BULLY

I didn't go into BULLY expecting much, and unfortunately it didn't do much to change my mind.

There are moments where you can still hear what made Ye such an exciting producer. The samples are interesting, there are some beautiful textures, and every now and then something appears that reminds you of the artist behind 808s, Yeezusor The Life of Pablo.

But too often I found myself waiting for the music to actually do something to me.

That's ultimately how I judge an album. Before the ideology, controversy, meaning or lyrics can make me appreciate a record, the music itself has to make me feel something. Make me bop my head. Give me a melody I want to hear again. Make me immediately flip the cassette back to Side A when it finishes.

BULLY rarely did that.

A lot of it feels strangely empty. There are good ideas everywhere, but not enough great songs connecting them. Sometimes it feels less like hearing a finished Ye album and more like hearing fragments of older Ye albums reconstructed into something new.

And considering how good he has historically been at taking a sample and completely transforming it, that's disappointing.

Ironically, one of the moments I enjoyed most came on Side B with “LOSING YOUR MIND,” essentially Ye's reworking of Can's “Vitamin C.”

It's hardly the most original moment on the album — it's extremely close to the Can track — but musically it was one of the few moments where I immediately connected with what I was hearing. The groove works. The instrumentation works. I wanted to keep listening.

That says quite a lot about my experience with BULLY.

Other listeners have had similar arguments about the track: some dismiss it because of how heavily it relies on Vitamin C, while others consider it one of the more enjoyable moments from this era.

I also don't think separating Ye's music from everything surrounding Ye is particularly easy anymore. But in this case, I don't really need to.

Because even if I remove all of that and judge BULLY purely as music, I'm still not particularly impressed.

And that's important to me.

An artist can have the most interesting philosophy in the world. The lyrics can have ten different meanings. There can be an incredible story behind the recording.

But if the music can't make me bop, the explanation isn't going to make me bop either.

There are glimpses of something much better here. I just wish there were more songs that made me forget I was reviewing the album and simply enjoy listening to it.

Favorite moment: LOSING YOUR MIND / Vitamin C rework

Final verdict: 5.8/10

Interesting production ideas and occasional flashes of the Ye that made extraordinary records, but BULLY rarely turns those ideas into songs I actually want to replay. I didn't expect to love it — and by the end, it hadn't given me much reason to.