Ye’s forthcoming Bully album is one of the most anticipated releases of the year, and the rapper just raised the stakes by comparing it to one of the greatest musical projects of all-time.
The rapper recently appeared on Justin Laboy’s The Download podcast and divulged information regarding his eleventh solo studio album, which he feels is akin to Lauryn Hill‘s seminal solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Recording artist Lauryn Hill pays tribute to Nina Simone during the 33rd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Public Auditorium on April 14, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Kevin Kane/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
“Yeah, because you lean on a bar that brings somebody down — that was always rap,” Yeezy told Laboy at one point during the conversation.
“This is more the way I remember Lauryn Hill[‘s] album, the way I remember Miseducation. I feel it is my Miseducation. It is my Gnarls Barkley album. Because Bully has a title and connotation that a lot of people are anti-bully. But I’m just hyper-next-level frequency right now.”
Kanye West attends the the Versace fall 2019 fashion show at the American Stock Exchange Building in lower Manhattan on December 02, 2018 in New York City.
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Ye has been a longtime fan of Hill, famously sampling the songstress’ MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 cut “Mystery of Iniquity” on his GRAMMY-nominated 2004 single, “All Falls Down.” However, he couldn’t use the original sample on the official release of the track, as Syleena Johnson appears on The College Dropout album version.
Announced in 2024, Bully is scheduled for release on June 15, which coincides with the rapper’s eldest daughter, North’s, 12th birthday. The 47-year-old recently opened up about his daughter inspiring him to focus on making music again, due to her own love for the craft.
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“This little girl made me love music again,” he wrote in the caption of an Instagram post in January. “She asked me to make beats for her. I got back on the ASR Chopped up beats for album and chopped every beat with my bare hand for BULLY.”
Ye has teased various songs from the album in recent months, including “Beauty and the Beast” and “Preacher Man,” as well as new music that surfaced following his headline-grabbing GRAMMY appearance with wife, Bianca Censori.
See Ye’s interview with Justin Laboy below.
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