"Beauty and the Beast" (stylized in all caps) is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his twelfth studio album, Bully (2026). First released on February 9, 2025, exclusively through West's Yeezy website, it was later added to music streaming services as a one of three triple promotional singles with the tracks "Preacher Man" and "Damn" on June 20, 2025, via a 3-track extended play (EP). A downtempo song, it samples "Don't Have to Shop Around" by R&B vocal group the Mad Lads. West solely produced the track himself, co-writing it with Bella Blaq. Lyrically, "Beauty and the Beast" focuses on West's emotional state and place in the music industry, reflecting on how his career has changed.
West initially recorded "Beauty and the Beast" in 2021, later reworking the song in 2024 in his Tokyo hotel room. It was previewed multiple times before releasing, first being played at West and Ty Dolla Sign's September 2024 concert at Wuyuan River Stadium, where West first officially announced Bully. It was the second song previewed for the album, with the track "Preacher Man" making its live debut earlier that month. A full preview was posted to Instagram and Apple Music in October 2024, but was taken down from both days later. The song was included as a track on West's March 2025 visual album, Bully V1, recorded in late 2024.
"Beauty and the Beast" received positive reviews from music critics after its debut at Haikou, who often praised its production and writing as more relaxed than West's recent releases. The song would go on to peak at number 19 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart as a single in 2025.
"Beauty and the Beast" was first played during Kanye West's September 28, 2024, show at Haikou's Wuyuan River Stadium, a destination on his and Ty Dolla Sign's Vultures 2 Listening Experience tour. This was the second time West had debuted a new song during the tour, as he had previously played the song "Preacher Man" at a September 15 concert. Towards the end of the song, West announced that he had "a new album coming out", revealing the album's title as Bully and the song as "Beauty and the Beast". He would preview an updated version in full via Instagram on October 16, alongside an accompanying visual from the Haikou show. According to the post's caption, West had made adjustments to the song since its debut while staying in Tokyo, Japan. Former collaborator and record producer Mike Dean later claimed that the track was first conceived during sessions for West's tenth studio album, Donda (2021).
Musically, "Beauty and the Beast" is a downtempo song. Unlike most of West's work, his vocals are entirely sung rather than rapped. It was produced using the Ensoniq ASR-10 and SP-1200 and features a prominent sample of "Don't Have to Shop Around" by the Mad Lads, which is overlayed with bass guitar played by John Scott. The sample-based production and used equipment led critics to draw comparisons to West's earlier work. Like the majority of Bully, West served as its sole producer. After West released it as a single on music streaming services, Bella Blaq revealed via Instagram that she helped co-write the song with him.
Lyrically, West takes on a more reflective nature than his previous releases that same year. West looks at his status and rekindled career following the Vultures albums ("Fresh new tires, I'm still running / It's a few things I'm overcoming.") He acknowledges his fans expectations for him and his music, singing on the song's chorus, "Think about it every nightâ and day / To try to stay away, to keep my audience / So don't take this as disrespect, I'm sitting here tryna redirect." The song ends with vocals sampled from "Don't Have to Shop Around", repeating the plea "never put me down".
At a runtime of one minute and forty-six seconds, the relaxed nature of "Beauty and the Beast" is reflective of West's time spent in Tokyo. Music journalist Touré, who was in correspondence with West, stated that his China tour dates were intentionally picked so he could retreat to Japan. Touré also claimed that West was producing the album "pretty much by himself", noting that his music was usually a combination of multiple people's input. He noted it as a fresh chapter in West's life, "because in Tokyo, he can be who he wants to be."
"Beauty and the Beast" was released as a promotional single on West's Yeezy website on February 9, 2025. Prior, it had been made briefly available as a music video on Apple Music during October 2024. The promotional single was released during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, which publications saw as a sign that West was jealous of halftime show performer and fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar. The song was removed from his website shortly after, as all items were replaced with a swastika T-shirt. It later appeared on the short film Bully V1. On June 20, 2025, West released a 3-track extended play (EP) as promotion for the album, including the song alongside the tracks "Preacher Man" and "Damn". Bully released on March 28, 2026, through distribution from Gamma.
"Beauty and the Beast" has since received positive reception. Commenting on its initial preview, iHeart Radio Tony Centeno described West's vocals as "soothing" with an instrumental similar to his earlier works. Armon Sadler of Vibe felt the track's downtempo production was a departure from West's recent albumsâÂÂVultures 1 and 2 in particularâÂÂmaking it "the ideal canvas for [him] to be more vulnerable." Similarly, Complex Miki Hellerbach noted its writing as "the most meditative we've heard [West's] lyrics in quite some time, as he ponders rather than asserts."
Credits adapted from Tidal.