“You know what season it is,” Ye boasts on Bully track “King.” Yeah, Yeezy season has returned, but it feels different this time around for the mercurial artist born Kanye West.

A typical Kanye album rollout is filled with noise feeding the machine and algorithm, but now that chaos has turned to radio silence. It’s about time the music became the sole focus, as antics have muddied the waters and served as a distraction from his work in the past.

West’s first solo album in more than four years also comes with a brand-new label partnership with Gamma. Ye reunited with an old friend, Larry Jackson, who serves as the independent label’s founder, as they go back to Jackson’s time working as an executive at Apple Music in the mid-2010s.

At this point, no Ye album arrives on the traditional midnight ET release schedule, keeping fans on edge as they repeatedly refresh streaming services. Bully finally hit DSPs early Saturday (March 28), following Thursday night’s (March 26) listening parties across the U.S. (Ye attended L.A.’s).

Bully is more polished and cohesive than his work in recent years. Ye limited the half-baked ideas and unfinished tracks, thankfully threw away the AI-slop vocals and got back to his roots by chopping up soulful samples on the production side.

It’s a versatile crew of collaborators joining West on Bully, including underground rap favorite Nine Vicious, the legendary CeeLo Green, frequent collaborators like Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Vultures running mate Ty Dolla $ign, Peso Pluma and Ye’s music director André Troutman, who helped steer the ship for Bully‘s sonic direction.

Ye is still working his way back from the damaging string of antisemitic remarks and turbulent behavior that persisted over the course of the last few years. He’s met with rabbis and taken out full-page ads in The Wall Street Journal to apologize to the Jewish and Black communities for his actions, as he seeks forgiveness and looks to be entering a new chapter of life.

Pulling on a mix of Yeezy eras with one eye toward the future, Bully‘s arrival is a step in the right direction for Ye. Bully funnels into a pair of comeback concerts at SoFi Stadium set for April 1 and April 3, which will serve as West’s first U.S. stadium shows in nearly five years.

Here are all 18 tracks from Bully ranked.

The first day of the the Tecate Pa’l Norte festival on Friday (March 27) offered a vast and eclectic soundscape headlined by Tyler, The Creator, Deftones, Interpol, Morat, Myke Towers and Los Traileros del Norte, bringing rap, alternative rock and metal, pop, electronic music and regional Mexican music to Parque Fundidora in Monterrey, Mexico. As the cherry on top, K-pop sensation Jackson Wang celebrated his 32nd birthday with a spectacular show that included flames and 40 dancers on stage.

The festival’s start gathered thousands of attendees who enjoyed performances by Molotov, Maldita Vecindad, Siddartha, Camilo Séptimo, Cuco, La Santa Cecilia, The Blaze (DJ set), Balu Brigada and Gran Sur, all of whom delivered the best of their repertoire across the eight stages set up in the iconic park. La Arrolladora Banda El Limón was also one of the surprises of day one.

Among other surprise acts this year was the group Piso 21, who thrilled and moved the audience with hits like “Pa’ Olvidarme de Ella,” “Te Amo” and “Me Llamas.” Young singer-songwriter Paloma Morphy, winner of the Latin Grammy for best new artist in 2025, invited her colleague Emjay to perform their new duet “Qué Ves en Mí?” live for the first time, a song they released this week on digital platforms.

During the marathon day, Majo Aguilar and David Velasco, the vocalist of the band Porter, inaugurated a new Pa’l Norte stage called “Entre Cheves y Compas,” engaging the audience in a live recording session. Jordy Medina opened the Club Social KIA stage with his electronic sounds, followed by RØZ, who invited Nsqk to perform “No Veo Bien.”

The program continues on Saturday (March 28) with the legendary band Guns N’ Roses kicking off their 2026 world tour at Pa’l Norte, along with Grupo Frontera, Turnstile, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Cypress Hill, The Warning, El Bogueto, Judeline, Simple Plan, Enjambre, Luck Ra and more.

Now in its 14th edition, the acclaimed festival founded by Apodaca Group — and in recent years associated with the promoter Ocesa — takes place March 27-29.

Read about five of our favorite moments from day one of Tecate Pa’l Norte 2026 below.