Kanye West announces new album ‘Bully’ and performs new song ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at China listening event
It follows two 'Vultures' collaborative albums with Ty Dolla $ign
by Laura Molloy · NMEKanye West revealed that he has a new album called ‘Bully’ coming while performing a new song, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ live at his listening event in China. Check it out below.
The moment took place at China’s Wuyuan River Stadium in Haikou last night (September 28) during a listening party where the rapper, who now goes by Ye, performed his new album – which arrived earlier this year and marked the second instalment in the ‘Vultures’ series with Ty Dolla $ign.
It followed another listening event at the stadium earlier this month, where he brought his four children on stage to perform with him.
West told the crowd “I got a new album coming out, it’s called ‘Bully’ and this song is called ‘Beauty and the Beast’,” before launching into the unreleased track. It’s not yet clear when the album or track will be released.
Over a soft instrumental featuring electric guitar, West sings: “I still think about it every night and day to try to stay away, to keep my audience / Don’t take this disrespect, I’m sitting here trying to redirect.” Check out fan-recorded footage below.
West’s former collaborator Mike Dean, who worked with the rapper from his debut album ‘The College Dropout’ in 2004 until his 2022 track ‘True Love’ featuring XXXTentacion, has called the track a “Donda leftover”. He left the comment on an Instagram post, referencing West’s 2021 studio album.
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West and Ty released their first collaborative album, ‘Vultures 1’, under the name ¥$ on February 10, before ‘Vultures 2’ arrived on August 4 – months after its original release date in March. It was originally thought to top the Billboard 200 chart, but Taylor Swift‘s most recent album – ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’ – blocked him from the top spot, ending his 19-year-long streak of having his album debut at Number One.
‘Vultures 1’ was described in a two-star NME review as being “far from one of his best efforts” and “mired in misogyny”. It had features from Freddie Gibbs, YG, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, West’s daughter North and more.
Since being released, ‘Vultures 2’ has drawn a mixed response from fans and critics alike, and has also drawn heat from Geoff Barrow, who suggested that the two rappers sampled Portishead on a ‘Vultures 2’ track without permission.
The initial ‘Vultures’ album also ran into a similar issue regarding alleged copyright infringement, with West and Donna Summer‘s estate reaching a settlement over the alleged “illegal” use of ‘I Feel Love’ on ‘Vultures 1’.
The recent listening parties in China follow on from one in South Korea last month, which saw Ye make a dramatic entrance on horseback and lead a “Fuck Adidas” chant. The latter was presumably in reference to the company ending their partnership with him following his antisemitic tweets in 2022.