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\n\tIt\u2019s possible that we didn\u2019t, in fact, want the old Kanye<\/a>. Bully<\/em>, the 12th studio album from Ye, n\u00e9 Kanye West<\/a>, feels in some ways like a greatest-hits compilation: There are soul samples flipped with the alchemic acumen that made Ye one of the main architects of the past 20 years of popular music. There are crisp, stadium-ready melodies and polished, albeit just serviceable, hooks. Yet the project feels lifeless overall, as though the Ye whom fans might remember, like the times he represents, is indeed never coming back.<\/p>\n \n\tBully <\/em>arrives after the much embattled Vultures<\/a>,<\/em> which Ye struggled to get on streaming platforms while still managing to deliver a Number One song in \u201cCarnival.\u201d Vultures<\/em> saw Ye fully on the defensive, following his setting fire to every personal and professional bridge he had with a spree of antisemitic tirades<\/a> and antics \u2014 all of which is documented in the documentary In Whose Name?<\/a><\/em>, no less. After going on to release a song with the hook \u201cHeil Hitler\u201d (which incidentally played a role in the recent viral fame of \u201clooksmaxxing\u201d proponent Clavicular<\/a>), and getting booted from Shopify for selling merch with swastikas,\u00a0Ye had successfully shut himself out of mainstream conversation. He continued touring internationally to muted fanfare, and existed as something of a pariah in the States.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tOver time, however, the culture on the ground became just as noxious as Ye\u2019s most unhinged instincts. Appalling as they were, Ye\u2019s rants now match up to everyday commentary on Musk-era Twitter. And he\u2019s been on something of an image rehabilitation tour. In January, in an interview<\/a> with Vanity Fair<\/em>, Ye described ongoing complications from the 2002 car accident that famously left his jaw wired shut \u2014 the impetus for \u201cThrough the Wire,\u201d and arguably Ye\u2019s entire career. Coupled with a well-documented battle with bipolar disorder, it was enough for some to squint and almost begin to see Ye sympathetically.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThis is a blessing and a curse for the music on Bully,<\/em> which is easily some of the best-sounding Kanye has made in years. The album opener, \u201cKing,\u201d is a standout and sounds something like Yeezus<\/em> with smoother edges. Ye raps almost convincingly about the past few years of controversy, falling just short of saying anything impactful. Just before the song can reach any kind of emotional crest, we\u2019re thrust into the lackluster \u201cThis a Must,\u201d which rides a forgettable trap beat with even less inspired lyrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n