doesn’t have to end like that and they can make it like he did.
track 6 WHATEVER WORKS: the track comes from the perspective of Ye and a separate narrator the narrator follows the story of a woman who had a put a down payment just to get the car she wanted but she seems indifferent about it saying ” whatever works” this is the normal for her from kanye’s perspective it is opposite but he still struggles just differently he has all the money but his struggle is with media and his mind a sharp contrast between the two but acknowledging both struggle he is saying just because i got rich doesn’t mean i don’t struggle.
track 7 MAMA’S FAVORITE: further going down the hole that he struggles through ” stay misunderstood i’m often mistaken” he is talking about how no body understands what he is going through ” drop a bomb on everythin'” he doesn’t even feel like trying he just wants to start over this track ends with a voice recording of Donda it shows just how important she was to him she kept him grounded told him what he needed to hear and he could never get that from anyone else she was the only one that understood him going back to the ” stay misunderstood i’m often mistaken” the track is heavily focused on his mental state and the most obvious message of any of the tracks
track 8 SISTERS AND BROTHERS: the track focuses on the duality of it all the sample at the end talking about God while the lyrics being About all his wealth and success it is a spiritual successor to The Life Of Pablo carrying on the theme of duality
track 9 BULLY: he is insane no one understands him the Ceelo Green feature really shows in his mania he is a bully ( he said the line) he tells everyone what to do and it all seems so logical to him but to everyone else he’s gone crazy he’s deep in mania at this point.
track 10 HIGHS AND LOWS: he is thanking us the listener for being there through his highs and lows and throughout it all still listening to him ” still you never let me go” a perfect illustration of that despite all of the manic episodes and times we thought he had truly lost it we still never let him go, he is on the edge of a cliff ( obscurity) and the only thing keeping him up is us ( the listener) never letting go of him, this is the opposite of other points in his career where he’s safe at the top of the cliff but now he’s hanging on for dear life and we are all that can save him.
track 11 I CAN’T WAIT: Ye has had a lot of relationships in his career in this track he seems to be talking about a girl who everybody seems to have already been with but he is still willing to ” move my mind” for her verse 2 focuses on an entirely different topic so i won’t cover it but the whole track is about Ye’s struggle to find true love and the girl mentioned in verse 1 might be a reference to somebody kanye has been with in the past
track 12 WHITE LINES: a deep introspective track he doesn’t even feel like himself anymore the bipolar disorder has taken all of the him out of him he doesn’t even feel like he deserves to be surrounded by people at times ” sometimes i belong by myself ” but even by himself he still can’t feel normal ” I don’t feel at home by myself” but there could be another meaning he might be punishing himself out of depression for pushing everybody away so by isolating himself and making him feel uncomfortable he is going through the punishment of pushing everyone away he cared about
track 13 CIRCLES: the cycle of bipolar disorder he keeps going in circles he tries to be better but always relapses he can’t change it
track 14 PREACHER MAN: he is preaching to himself all alone despite the fact everyone seems to have left him and he has almost nothing left to cling onto he still won’t give up he is still the GOAT the solemn melody eventually picked up by burst of an upbeat tempo perfectly illustrating this
track 15 BEAUTY & THE BEAST: another depression track he is the beast and Bianca ( i think could be someone else) is the beauty after all he’s done he sits up night and day thinking about it but no matter how much he tries to run he still is caught up by the thoughts that he is the beast the sudden change from him being clear ” still clear still” to the thinking about every night and day shows he doesn’t even see it coming it just happens one day he’ll be steadily ahead of his darker thoughts next day he’s sitting up thinking about them for the whole day
track 16 DAMN: a. suprisingly deep track he starts by apologising ” did i ruin your plans , plans , plans” and then goes into deep thought that he won’t always be ok ” were the ones that pass away so baby did you laugh today” he’s trying to enjoy his life while it last but can’t stop thinking about the magic hourglass ( his time) slowly running out every second he spends is another he can’t get back but trying to enjoy it only makes the thought repeat that his time is running out
track 17 LAST BREATH: he is deep into depression he is arguing with someone and drinking the pain away before begging them to take his last breath away killing him his hourglass would have filled in the second verse he says he has given her everything and she cries too much before giving up and letting her win this could be referring to one of his past partners or a fictional character peso pluma continues this and the message becomes more clear the woman is scared of Ye she sees his outburst and is scared and every time at the hour they are fighting in the song the woman is always crying this song is the most ambigious for me since im not a spanish speaker
track 18 THIS ONE HERE: his full rebirth ” kicked all the ego right out of the door” he is done with all the ego now and is ready to come out a new man, this is most likely referring to his WSJ apology where he vows to be better as the whole album focuses on his journey with bipolar disorder and the struggles and duality with it ” i’ve been fighting for my life” he had to fight just to not lose himself to the bipolar disorder but now he has finally won over it ” im outside my body you right” he admitted that the bipolar was making him crazy and this song is likely the exact moment he broke out of his mania the upbeat heavenly tone feels like waking up on a summer day and it’s just the best day you’ve had in ages he’s beaten the struggle he has beaten the bipolar disorder. he is ready for the new day
This Demo is such a good demo it details the story of a man everyone thought was crazy going through his struggles and coming out anew every track here has a reason for it every song here is amazing and tells a story
Paul out of his depth; conform to get paid attard. This album isn’t ground breaking sure more like Ye finding his feet, and sanity again but still a very enjoyable listen.
3.7
in my last comment i may have misread the message of “PUNCH DRUNK” i now believe it is not a pure “i made it track” it’s a track about how through christ anybody no matter where they are now can make it like he did