Kanye West finally showed his hand. After more than a year of false starts, seven pushed release dates, an AI controversy, a Wall Street Journal apology, and a short film starring his son, West premiered Bully at a Los Angeles listening event on Friday, March 27, livestreaming the session to YouTube just after midnight before pulling it down the following morning. The album, his twelfth solo studio record and first since Donda 2 in 2022, has not yet appeared on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming platform.
From September 2024 to Seven Delays
West announced Bully the month after Vultures 2 dropped in September 2024, originally targeting June 15, 2025, a date that held personal significance as his daughter North’s birthday. The release was then pushed to July 25, September 26, November 7, December 12, January 30, and March 20 before finally settling on March 27. Earlier this week, three global listening events scheduled for March 26 were postponed, signaling that last-minute revisions were still in progress. When the L.A. session finally ran, West played through a 14-track set, closing with a performance of “Runaway” and EsDeeKid’s “4 Raws,” a gesture that read less like nostalgia and more like a statement of intent. The completed album follows a different tracklist than the one West originally posted to socials.
Sonically, early descriptions of Bully draw comparisons to 808s and Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. West mostly sings rather than raps across the record, which relies heavily on sampling and interpolation. Guest appearances include Travis Scott on “Father,” CeeLo Green on the title track, Nine Vicious across multiple songs, Ty Dolla Sign on “Mama’s Favorite,” and André Troutman on “All the Love” and “White Lines.” Production credits reveal additional collaborators: James Blake and Dom Maker on “This One Here,” and The Legendary Traxster appearing on several cuts. North West received a production credit on “Punch Drunk.”
The AI Controversy and What Came Before the Drop
The album’s path to release was complicated by West’s decision to use AI-generated vocals on an early version of the record, which he defended publicly by comparing the technology to Auto-Tune. When a vinyl rip of Bully surfaced online on March 24, still containing those AI elements on tracks including “Preacher Man,” fan backlash was immediate and harsh. West moved quickly, confirming re-recorded vocals for the final version and posting “BULLY ON THE WAY NO AI” as part of the album announcement. He also described the project as “documentation of internal experience” in a press statement tied to the release.
The album arrives against an unavoidably heavy backdrop. West has faced lawsuits for alleged sexual battery from former assistant Lauren Pisciotta, who filed updated paperwork in 2025 stating she had gone into hiding following a swatting campaign she alleges West orchestrated, and for alleged sexual assault from a model who appeared in one of his 2024 music videos. In January 2026, West took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, co-signed by Yeezy CFO Hussein Lalani, attributing his public behavior to bipolar disorder and a brain injury from a 2002 car crash that, he said, went undiagnosed until 2023. The statement did not address the sexual misconduct allegations. Bully, for now, exists on YouTube’s deleted history. Whether it arrives on streaming services this week or disappears into another delay remains, characteristically, unclear.
Bully (Los Angeles listening event tracklist):
- King
- This a Must (ft. Nine Vicious)
- Father (ft. Travis Scott)
- Mama’s Favorite (ft. Nine Vicious, Ty Dolla $ign)
- All the Love (ft. André Troutman)
- Punch Drunk
- Sisters and Brothers
- Whatever Works
- I Can’t Wait
- Bully (ft. CeeLo Green)
- Preacher Man
- Beauty and the Beast
- White Lines (ft. André Troutman)
- Highs and Lows
