CIRCLES Lyrics – Ye | from “BULLY”

This one’s a sparse, hypnotic cut clocking around three minutes, blending Ye’s gospel-tinged production with trap-soul vibes that let the loops breathe heavy. Music all his, penned alongside Don Toliver for that sleek, melodic edge, it flips the dusty charm of “Huit Octobre 1971″—that Vangelis gem DOOM and Tyler flipped into cult classics—into something personal and looping.

The sound’s minimalist: hazy keys swelling under those repetitive “circles” chants, sparse drums that mimic a heartbeat skipping, genre-wise it’s alternative hip-hop with R&B undercurrents, directed toward unpacking relational ruts without resolution. Themes nail the exhaustion of patterns—prayers for breakthrough (“Oh, Lord, I can’t miss this”) crashing into the pull of stagnation (“What we gain going in circles?”), like Ye therapy session set to a sample that nods his crate-digging roots.

As track seven on Bully, CIRCLES slots into an 11-song meditation on power plays and inner beasts, kicking off with the aggressive title track and weaving through bangers like “Vice Grip” feat. Playboi Carti, the vulnerable “Echo Chamber,” and Toliver’s full link-up on “Midnight Run.” The album’s concept digs into bullying the self—fame’s bruises, love’s loops, creative blocks—pulling from Ye’s post-Donda era of unfiltered drops, with fewer features for that solo-vision punch. Teasers hit his X last week, with a grainy afterparty clip from February’s Grammys still racking views, fans piecing together the vibe from those leaked snippets.

Ye’s at this defiant pivot, a year after Vultures 2’s chaos and that surprise Coachella set that had everyone talking redemption arcs. From Yeezus fire to gospel detours, Bully catches him distilling the noise—more producer than provocateur, channeling personal whirlwinds into tracks that mirror the mess without apology, proving he’s still the loop we can’t quit.