Writings of Callum

Music with hints of the old Ye, rap album BULLY serves as an integral comeback album as the trajectory of Ye’s career hangs in the balance amid severe controversy.

CONTEXTUALISATION

Following many disgusting statements of antisemitic and abusive nature which Ye claims stemmed from a manic bipolar episode, Ye has been taking important steps to make amends and to rectify his image. Ye must be held accountable for his destructive actions not merely due to his influence, reach, and sway, but also as his antisemitic statements were voiced to an audience larger than the current world population of Jews, which is severely problematic at a time where antisemitism is prevalent, destructive, and in some cases deadly.

While not distracting from the evils of Ye’s statements and the pain they have caused, it is equally important to recognise the strides toward reconciliation that Ye has made in recent months, such as being proactive with his mental health by reportedly going to rehab and committing to manage these struggles, apologising publicly to a Jewish Rabbi and privately to other affected parties for his harmful statements, and by publishing a full-page formal apology in the Wall Street Journal.

While skepticism is valid regarding Ye’s sincerity given he has historically issued apologies and reneged, I personally believe that any strides made by a person toward improvement should be supported in the hope that such support will create a positive foundation toward lasting self improvement.

BULLY 1/2

The first half of the album is by far the best of BULLY. Significantly, these songs were heard for the first time when the album was released unlike other tracks on BULLY. Ye released ‘BULLY V1’ in 2025, the first completed version of BULLY that heavily used AI.

In these new tracks, Ye revisits old conventions of his music in addition to testing new ideas. In particular, PUNCH DRUNK revisits the chipmunk-soul samples of Ye’s College Dropout era while speaking on topics which pertain to BULLY’s overarching theme of control.

KING feels like the perfect introduction to the album, serving as the walkout song as Ye makes his way into the wrestling ring with sangfroid; it exudes dominance and swagger, traits which Ye has always exhibited, traits that continue to ring true amidst even the most destructive of seasons.

ALL THE LOVE is particularly one of my favourite songs of the entire album with its addictive sample and beat paired with its feel good lyrics that are indicative of Ye’s commitment to love and positivity.This first half of the album easily surpasses the vast majority of the VULTURES catalogue in my opinion, and that is telling of the standard of music Ye has released over the past few years; it is refreshing to be listening to good Ye music.

In following the trajectory of his career, Ye followed a creative discipline from JESUS IS KING till the VULTURES catalog where explicit material was removed from his songs; an act of sincerity by Ye toward his Christian faith. This discipline seemingly makes a passive return in BULLY which I love. Explicit lines and themes diminish the value of any piece of art in my opinion. I view sexually explicit content as a trade off where an artist exchanges substance for shallow ideas. Part of what makes BULLY special is in its uniquely clean(ish) content where profound ideas are platformed over hackneyed themes which degrade not only the victims of its ideas but the artist themself as they appear shallow minded, even basic, and dull.

BULLY 2/2

If I had to rate the first 8 songs of BULLY, they would all receive high marks. It is however a different story with the second half of the album.

BULLY, HIGHS AND LOWS, I CAN’T WAIT, WHITE LINES, and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST are the best of the second half of the album as these songs feature little to no AI, with fans calling for the removal of AI before release.

I really love the title song, BULLY, for its lyrics on Ye’s experience as a bully, and its CeeLo Green feature that has an infectious chorus which hauntingly emulates the dominant, controlling ways of a bully.

HIGHS AND LOWS is a significant let-down for me as the original sample used in BULLY V1 was – quite understandably – rejected by the sampled artist, Pomme. While the song in its new form is popular to many, for me it falls far from its former glory.

As for the remaining songs on the album, they are riddled with AI. These songs have largely remained the same since BULLY V1 and this is not for the better. Perhaps if I hadn’t heard V1 and if I hadn’t seen all that I did behind the scenes before the release of BULLY, then maybe I would be more forgiving? As they say, it is better never seeing how the sausage gets made. But this also isn’t to say these songs are bad per se; I really liked CIRCLES before Don Toliver’s feature was removed. I just feel the songs didn’t evolve enough before release given how prevalent the AI on this album is.

Additionally, I was disappointed there was no Ty Dolla $ign feature on BULLY despite how heavily the two collaborated over the past few years. A Ty Dolla $ign feature would have undoubtedly contributed positively to a few songs on BULLY, such as WHITE LINES and LAST BREATHE; two songs Ty Dolla $ign recorded features and/or references for.

The songs in the album’s second half spent too much time being hyped over leading to disappointment from fans. If anything, Ye should learn from this to stop sitting on songs for ages and actually release them as in recent years, Ye has spent too long fine tuning songs that have largely been subpar. Of course, I don’t know the processes involved in making BULLY, but the presence of AI suggests laziness, falling short of Ye’s reputation as a deeply detail focused maximalist. If Ye wants to show the world he is back to his best, he needs to stop being complacent and start acting like the best. When Ye is focused, his output is unparalleled and era defining. Whatever Ye’s current process is, Ye clearly needs to revise his systems given they are contributing negatively to his output in my opinion.

THE AI PROBLEM

I’ve mentioned that Ye using AI in his music is detrimental to his creative output, but why? AI isn’t human. While AI can check all the structural boxes, what AI will never replace is human passion and soul. This is why BULLY lacks a sense of magic and substance; a sense of emptiness that is instinctual, not explainable. I wouldn’t say, however, that AI is inherently wrong to utilise in music. AI’s presence in music is a fruit of its unavoidable presence in the world; it is simply a sign of the times.

Much like autotune, Ye has historically flocked to utilise new technologies and more broadly new conventions in communicating his ideas with this versatility largely contributing to his artistic success. BULLY, however, is an outlier. AI, while perhaps helpful in ideation and creating demos, has no place in a final product. AI is a useful tool, but it is not the artist.

When AI assumes the role of the artist, not merely does the art become lazy, consumers instinctually feel disconnected. Accusations of AI have proliferated alarmingly forming a witch hunt where, AI usage or not, consumers feel skeptical over whether the music they are listening to is profoundly human art or the hollow product of AI prompts.

BULLY’S ARTISTIC VISION

Even though the music varies in quality with each album, one impressive aspect of each music release from Ye is his artistic direction with BULLY being no different. From the rich black and white colour, to the stylised upper case text, and the wrestling, the artistic direction of BULLY is compelling and immersive. When watching the LP, I loved the aesthetic of the professional luchadores fighting as BULLY was played which ties in greatly with the bully motif. In saying this, I would have liked to see this idea extended upon more.

Performing on the globe is perhaps one of the best stage designs of all time. The projection of the Earth on this globe is unlike anything I’ve seen before, but what I was most impressed with were the clouds and how they revolved around this artificial globe.

I like how Ye is able to think outside the box with such ease and consistency. Ye performing on the globe spoke about his perception of his rank in the music hierarchy (or perhaps the world knowing Ye’s perception of himself); he is still king despite the setbacks he’s faced (both self-inflicted and involuntary). Not to burst Ye’s bubble but Jesus is King of not merely the world, but the universe.

What I will say, however, is Ye’s comeback has been quite spectacular. Ye went from recording vile songs with Dave Blunts one year ago to performing two sold out shows in LA to hundreds of thousands of fans. But for me, the most iconic aspect of his comeback was performing with Ms Lauryn Hill during his second show.

PHYSICAL RELEASE

The CD release was disappointing, in fact, I believe I was scammed. Those who purchased a CD or Vinyl received a mostly AI slop version of BULLY, and this is despite Ye and YZY employees stating that there would be no AI on BULLY; talk about false advertising!

The presence of LOSING YOUR MIND and MISSION CONTROL are my favourite aspects of the physical release with the latter being a physical exclusive for some reason, though the presence of these songs is not a saving grace. What made me quite disappointed was that Gamma, the label that released BULLY alongside YZY, titled this poor quality version of BULLY as the V1 collectors edition AFTER it was sent to customers.

I wanted the real version of BULLY, not some knock off version. I am deeply disappointed by this as I personally don’t see there being any replay value for BULLY physicals. Instead, this version of BULLY looks pretty and collects dust.

LOOKING FORWARD: BULLY DELUXE?

Since the release of BULLY, I’ve been revisiting older Ye projects and the difference in quality is instantly noticeable. Despite Ye and YZY claiming AI would not feature on the album, AI vocals are present all throughout the album. There are also a few irritating and quite simply amateur audio glitches in ALL THE LOVE that have yet to be fixed.

There were talks of a deluxe version of BULLY releasing shortly after the album’s 28 March release, with Gamma publicly announcing this in a social media post. However, an insider reported that there would be no BULLY Deluxe, instead, there will be mixing and vocal updates to BULLY itself. This was announced in early April and it is now mid May. Will these updates ever be released? No, I don’t think so but they are severely needed. To my knowledge, the physical version of BULLY is yet to mirror the digital release so maybe this is an indication that updates are on the way? Only time will tell.

OVERALL

There is an unexplainable magic and substance present within Ye’s past works that is missing from BULLY; it is clear that Ye is in a transitional stage of his personal and creative life. I am deeply supportive of Ye’s new and positive outlook on life, and I believe the first half of BULLY showed real promise which signifies that creatively, Ye is far from finished. I am excited to see Ye’s next projects with the expectation that Ye will continue to challenge creative boundaries and define eras.

But presently, moving on from BULLY and leaving it in its current, unfinished form is the antithesis of what Ye has strived for his entire career. I’d hate for the low-quality music of the post-Donda era to become Ye’s new standard, with some songs from BULLY hopefully indicating that Ye’s recent projects of low-quality music are anomalous. I wanted this album to exceed my high expectations; in some areas it scratched these expectations, but more often than not it largely failed to get within touching distance. If history has revealed anything it is that when Ye finds himself in a difficult position, his high-quality craft sets him free. Moving forward from BULLY, will history repeat itself?