"Beauty and the Beast" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his upcoming twelfth studio album, Bully (2025). First released as a promotional single on February 9, 2025, exclusively through West's Yeezy website, it was later added to music streaming services as a dual single with the tracks "Preacher Man" and "Damn" on June 20, 2025, via a 3-track extended play (EP). A downtempohip-hop soul song with chipmunk soul elements, 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 began recording "Beauty and the Beast" in 2021, finishing the song during 2024–2025 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, which was made during late 2024.
"Beauty and the Beast" received positive reviews from music critics after its debut at Haikou, who often praised its production and writing as more relaxed than West's recent releases. The song would go on to peak at number 19 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart, but would not chart anywhere else.
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.[1][2][3] 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.[4] 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".[5] He would preview an updated version in full via Instagram on October 16, alongside an accompanying visual from the Haikou show.[6][7] According to the post's caption, West had made adjustments to the song since its debut while staying in Tokyo, Japan.[7] Former collaborator and record producer Mike Dean would comment, claiming the track was first conceived during sessions for West's tenth studio album, Donda (2021).[8]
A recreation of the visuals used during its Wuyuan River Stadium performance is available on West's tech demo website, yzy.one.[9]
Musically, "Beauty and the Beast" is a downtempo song.[6] Unlike most of West's work, the song is entirely sung rather than rapped.[10] Created using the Ensoniq ASR-10 and SP-1200, itsamples "Don't Have to Shop Around" by the Mad Lads.[11] Because of its sample-based production and the equipment used, it drew comparisons by critics to West's earlier work.[10][12][13] Like the majority of Bully, West is the sole producer credited for its production.[14][12] After West released it as a single on music streaming services, Bella Blaq revealed via Instagram that she had helped co-write the song with him.[15]
Lyrically, West takes on a more reflective nature than his previous releases that same year.[6] 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.")[6] 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."[6] Lines like "I'm still here in the trifecta" reference his continued success, as he reassures that he is still within the top rappers in his field.
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.”[6]
Release and reception
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.[16] Prior, it had been made briefly available as a music video on Apple Music during October 2024.[17] 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.[16][18] The song was removed from his website shortly after, as all items were replaced with a swastika T-shirt.[18][19] It also appears on demo versions of Bully, as featured throughout the short film Bully V1, but without the changes present in the promotional single; these versions were dated from November–December 2024. 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".[20]
"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.[13] 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."[6] 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."[21]
↑ "Beauty and the Beast" was initially released as a promotional single on February 9, 2025, on West's Yeezy website. It was released as an official single on June 20, 2025.
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