PREACHER MAN Lyrics – Ye | from “BULLY”

This cut, first teased at that wild VULTURES 2 afterparty in Haikou back in September ’24—where it spun three times like a mantra—landed officially bundled with “DAMN” and “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.” It’s Ye at his most alchemical: soul-stirred samples looping under hazy trap haze, those gospel-adjacent builds cresting into a chorus that beams like a spotlight on betrayal (“They switchin’ sides, I seen it comin’”).

Thematically, it’s a preacher’s plea wrapped in defiance—grappling with forged paths, unbreakable loves, and the exhaustion of being the GOAT under siege, all while floating untethered (“I go where they never can”). That leaked February ’25 cut with Young Moose’s raw refs? It sharpened the mix, born in January’s fever, turning whispers of settlement snubs into anthemic light-bearing. No big-name guests here; it’s pure Ye vision, self-produced to echo his evolution from raw rants to redemptive arcs.

BULLY itself? A 13-track gut-punch homage to Larry Clark’s gritty ’01 flick, mirroring Ye’s own “bully” breakup with Adidas while unpacking a playground scrap with his son Saint that sparked real talk on weakness and revenge. It’s stacked: openers like this PREACHER MAN leading into “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST,” mid-album fire with “WHITE LINES” and the title track “BULLY,” then closers “CIRCLES” and “LOSING YOUR MIND” circling back to highs and lows. One collab shines—The World Famous Tony Williams on “MISSION CONTROL”—but the rest is Ye’s solo raid on the vault, blending bent rules and beta upgrades into a blueprint for breaking through. Clocking around 50 minutes, it’s less chaotic than VULTURES, more meditative menace, with artwork by Daidō Moriyama capturing that stark, shadowed resolve.

Ye’s owning ’26 like a reclaimed throne, post-VULTURES saga and endless headlines—this is his unbossed pivot, trading frenzy for focused fury after therapy dips and family anchors. The Chicago sage who birthed Yeezy empires is 48 now, wiser in the wilderness, proving genius doesn’t bend; it beams.