Ye has seen a great deal of success throughout his music career, but he says Bully reaching #1 is especially meaningful. He expressed his gratitude for the support during a call with Gamma CEO Larry Jackson, who was speaking at a panel at the Urban One Summit.
“I just wanted to thank y’all so much for getting behind us on this journey,” Ye said. “These number ones mean even more than the Graduations and the Watch the Thrones and all the number ones before.”
“Because, as you know, like a year into the project, I went into an episode. So this right here is a celebration and a victory,” he continued, “a success story of people who deal with mental health crises to be able to come out of it and actually have number one records with all the things that were done, with all the things that were said. And for you guys to be so forgiving and so supportive just means the world to me.”
Released in March, Bully reached #1 on Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and also topped Apple Music and iTunes charts. It was his first album since he apologized via an ad in The Wall Street Journal to the Black community and others he hurt with his antisemitic remarks. Ye said his behavior at the time was the result of bipolar disorder and a brain injury from a 2002 car crash that he said went undiagnosed.
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