The artist formerly known as Kanye West’s long-teased album Bully, as of this writing, hasn’t yet hit streaming services.
However, fans were able to hear the latest iteration of the project, first announced in 2024, at listening parties held in multiple cities on Thursday (March 26). While work-in-progress versions of the album shared in 2025 suggested a featureless affair, the listening parties confirmed otherwise. Travis Scott, CeeLo Green, and more are all featured on the project (or, at least, the listening party version).
Also featured is Nine Vicious, a name that should be familiar to those with their ears to the underground.
Below, we take a closer look at the Georgia rapper, who received a co-sign from Young Thug last year.
Nine Vicious is featured on the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s Bully
At Thursday’s listening parties, it was confirmed that Nine Vicious made contributions to the project, which—unless you count Donda 2, which had a confused rollout and is sometimes described as a demo rather than an album—marks Ye’s first new solo studio album in nearly five years. As always with a Ye project, it’s unclear what may change once Bully hits streaming services, or even afterwards.
“I LOVE U [YE],” Vicious wrote in an Instagram Stories update in the early hours of Friday.
Vicious has made his admiration for the 24-time Grammy winner clear in the past, including on Vicious’ 2024 mixtape Studio Addict, which features the “Power”-sampling, and appropriately named, “Ye.” On the same project, he also sampled Ye’s 2016 The Life of Pablo track “No More Parties in LA” on “One Beer.”
Nine Vicious has multiple full-lengths to his name, with another one on the way
In January, Vicious rolled out the 10-track project B4EM, intended as a precursor to his upcoming new album Emotions, expected this year. Last year, he followed a similar approach in the rollouts for Tumblr Music and For Nothing, preceding both with EPs.
Nine Vicious bagged a Young Thug co-sign in 2025
During his rise, Vicious has drawn numerous comparisons to Young Thug, with some linking his visual presentation and occasionally androgynous style to the UY SCUTI artist. Just over a year ago, Thug took to X to quote lyrics from “U Fancy?,” a key track from Vicious’s catalog.
Notably, last year Vicious was believed to be affiliated with Thug’s YSL Records label. However, the current status of that association isn’t entirely clear. Not long before Thug posted his co-sign, Vicious was made the subject of unsubstantiated allegations on social media, which he appeared to allude to in the track “Statement.”
