Kanye West finally dropped his long-awaited return album on Friday, February 9, 2024; however, this time he was not alone. Ty Dolla $ign is also a part of the album as a collaborator.
Kanye’s return to the rap game has been highly anticipated since the last project he dropped was in 2021. He went almost 3 years without any album, until he released the lead single for this album in November 2023. This started the rollout for his new album, which was rumored to be titled “¥$” at the time. The official title would not be released until December, when we then found out that the album would be called “Vultures.” Fans were not completely sold on the album because Kanye has scrapped an album after announcing it too many times. This album is coming out at a very weird stage in Kanye’s career as he has made very wrong remarks over the past year about certain people and has been deemed as anti-sematic by the media and many others. He was rumored to have recorded a 40-minute apology video to drop ahead of the album, but it was never released. Many people expected this album to address some of those remarks and for Kanye to justify what he said, as he doesn’t speak to the media much. He deactivated all social media platforms for a while until he started the rollout for his album, and he is not in the United States very often. Also, when he is in public, he is always wearing masks or ignoring paparazzi. On the other hand, Ty Dolla $ign has been very quiet for a while and this collaboration with Kanye honestly shot him to the next level in the music industry.
Kanye is known for a chaotic album rollout due to him either delaying the album or just not dropping it when he is supposed to. This album was rumored to come out December 15th, 2023, when Kanye and Ty had their first listening party. However, nothing came from it except a preview of the album; the final cut didn’t even have all of the songs that were played. After this, fans expected the album to be released each Friday. Real fans knew that we weren’t getting anything until it was announced from Kanye and even then it wasn’t a guarantee.
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign open this album up with a song called “STARS,” instead of the long awaited “Everybody” featuring Charlie Wilson and Lil Baby that samples the legendary Backstreet Boys. The album starts strong and stays that way. Another cool part of the album is on the song “TALKING,” where North West is on the song, who is Kanye’s oldest child. Kanye has always been a great parent for his kids, even with the restrictions he faces, and this song doubles down on that. The album then goes into one of the best songs titled “BACK TO ME,” featuring Freddie Gibbs who easily has one of the best verses on the album. This song samples a movie called “Dogma” from the late 1990s. Everything about this song is perfect and it shows that Kanye still has it. There are then a few more good songs until another standout titled “BURN,” which is just Kanye and Ty. This song is short but great, and the beat combined with Ty’s vocals, and Kanye’s rapping is perfect. The album then goes through a couple more songs until what is widely regarded as the best on the album, “CARNIVAL,” featuring Playboi Carti and Rich the Kid. This song is awesome and even samples an older Kanye song to give it an authentic feel. Everybody on this song delivers with their verse and it is perfect from start to finish. The song ends with “PROBLEMATIC” and “KING” where Kanye does address his previous remarks, but he doesn’t go too far in depth with it and left some fans confused and upset while others still didn’t care.
In review, this album is one of the best of the 2020s decade. Kanye and Ty delivered and did so while having fun; not every song is serious and that’s one of the best parts of this album. Overall, this album deserves a ⅘ stars and shows why Kanye is still the top dog in the rap game.
