“Vultures 1” is the first debut studio album by the new rap duo ¥$ composed of the two artists Kayne West and Ty Dolla $ign. This album was released on Feb. 10, which was also the 20th anniversary of Kanye West’s debut album “The College Dropout” from 2004. West announced that a Vultures series would be released as a trilogy on Jan. 23, so this is just the beginning.
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign traveled to Italy and began recording their songs for the album in October 2023, later moving to Saudi Arabia to record the rest of the album for an additional three months. The release had been delayed numerous times before eventually releasing. Ye and Ty Dolla $ign played two exclusive tracks “Everybody” and “New Body” at the Vultures Rave listening party in December, two months before holding numerous public events in Chicago, New York and Milan. Both tracks ended up being removed for licensing issues. The album was first teased to the public under the label ¥$ by releasing the track Vultures which was supposed to be the original title for the album but later changed to Vultures 1 signaling this as the first installment in the volume and later albums to be released in the future.
STARS: Slow guitar and a gospel choir lay down the baseline for the track as drums are added before Kanye West begins his verse. Ye’s voice continuously changes from low to high throughout from start to end. In the lyrics, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign embrace their wealth and Ye discards his cancellation of himself from his comments on Jewish people by vocalizing the line “Keep a few Jews on staff now.”
KEYS TO MY LIFE: The track opens up with electronic vocal keys as it sets into the upbeat drums. Ye reflects on the aftermath of his divorce from Kim Kardashian, expressing how he felt she was always there for him and how he thought he was going to be the only one with her. Since then, West reportedly married Bianca Censori in January of 2023, an architectural designer for West’s fashion brand Yeezy. In the track, he plans to have another kid with this new girl in his life. TV Personality India Love is featured at the end of the track.
PAID: Beginning the track with electronic piano chords and adding funky drums make a dubstep dance pattern as other funk instruments continue to be added throughout the track. Ty Dolla $ign is most prominent in this track as he takes the main chorus and runs most of the verses. The theme is spending money, getting money and again flaunting their wealth.
TALKING (Feat. North West): This two-part track continues the upbeat pattern from previous tracks in the first half and features Kanye West’s daughter North West in the starting verse, emphasizing that she isn’t one to mess with. Half way through the track it begins its second half. Ty Dolla $ign starts it off with his chorus which quickly leads into the deep bass on Ty’s verse. West ends it with his version of the same chorus.
BACK TO ME (Feat. Freddie Gibbs): Electronic drums and a hard bassline persist throughout the track, built on the same structure as Ye’s 2010 single “Runaway”. Ye’s and Gibbs go all in with sexually explicit material on this track, idolizing the women they have interest in. Ty Dolla $ign lets his confidence shine in his chorus letting his partner know that he knows she’ll be coming back to him tomorrow.
HOODRAT: The track’s production is very repetitive as it counts on hard hitting steel drums to guide the song and “hoodrat” is repeated all throughout. Ye is aggressive in his rapping, only calming down on the chorus with Ty. The outro includes a snippet from Mike Tyson’s podcast where he says how Ye is majorly disliked within the industry but great in what he does and everyone knows it.
DO IT (Feat. Nipsey Hussle): Hussle opens up backed by the sample from Juvenille’s “Back That Azz Up” From a production aspect the song has orchestral elements while still being up-beat and keeping 808’s on hand. When Ye begins his verse he lyrically tells those he doesn’t like that it’s their loss, and flaunts his wealth once again by sending 100 grand to some random woman on Apple Pay while Ty still remains sensual in his chorus.
PAPERWORK: This track is primarily based around making money, bringing in guitar synths, and stepping away from the 808s. Ye also uses another sample in this track, this time some Brazilian funk from MONTAGEM FAZ MACETE 3.0 by DJ’s Vitinho Beat and Roca.
BURN: While the track originally disappeared in early January of this year, Ye and Ty later decided to finish production on it. Which I’m very glad they did, as this really shows off what they are both best at on a soulful, catchy beat. The focus of this song revolves around love and the recent drama Ye has been a part of.
FUK SUMN (Feat. Playboy Carti and Travis Scott): The first half has Carti and Ty pairing up and expressing their sexual fantasies on this bass heavy beat. In the second half, Ye and Travis continue on sexual approach, while Ye also mentions how in November of last year, a snippet of the track was released, later being updated for the album.
VULTURES (Feat. Bump J and Lil Durk): Being the lead single while having the same name of the album it doesn’t disappoint. Bump J hadn’t paired up with Ye since 2007 because J was incarcerated on a plea deal for an armed robbery. Lil Durk and Bump J see themselves back in the mainstream while living a luxurious but dangerous lifestyle. Ye puts both of the Chicago rappers on a bass-heavy trap beat. Ty and Ye again embrace their sexual experiences on a calmer soulful beat with some 808s.
CARNIVAL (Feat. Playboi Carti): One of the most popular on the album, the track was heard everywhere on social media platforms even before its release. CARNIVAL reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, being Ty’s 3rd top ten release and Ye’s 21st. The main memo is showing off the artist’s partner’s abilities and putting their riches on a pedestal. The song has this deep heavy bassline being elevated with synth elements and 808s.
BEG FORGIVENESS (Feat. Chris Brown): The song covers Joesph Goddard’s “Gaberial” having Chris Brown repeat the lyrics. Having hollow drums and long chords echoing in the back, differs from Ye’s previous songs on the album. Halfway through the drums go away and the choir is brought back, repeating the title name with verses done by Ty, reminiscent of Ye’s track POWER on his album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
PROBLEMATIC: Ye goes back to his roots with this track and returns to the type of production used in his first studio album “The College Dropout.” Using samples from Jubilation’s “Spooky Booth” throughout the track, Ye addresses the backlash he faced in late 2022 for his controversial statements, while still boasting his wealth and influence musically and fashionably.
KING: This first installment in the VULTURES trilogy sees Ye finally wrap up his controversies about being anti-semitic, albeit with irreverent flair. He raps about how the comments haven’t affected his self-worth, calling himself “King” throughout the track. Heavy drums and bass with a tempo give the track buoyancy for Ye and Ty to flow more fluently, going back and forth between lyrics.
Throughout his career, Kanye West has always challenged what it means to be a music artist by never really sticking to a certain type of genre. Ye showcases that fluidity in this album by switching from genre to genre in each song. All the songs have a certain amount of variety to them, which often left me anticipating what was going to happen in the track. That’s what makes Kanye West, Ye. He never does what’s expected of him, speaking his mind not only in his lyrics but in the production, and that’s what makes him stand out. Ty Dolla $ign adds a much-needed balance to the album, adding more soulful lyrics and softer tones, compared to the wild, unpredictable Ye.
The features contribute a lot more than they should, especially on the song “DO IT” in which Ye only has one verse on the track, making it feel like sometimes he’s the feature. The songs “PROBLEMATIC” and “BEG FORGIVENESS” have similar production to his previous albums. Even after all the style and sound changes, Ye still finds a way to make subtle call-outs to the work that got him to where he is now. Overall, this album reinforces the fact that Ye doesn’t change. He still lacks maturity, but his ominous and luminous lyrics are what makes his creativity shine throughout the production. It’s hard to hate someone who is truly themself.
I gave the album 8.9/10 because I feel like the features took a lot of the spotlight when I feel like they should be more balanced throughout some tracks. However, most tracks provide a profound sense of creativity, making each song unique and worth listening to.