Vultures 1
Vultures 1 is the debut studio album by American hip hop supergroup ¥$, composed of rapper Kanye West and singer Ty Dolla Sign. It was released independently by West's YZY brand on February 10, 2024, commemorating the 20th anniversary of West's debut studio album, The College Dropout. Guest appearances include India Love, North West, Freddie Gibbs, Mike Tyson, YG, Nipsey Hussle, Quavo, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Bump J, Lil Durk, Rich the Kid, and Chris Brown. Production was primarily handled by West himself, alongside Digital Nas, the Legendary Traxster, 88-Keys, JPEGMafia, DJ Camper, Chrishan, Ojivolta, Anthony Kilhoffer, Timbaland, No I.D., Swizz Beatz, Wheezy, and others.
Vultures 1
February 10, 2024
2023–2024
55:33
YZY
- Ye
- Ty Dolla Sign
- 88-Keys
- Adey
- Ambezza
- Anthony Kilhoffer
- AyoAA
- Azul
- Bbykobe
- Chad Hugo
- Chordz
- Chrishan
- Cubeatz
- Dez Wright
- DTP
- Digital Nas
- DJ Camper
- Edsclusive
- Feez
- FnZ
- Fya Man
- Gustave Rudman Rambali
- Hubi
- James Alex Hau
- James Blake
- Jasper Harris
- Johnny Goldstein
- JPEGMafia
- Juice
- Kaytranada
- KSJ Beats
- the Legendary Traxster
- Leon Thomas III
- Lester Nowhere
- London on da Track
- Mustard
- Nic Nac
- No I.D.
- Ojivolta
- Rissi
- Shdøw
- Slonka
- Stryv
- Swizz Beatz
- TheLabCook
- Timbaland
- Veyis
- Vinnyforgood
- Vitals
- Wax Motif
- Wheezy
- will.i.am
West and Ty Dolla Sign began recording the album with collaborators in Italy in October 2023, then relocated to Saudi Arabia for three months. It sustained multiple delays and changes to the tracklist before release, following West's struggle to secure a distributor. The release was first teased throughout late 2023 under the placeholder title ¥$ and was set to be titled Vultures before being retitled to Vultures 1 as the first volume in an album series. The tracks "Everybody" and "New Body" were announced for the album, but were not able to be included due to clearance issues. West and Ty Dolla Sign previewed tracks at the Vultures Rave listening party in December 2023, two months before holding numerous public events in Chicago, New York, and Milan. The album was initially distributed using the FUGA distribution platform, allegedly in violation of FUGA's service agreement, and a withdrawal was made from streaming services on February 15, 2024. However, it was then re-distributed by Label Engine the same day.
In contrast to West's previous two albums, Jesus Is King (2019) and Donda (2021), Vultures 1 finds him forgoing religious themes and addressing his preceding controversies, as well as themes of money, relationships, sex, and fame. It also sees him returning to an explicit tracklist, with his previous two albums only featuring tracks with censored lyrics. The cover art shows West dressed in all-black with his hockey mask, joined by his naked partner Bianca Censori. The title track was issued as the album's lead single in November 2023, followed three months later by "Talking / Once Again" and "Carnival", the latter of which topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Music videos were produced for all of the singles, with a new version of "Vultures" produced by Havoc being used for the first of its visuals.
Released in the wake of West's antisemitic comments, Vultures 1 received mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom criticized its unoriginality and lyrics regarding the matter—as well as his other controversies. However, some complimented the production and Ty Dolla Sign's contributions. The album marked West's 11th consecutive number-one debut on the US Billboard 200, breaking his tie with Eminem. It further topped the charts in 17 regions, including Australia, Canada, and Germany, becoming West's first number-one album in the latter country. Each of the album's songs entered the Billboard Hot 100, bringing West to 157 career entries. A sequel album, Vultures 2 is scheduled for release in 2024, with Vultures 3 also slated for a release later in the year. The performers are scheduled to embark on the Vultures world tour from Summer 2024 to early 2025, planned for cities including New York and London.
Post-release issues[edit]
Featured, sampled and interpolated artists' objections[edit]
On February 9, 2024, Ozzy Osbourne posted on Instagram that West was refused permission to sample a 1983 Black Sabbath live performance of the song "Iron Man", but that he had done so anyway on "Carnival". While a leaked version of the track used the sample, the version played at the Chicago listening event did not. West later removed the sample from the song, and was instead replaced by his own track "Hell of a Life", which itself samples "Iron Man".[96] The same day, DJ Roca, one of the artists responsible for "Montagem Faz Macete 3.0", sampled in "Paperwork", shared his appreciation for the usage of his song on Instagram.[97]
Following the release of Vultures 1, Donna Summer's estate posted an Instagram story stating that they had not authorized the use of "I Feel Love" for "Good (Don't Die)". They alleged that "he changed the words, had someone re sing [sic] it or used AI" but that it still constituted "copyright infringement".[98] The song was removed from Spotify on February 14, 2024, a day before it was retracted from Amazon Music, Apple Music, and the iTunes Store.[89][99][100] On February 27, 2024, the estate filed a lawsuit against West for "blatant theft" of "I Feel Love".[101] The estate said that the use of the song was "explicitly denied", and that they "wanted no association with West's controversial history".[101]
FUGA distribution dispute and withdrawal[edit]
On February 15, 2024, the distribution platform company FUGA released a statement that they were working with streaming service providers to remove Vultures 1 from streaming services after the label delivered its release.[102][103] The statement revealed that FUGA had been offered the release in late 2023 and had declined to publish the album, but the final release had nevertheless been delivered through the company's automated processes by a "long-standing FUGA client" in violation of their service agreement.[102][103] FUGA also confirmed the client was collaborating with them on the removal.[102][103] The album was temporarily removed from the iTunes Store and Apple Music, before being added back that same day by a different distributor, Label Engine.[100] On March 2, 2024, Ty Dolla Sign posted himself scrolling through the front page of Apple Music to West's Instagram Stories that did not show Vultures 1, which HipHopDX anticipated may be due to the withdrawal issues. The singer added that him and West never had any appearances in the new music nor best new songs, although he showed "Carnival" reached number one on the Apple Music songs chart.[104][105]