Album Review: Kanye West’s 12th Solo Album BULLY

After years of controversy and uncertainty, Kanye West returned to the mainstream on March 27th with his highly anticipated album BULLY. Having 18 tracks, Fabian Anguiano and Jake Villarreal give their thoughts on Mr. West’s new album.

By: Fabian Anguiano and Jake Villarreal

BULLY is Kanye West’s first solo album since his 2020 album Donda came out. This is his first overall album since his 2024 sequel to him and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative VULTURES.

Fabian’s Thoughts: I am going to be completely honest, I thought this man was done. With all the controversy he was making on Twitter, and just in general, West was on a downward spiral. Releasing mediocre albums, including his collaborative VULTURES series with Ty Dolla $ign, and a sequel to his 2020 Donda, Ye performed on these albums, which were just a shadow of what the powerful MC used to be.

He seems to be in a better state of mind with his release of BULLY, sort of. Let’s go over some of the tracks.

One of my favorite tracks off of BULLY has to be ALL THE LOVE, which features Andre Troutman, who is considered to be the king of the talk box. West samples a Lebanese song titled “Fayek Alaya,” which adds some good background sound, and the drums added just make it so much better. This feels like something off of one of his most influential albums, “808’s and Heartbreak,” which has greatly influenced modern hip hop. Is this track sort of repetitive? Yes. Do I mind it? Absolutely not.

Another one of my favorites from this album is I CAN’T WAIT. Ye sampled the song “You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes, which was released back in 1966. West uses some of the vocals from the song, though he puts a deeper voice over it to fit the rhythm of the track, which has some nice drums, and is just an overall great song. It may only be two minutes and seven seconds long, but you’re in for a good time in those two minutes.

While there are a good number of highs in this album, there are also some lows. My least favorite track from this album has to be CIRCLES, which features Don Toliver. Though Ye changed the song, adding some of his vocals, it doesn’t change anything, as this track holds little to no meaning, as it feels like a filler track more than anything. With a nice sample, sampling the same song as the late great MF Doom did on his hit song “One Beer”, it is ultimately ruined by some meaningless lyrics.

Overall Rating: While this is obviously not a top-five Ye album, it is a massive step up for him, in my opinion, and is his best project since his 2020 Donda. So, overall, I give this album a very solid 7.5; I just need more rapping and longer songs, but it seems like Ye is starting to get back on his feet.

Jake’s Thoughts: Kanye has been a polarizing figure throughout his career. BULLY has only made him even more polarizing, and not in a bad way. Not at all. 

BULLY has shown us that Yeezy still has it. As a producer and even still as a lyricist, my personal favorite off BULLY is I CAN’T WAIT.  The sample sounds straight off The College Dropout and Late Registration. (And as Fabian says above, it may be only two minutes and seven seconds long, but you’re in for a good two minutes and seven seconds). CIRCLES is probably my least favorite; it’s not a bad song, just not the best. Don Toliver was good, but not “carrying the song worthy”.  It was weak in a much better lineup of music. 

Overall Rating:  Kanye has definitely had some rough times since Donda 2020, DONDA 2 almost put him in the dirt- but he didn’t just roll over.  He came back.  Better.  Good features, good production, and a feeling of all eras of his music in one album.  I also went to his concert at SoFi Stadium, so my opinion of him is refined. (It was amazing, Kanye). I rate BULLY an 8.2 out of 10. Extremely solid album.

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