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“Beauty and the Beast” (stylized in all caps) is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his twelfth studio album, Bully (2026). First released on February 9, 2025, exclusively through West’s Yeezy website, it was later added to music streaming services as a one of three triple promotional singles with the tracks “Preacher Man” and “Damn” on June 20, 2025, via a 3-track extended play (EP). A downtempo song, it samples “Don’t Have to Shop Around” by R&B vocal group the Mad Lads. West solely produced the track himself, co-writing it with Bella Blaq. Lyrically, “Beauty and the Beast” focuses on West’s emotional state and place in the music industry, reflecting on how his career has changed.

West initially recorded “Beauty and the Beast” in 2021, later reworking the song in 2024 in his Tokyo hotel room. It was previewed multiple times before releasing, first being played at West and Ty Dolla Sign‘s September 2024 concert at Wuyuan River Stadium, where West first officially announced Bully. It was the second song previewed for the album, with the track “Preacher Man” making its live debut earlier that month. A full preview was posted to Instagram and Apple Music in October 2024, but was taken down from both days later. The song was included as a track on West’s March 2025 visual album, Bully V1, recorded in late 2024.

After its debut at Haikou, and upon the release of Bully, “Beauty and the Beast” received positive reviews from music critics, who often praised its production and writing as more relaxed than West’s recent releases. Commercially, “Beauty and the Beast” charted at number 85 on the Billboard 200 and number 25 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and ultimately peaked at number 19 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart.

Background and recording

“Beauty and the Beast” was first played during Kanye West‘s September 28, 2024, show at Haikou‘s Wuyuan River Stadium, a destination on his and Ty Dolla Sign‘s Vultures 2 Listening Experience tour.[3][4][5] This was the second time West had debuted a new song during the tour, as he had previously played the song “Preacher Man” at a September 15 concert.[6] Towards the end of the song, West announced that he had “a new album coming out”, revealing the album’s title as Bully and the song as “Beauty and the Beast”.[7] He would preview an updated version in full via Instagram on October 16, alongside an accompanying visual from the Haikou show.[8][9] According to the post’s caption, West had made adjustments to the song since its debut while staying in Tokyo, Japan.[9] Former collaborator and record producer Mike Dean later claimed that the track was first conceived during sessions for West’s tenth studio album, Donda (2021).[10]

Composition

A picture showcasing an ASR-10 keyboard next to a pile of floppy disks on its left
The Ensoniq ASR-10 (pictured), used in the production of “Beauty and the Beast”, was noted by critics as present in West’s earlier works, including The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005).

Musically, “Beauty and the Beast” is a downtempo song.[8] Unlike most of West’s work, his vocals are entirely sung rather than rapped.[11] It was produced using the Ensoniq ASR-10 and SP-1200 and features a prominent sample of “Don’t Have to Shop Around” by the Mad Lads,[12] which is overlayed with bass guitar played by John Scott.[13] The sample-based production and used equipment led critics to draw comparisons to West’s earlier work.[11][14][15] Like the majority of Bully, West served as its sole producer.[16][14] After West released it as a single on music streaming services, Bella Blaq revealed via Instagram that she helped co-write the song with him.[17]

Lyrically, West takes on a more reflective nature than his previous releases that same year.[8] West looks at his status and rekindled career following the Vultures albums (“Fresh new tires, I’m still running / It’s a few things I’m overcoming.”)[8] He acknowledges his fans expectations for him and his music, singing on the song’s chorus, “Think about it every night and day / To try to stay away, to keep my audience / So don’t take this as disrespect, I’m sitting here tryna redirect.”[8] The song ends with vocals sampled from “Don’t Have to Shop Around”, repeating the plea “never put me down”.[18]

At a runtime of one minute and forty-six seconds,[19] the relaxed nature of “Beauty and the Beast” is reflective of West’s time spent in Tokyo. Music journalist Touré, who was in correspondence with West, stated that his China tour dates were intentionally picked so he could retreat to Japan. Touré also claimed that West was producing the album “pretty much by himself”, noting that his music was usually a combination of multiple people’s input. He noted it as a fresh chapter in West’s life, “because in Tokyo, he can be who he wants to be.”[8]

Release and reception

The screenshot from West's Yeezy website features the album cover to Bully with "BB-01" under the image.
The song as it appeared on West’s Yeezy website, under the nickname “BB-01”

“Beauty and the Beast” was released as a promotional single on West’s Yeezy website on February 9, 2025.[1] Prior, it had been made briefly available as a music video on Apple Music during October 2024.[20] The promotional single was released during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, which publications saw as a sign that West was jealous of halftime show performer and fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar.[1][21] The song was removed from his website shortly after, as all items were replaced with a swastika T-shirt.[21][22] It later appeared on the short film Bully V1.[23] On June 20, 2025, West released a 3-track extended play (EP) as promotion for the album, including the song alongside the tracks “Preacher Man” and “Damn”.[2] Bully released on March 28, 2026, through distribution from Gamma.[24][25]

“Beauty and the Beast” has since received positive reception. Commenting on its initial preview, iHeart Radio's Tony Centeno described West’s vocals as “soothing” with an instrumental similar to his earlier works.[15] Armon Sadler of Vibe felt the track’s downtempo production was a departure from West’s recent albums–Vultures 1 and 2 in particular–making it “the ideal canvas for [him] to be more vulnerable.”[8] Similarly, Complex's Miki Hellerbach noted its writing as “the most meditative we’ve heard [West’s] lyrics in quite some time, as he ponders rather than asserts.”[26] Commercially, “Beauty and the Beast”, as a promotional single, peaked at number 19 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart.[27] Following the release of Bully, it peaked at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100[28] and at number 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[29]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[13]

  • Kanye West – programming, vocal production
  • John Scott – bass guitar, recording, mixing
  • Josh Schuback – recording, mixing
  • Nkenge 1x – mixing, mastering
  • The Legendary Traxster – recording, mixing

Charts

Chart performance
Chart (2025–2026) Peak
position
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[27] 19
US Billboard Hot 100[28] 85
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[29] 23

Notes

  1. ^ “Beauty and the Beast” was initially released as a promotional single on February 9, 2025, on West’s Yeezy website.[1] It was released as an official single on June 20, 2025.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Brown, Preezy (February 10, 2025). “Ye Drops New Song During Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance, Fueling Rumors Of His ‘Jealousy’“. Vibe. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Horvath, Zachary (June 20, 2025). “Kanye West Follows Through And Shares Three Songs From Bully“. HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  3. ^ Saponara, Michael (July 8, 2024). “Ye & Ty Dolla $ign Are Bringing the Vultures Listening Experience to Korea”. Billboard. Archived from the original on July 24, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  4. ^ Staxxssss (September 28, 2024). “Kanye West Announces New Album Bully and Previews Single ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in China [Video]”. Baller Alert. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  5. ^ 顾馨 (September 30, 2024). “US rapper Ye brings ‘warmth, strength’ to Haikou”. China Daily. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  6. ^ Andrews, Elias (September 17, 2024). “Kanye West Teases New Single ‘Preacher Man’ From Upcoming Album”. HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  7. ^ Peters, Mitchell (September 28, 2024). “Ye Announces New Album Bully, Debuts Song ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at China Listening Event”. Billboard. Archived from the original on September 29, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Sadler, Armon (October 16, 2024). “Ye Shares New Single ‘Beauty & The Beast’, Teases Forthcoming Album Bully“. Vibe. Archived from the original on June 12, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Cowen, Trace William (October 14, 2024). “Ye Shares ‘Beauty and the Beast (Live From Haikou)’ Video”. Complex. Archived from the original on July 2, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  10. ^ Cowen, Trace William (January 13, 2025). “Ye Teases Bully in Throwback Photo With Mike Dean”. Complex. Archived from the original on July 6, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Horvath, Zachary (October 15, 2024). “Kanye West Sounds Reminiscent Of The Old Ye In Extended Snippet Of ‘Beauty And The Beast’“. HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  12. ^ “Ye Previews New Track ‘Beauty and the Beast’“. Hypebeast. October 16, 2024. Archived from the original on November 7, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Ye (March 27, 2026). “Bully“. Tidal. Retrieved March 25, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b Moore, Sam (October 14, 2024). “Kanye West’s New Bully Album Reportedly A Return To College Dropout Blueprint”. HipHopDX. Archived from the original on May 3, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Centeno, Tony M. (September 30, 2024). “Ye Announces Upcoming Solo Album & Previews New Single Beauty & The Beast“. iHeart. Archived from the original on May 14, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  16. ^ Nevares, Gabriel Bras (October 12, 2024). “Kanye West Is Reportedly Producing His Next Album Bully All By Himself”. HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
  17. ^ @thebellablaq (June 24, 2025). “Had the honor of co writing beauty & the beast ! Much love to my family @malikyusef100 I’m blessed to be a forever student of yours ! Your gift is something special from the most high & @badkidsklass we did it again 🙏🏿‼️ And to My man my partner and teammate thank you for pushing me to see a better me thank you for teaching me thank you for four patience and grace @fyamanhof”. Instagram. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  18. ^ Lattimore, Nia (March 24, 2026). “Album Review: Bully by Kanye West (Ye)”. Shatter the Standards. Retrieved March 25, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ “Ye & Kanye West – Bully“. Tidal. June 20, 2025. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  20. ^ Suman, Shraddha (October 20, 2024). “Did Ye Remove ‘Beauty and the Beast’ From Apple Music?”. Netflix Junkie. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  21. ^ a b “Kanye West Drops New Song ‘Beauty And The Beast’, Sells Swastika T-Shirt On Yeezy Site”. Hit Channel. February 10, 2025. Archived from the original on March 16, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  22. ^ Gold, Jordan; Valinsky, Hadas (February 10, 2025). “Kanye West is selling $20 T-shirts with swastikas |”. CNN. Archived from the original on June 13, 2025. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  23. ^ Kaufman, Gil (March 19, 2025). “Ye Surprise Drops Bully Album Via Short Wrestling Film Starring Son Saint West”. Billboard. Archived from the original on March 20, 2025. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  24. ^ Paul, Larisha (January 28, 2026). “Kanye West Sets March Release Date for Bully Album”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 28, 2026.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Turner-Williams, Jaelani (March 11, 2026). “Kanye West Finally Sets Concrete Release Date for Bully Album”. Complex. Retrieved March 11, 2026.
  26. ^ Hellerbach, Miki (October 24, 2024). “Kanye West’s New Album Bully: Here’s Everything We Know…” Complex. Archived from the original on March 16, 2025. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  27. ^ a b “Official Hot 40 Singles”. Recorded Music NZ. June 27, 2025. Archived from the original on June 27, 2025. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  28. ^ a b “Kanye West Chart History (Hot 100)“. Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2026.
  29. ^ a b “Kanye West Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)“. Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2026.