Kanye West unveiled the cover art for his upcoming solo album, Bully, on Wednesday (October 23). The polarizing rapper/producer recruited Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama to create the black-and-white cover art.
Moriyama is best known for his high-contrast black-and-white photographs. The 86-year-old photographer won the Hasselblad Foundation International Award, touted as the Nobel Prize for photography.
While West allowed fans to see Bully’s cover, they’re still waiting for the album’s release date. Considering Ye’s track record, any release date is more of a rough estimate. His projects have repeatedly been delayed or dropped a day later than expected in recent years.
Bully will be West’s first solo album since 2021’s Donda. Earlier this year, he released two albums—Vultures 1 and 2—with Ty Dolla $ign under the name ¥$.
West is currently facing assault allegations from his former assistant Lauren Pisciotta. Ye’s ex-employee accused him of sexually assaulting her at one of Diddy’s studio sessions. Pisciotta said she was given a drink “laced with an unidentified drug.” She had no memory of what happened that night until Ye later told her they “kind of hook[ed] up a little.”
“She could not stomach the fact that she worked for the man who had sexually assaulted her against her will while she was drugged, who then successfully lured her back into his orbit by way of a job opportunity to sexually assault her all over again,” Pisciotta’s lawsuit declared.
Pisciotta originally sued West in June then filed an amended complaint in October.
A legal rep for Ye accused Pisciotta of “blackmail and extortion” when she first sued him over the summer. The rep claimed Pisciotta was fired for being unqualified, demanding an “unreasonable” salary and “numerous documented incidents of her lascivious, unhinged conduct.” The rep said her lawsuit was filled with “baseless” allegations.