by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
February 19, 2024
The features collaborations from fellow Hip-Hip artists such as Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, while also including West’s daughter, North West.
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s long-awaited joint album “Vultures” has debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart. The album, released on Feb. 10, is the first project released by the artist now known as Ye since his “Donda” album in 2021.
Billboard announced that the album is Ye’s 11th number 1 debut and his R&B collaborator’s first entry to make the top spot. With 148,000 units earned, the project consisted of 16 tracks and features collaborations from fellow Hip-Hip artists such as Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, while also including Ye’s daughter, North West. The 10-year-old is prominently featured on the track “Talking.”
The album’s rollout has been met with its own controversies as well, including significant delays since its initial release date of October 2023. Not only were the collaborators searching for a distributor amid Ye parting ways with his label, Def Jam Recordings. The pair also faced challenges due to Ye’s hate speech comments. The album was then pulled from music streamers through its independent streamer, FUGA, before being place back online with Label Engine within the 24 hours it was unavailable.
Individual songs were also pulled from streaming due to alleged copyright infringement, such as “Good (Don’t Die)” for interpolating parts of “I Feel Love,” released by Donna Summer in 1977. Summer’s team has stated that the song was used without permission. The song has yet to be released back on streaming platforms, but was still available for purchase at the official website for Yeezy.
The duo have held a “listening experience” across many stops across the United States and internationally, including a first concert in Ye’s hometown of Chicago where he brought his daughter to perform as well. The 46-year-old is now traveling to Europe alongside Ty Dolla Sign for stops in Italy and France. Whether or not the group will embark on a formal tour to further promote their latest project has to be announced, but are evidently off to a successful start as volume 2 of the “Vultures” project is expected to be released soon.
RELATED CONTENT: Donna Summer’s Estate And Ozzy Osbourne Call Out Ye For Using Uncleared Samples For New Album
