Kanye West has ramped up his redemption arc by revealing the release date for his new album Bully and plotting his first U.S. show in two years.
The Chicago rap icon updated his website on Monday (March 9) to announce that his upcoming 12th LP will arrive on March 27 — a week later than expected.
It was recently reported that the project will be distributed by gamma., the company cofounded by former Apple and Interscope executive Larry Jackson that has also struck partnerships with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Usher.
Following the album’s release, Ye will perform at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on April 3, marking his first domestic concert since his somewhat bizarre headlining set alongside Ty Dolla $ign at Rolling Loud California in March 2024.
The show is billed as Ye’s “only performance in Los Angeles.” Fans can pre-register for tickets by pre-saving Bully, with “a few lucky pre-registrants” being selected to receive free tickets. General tickets go on sale on Wednesday (March 11).
The concert is one of eight tour dates that Kanye has planned to promote Bully, with the other seven taking place in countries around the world.
He will kick things off on March 29 in New Delhi, India, before performing select shows in Turkey, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain through to July 30.
Thanks to his series of antisemitic outbursts that have derailed other aspects of his career, including his lucrative Yeezy partnership with Adidas, Kanye’s performances in recent years have largely been reduced to non-U.S. locations like China, South Korea and Mexico.
However, his upcoming Bully album and international tour come after Ye apologized for his antisemitic comments in a full-page ad published in The Wall Street Journal.
In the lengthy and candid letter, the 48-year-old admitted “deep regret” for his behavior and blamed it on the well-documented car accident that he suffered early in his career in 2002.
“Comprehensive scans were not done, neurological exams were limited, and the possibility of a frontal-lobe injury was never raised. It wasn’t properly diagnosed until 2023. That medical oversight caused serious damage to my mental health and led to my bipolar type-1 diagnosis,” he wrote.
Ye also insisted that he is “not a Nazi or an antisemite” and apologized to the Black community for “letting [them] down,” calling them “the foundation of who I am.”
He signed off: “As I find my new baseline and new center through an effective regime of medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living, I have newfound, much-needed clarity. I am pouring my energy into positive, meaningful art: music, clothing, design, and other new ideas to help the world.”
