James Blake parts ways with Kanye West after new album, Bully, release

James Blake has distanced himself from Kanye West’s latest release, Bully.

He has asked to have his name taken off the production credits.

The album, which dropped Friday after nearly two years of teasers, features the closing track This One Here with Blake listed alongside Don Toliver, Quentin Miller, and West as co-writers.

But Blake says the final version no longer reflects his work.

“The way I pitched his vocals and construed the track from his freestyle is partially there, majorly peppered with other newer vocal takes,” Blake explained on his streaming platform Vault.

“But the spirit of my actual production is mostly absent other than that.”

The 37-year-old added, “Happy for the fans but I’ve asked to be taken off the producer credits for now as I don’t want to take credit for other people’s work and this version isn’t what I created with Ye. It’s not personal! I just hit a point where [I] don’t want to be credited on music where I can’t affect the end result.”

Blake and West have collaborated for over a decade including an unreleased joint project called WAR in 2022.

Bully, released via YZY and Gamma, is West’s first album since 2024 and features Travis Scott, CeeLo Green, Peso Pluma, Ty Dolla Sign, and others.

The rollout has been marked by controversy, from West’s claims that much of the record was made using AI (later retracted) to his public apology earlier this year for past erratic and offensive behavior.

For Blake, however, the issue is simpler!

He doesn’t want his name attached to music that no longer carries his creative imprint.