James Blake Asks for His Name to Be Removed from Kanye West's New Album Credit

JAKARTA - British singer and producer James Blake has publicly asked to be removed from the list of producers on Kanye West's latest album, "BULLY".

This decision was made by Blake right after the 12th studio album of the musician who is now familiarly called Ye was officially launched on various digital streaming platforms on Saturday, March 28 last week.

Blake's move was triggered by his dissatisfaction with the final result of the album's closing song titled "This One Here". Although his name is listed alongside a row of famous producers such as 88-Keys, The Legendary Traxster, Don Toliver, and Quentin Miller, Blake feels that the original essence of his production has been lost due to the editing process which is considered not in line with his original vision.

Blake explained that although some technical elements such as the polished vocal arrangement still sound, overall, the soul of the song has changed completely. He felt that he no longer had emotional or artistic attachment to the final version released by Ye to the public.

"The way I set the vocal tone and composed the track from his freestyle still exists in part, but most of it has been seasoned with new vocal takes and other elements. The spirit of my original production is mostly absent from there," said James Blake, quoted from his statement at Vault, Tuesday, March 31.

Blake emphasized that his decision was not based on personal sentiments or internal conflicts with Kanye West. He just wanted to maintain the integrity of his work and did not want to get appreciation for a work that he did not do entirely. For him, transparency in the creative process is an absolute in the music industry.

"My original version was a completely different production in spirit. I'm happy for the fans, but I've asked to be removed from the producer credit for now because I don't want to take credit for someone else's work and this version is not what I created with Ye," said Blake.

"This is not a personal matter! I just reached a point where I don't want to be credited on music where I can't influence the end result," he added.

The collaborative relationship between James Blake and Kanye West actually has a long history that is full of dynamics. Since the era of the "Yeezus" album in 2014, Ye has praised Blake as one of his favorite artists.

However, their projects are often hampered by technical and communication constraints, one of which is the "WAR" collaboration project in 2022 which has never been officially released to the public.

The presence of the album "BULLY" itself was delayed for two years after it was first announced in 2024. Although Ye continues to be overshadowed by the controversy of anti-Semitic statements in the past, he still went ahead with plans to launch an album launch concert in Los Angeles on April 3, followed by a series of European tours as the first stage on the continent in the last 12 years.