"Beauty and the Beast" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his twelfth studio album, Bully (2025). It was released as a promotional single on February 9, 2025, exclusively on West's Yeezy website. It was later released on streaming as a single on June 20, 2025. A downtempo song, it samples "Don't Have to Shop Around" by R&B vocal group the Mad Lads. West is the sole producer attributed to the song, as is the case for many of the tracks on Bully. Lyrically, "Beauty and the Beast" focuses on West's emotional state, status as an artist, and place in the music industry.
The song was previewed multiple times before its release, first shown off along with an announcement for West's upcoming album Bully. It was posted in full on Instagram and Apple Music in October 2024, but was deleted from both by West himself. "Beauty and the Beast" was the second song previewed for Bully, the first being "Preacher Man", which made its live debut earlier in September. After its promotional release on February 9, the song would be included on the original visual release for the album on March 18, 2025. The song would later be released on streaming platforms along with two other songs ("Preacher Man" and "Damn") on June 20, making up the first extended play (EP) released as promotion for Bully. The single would later go on to peak at number 19 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart (also known as the Official Aotearoa Music Charts), although it would not chart anywhere else.
Background and recording
"Beauty and the Beast" was first played during West's September 28, 2024 show at Haikou's Wuyuan River Stadium, a destination on his Vultures 2 Listening Experience tour.[1][2][3] This was the second time West had debuted a song during the tour, as he had previously debuted the song "Preacher Man" at a September 15 concert.[4] Toward the end of the song, West announced, "I got a new album coming out. The album’s called ‘Bully’ and this song is called ‘Beauty and the Beast'."[5]
Before its release as a promotional single, West had previewed the song in full on Instagram, along with an accompanying visual.[6] This was an updated version of the track, with the caption reading, "Live from Haikou. Updated in Tokyo."[7] Former collaborator Mike Dean commented, claiming that the song 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 track is entirely sung rather than rapped.[10] Created using the Ensoniq ASR-10 and SP-1200, its beat consists of parts from the Mad Lads' song "Don't Have to Shop Around'.[11] Because of its sample-based production and the equipment used, it has drawn comparisons by critics to West's earlier work.[10][12][13] Like the majority of Bully, West is the sole producer credited on its production.[14][12]
Lyrically, West takes on a more reflective nature than his at the time recent Vultures series.[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 songs 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, Japan. 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 revealed West's isolation, as regarding production work, he was "pretty much by himself." He noted it was 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. Prior, it had been made briefly available as a music video on Apple Music during October 2024.[15] 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][17] The song was removed from his website shortly after, as all items were replaced with a swastika T-shirt.[17][18] It also appears on demo versions of Bully, but without the changes present in the Yeezy single; these versions of the album were dated from November–December 2024.
On June 20, West would release a 3-track EP as promotion for Bully, including the song alongside the tracks "Preacher Man" and "Damn".[19]
"Beauty and the Beast" has since received positive reception. Commenting on its initial preview, iHeart Radio described West's vocals as "soothing" with an instrumental similar to his earlier works.[13] Armon Sadler of Vibe felt that the tracks downtempo production was a departure from West's recent albums–Vultures 1 and 2 in particular–making it "the ideal canvas for Ye to be more vulnerable."[6] Similarly, Complex's Miki Hellerbach noted the song contained "the most meditative we’ve heard Ye’s lyrics in quite some time, as he ponders rather than asserts."[20]
↑ "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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