Kanye West’s weekend release of BULLY is already dividing listeners, but one unexpected voice in the praise column comes with complicated baggage. Streamer Kai Cenat, who has traded both compliments and insults with Ye over the past year, gave the album an enthusiastic endorsement during a recent broadcast.
“I am not going to lie. This was a banger album,” Cenat admitted in a clip shared by Kurrco. “I feel like he didn’t do too much overly experimental sht. I feel like he did just enough… I ain’t gonna lie, I like this one. I really like this one, honestly. I’ll fck with it.”
The praise arrives as BULLY dominates streaming platforms. The album shattered records by charting No. 1 on Apple Music in more countries than any rap release this year—surpassing J. Cole’s The Fall-Off, which previously held that distinction. On Spotify alone, BULLY accumulated 30 million streams in its first 24 hours, marking the strongest hip-hop debut of 2026. Projections suggest it will move between 250,000 to 275,000 album-equivalent units in its opening week, with 100,000 coming from pure sales.
Cenat’s approval is notable given the pair’s volatile dynamic. Last April, Ye accused the streamer of stealing his creative DNA during a livestream rant: “I invented the streaming st with Donda,” he claimed. “N*as is taking the whole swag and running with it.” He specifically called out Cenat and fellow streamer Adin Ross for only pursuing collaborations when controversy wasn’t swirling—implying they lacked loyalty during his most embattled moments.
Yet Cenat appears willing to separate the art from the artist, or perhaps the music from the messenger. His assessment that Ye struck “just enough” experimental balance without overreaching suggests BULLY may have found the sweet spot between innovation and accessibility that recent projects missed.
Whether this thawing signals future collaboration or merely a temporary armistice remains to be seen. For now, both men are winning—Ye with commercial dominance, Cenat with cultural relevance as a tastemaker whose opinion carries weight, even to artists he’s criticized.
