Kanye “Ye” West might be one of the most misunderstood (often by his own doing) rappers to ever live. So it makes sense that he would perceive his new album, Bully, as his own personal version of Lauryn Hill’s iconic 1998 album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Ye made the comparison during a 2025 interview with Justin Laboy on The Download podcast. “How much does this album, Bully, mean to you?” Laboy asked. “I remember, we was listening to music, and you was like, ‘Man, this album is just so positive. Every word matters. Every bar matters.’”
In response, Kanye agreed with the notion of the album being more positive. “You lean on a bar that brings somebody down. That was always rap,” he replied. “This is more of the way I remember Lauryn Hill. The way I remember Miseducation. I feel like it is my Miseducation.”
He then added, “It is my Gnarls Barkley album,” seemingly referencing the 2006 project St. Elsewhere, from CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse.
Ye went on to reference his 808s & Heartbreak album, and then completed his thought about the new project. “Bully has a title connotation that a lot of people are anti-bully, but we can bring it…” he said, “You know… I’m just hyper, next level frequency right now.”
Kanye has (again) formally apologized for his past racist behavior
The resurfaced interview comes as Ye is preparing to finally release Bully. In advance, he took to The Wall Street Journal to issue an apology for his past racist comments and behavior, citing his severe and ongoing mental health issues.
“I lost touch with reality,” Ye wrote in a full-page ad in the print edition of the newspaper, as reported by Pitchfork. “Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst.”
As many people remember, Ye had taken to X/Twitter on multiple occasions to criticize the Jewish community. He even went so far as to praise Hitler, profess Naziism, and even released a song called “HH”, which stands for “Heil Hitler.”
It takes a lot of courage to make a grand apology like this, but the next step is showing that you can stick to your word. Kanye’s apologized before. Let’s see how it goes this time.
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