On Friday, the long awaited and highly anticipated collaborative album Vultures 1 by Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign was finally released. It was months late which is par for the course when it comes to Kanye dropping new music, but many fans found the listening experience worth the wait. It is West’s first studio album after being released from the Sony BMG record label because of his public antisemitic remarks in October of 2022. The consequences of his actions are still in effect as it was revealed via Kanye’s Instagram that many venues are still unwilling to book him for future performances. The post was later deleted.
The late album release was partially tied to West’s controversial statements as artists who were to be featured refused to give clearance for their appearances to avoid association with Kanye. Ozzy Osbourne was very forward about his decision to deny permission to be featured on the album. His manager stated, “[Kanye is] a disrespectful antisemite, he (messed) with the wrong Jew this time … the (guy is) a pig.” Other such as Nicki Minaj were less direct about their reasoning for denying clearance, saying that it was because her featured verse was three years old and should remained unreleased. To contrast this however, many artists were featured on the album and openly supported the new music via social media. Big names in the rap industry like Travis Scott and Playboi Carti were included in the project along with a surprising feature from Kanye’s daughter North West who is ten years old.
The actual music is almost unanimously agreed to be an improvement on his previous album Donda, released in 2021. The album reached number one on the U.S. charts almost immediately after the release, eventually achieving the same feat in over 100 countries. Pending the release of the upcoming Vultures 2 and 3 projects, fans are excited for more and have high expectations.
