Ye and Ty Dolla $ign Should Not Drop Vultures 3
After months of anticipation, delays and vague teasers, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign finally dropped their Vultures 2 album this past weekend. The resulting fanfare was surprisingly minimal. After a confusing and jarring rollout in addition to the unsatisfactory quality of the project and mixed reviews from fans once the new album arrived, it’s clear Ye and Ty shouldn’t drop Vultures 3.
When Ye revealed last week that Vultures 2 would finally be released on Aug. 2, the date came and went with no album in typical Ye fashion. It marked the third delay of the project, which was initially supposed to arrive on March 8. When Vultures 2 officially dropped on Aug. 3 around 3 a.m. EST, the response from fans was shockingly lackluster.
Considering almost every single one of Ye’s albums, including Vultures 1 back in February, has been met with cultural hysteria, the tepid reaction to this new project is telling. The Vultures 2 album was loaded with guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Future, Kodak Black, Playboi Carti, Don Toliver, Lil Baby and more. As far as content, Ye took some shots at Adidas, Drake, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and other foes on the project. Despite all that beef and star power, it just couldn’t distract fans from the album’s gaping flaws.
Aside from Ye’s most die-hard stans, many listeners flocked to social media with complaints about the album. They accused Ye of using AI vocals, and criticized him for changing songs at the last minute or omitting unreleased fan favorites altogether such as “Everybody.” That track was likely scrapped due to sample clearance issues since it was created using Backstreet Boys’ 1997 classic “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” The most notable change on the LP appears on “River,” which now has completely different drums and a fresh new mix that elevates the vocals. Dozens of fans criticized the mixing of this song and others. One fan even claimed that the beat for “Sky City” was made for Jay-Z over two decades ago.
Not to mention, Ye is once again being accused of using artists’ samples without their permission. The band Portishead, whose song “Machine Gun” was sampled extensively on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Field Trip,” called out Ye on X, formerly known as Twitter. Ty and Ye were also called out by singer Swsh for using a sample of “Break the Fall (Acoustic)” without the band’s permission. Swsh posted a lighthearted video on Instagram, claiming that Ye fans were thanking him for clearing the sample but that he didn’t find out about it until the album dropped on Aug. 3.
“It sounds unfinished and honestly, it’s just as bad as V1 to me,” one fan tweeted about Vultures 2. “It’s just sad to see Kanye’s music career going out like this.”
“Man vultures 2 was so A*S, first him saying ‘f**k his ex wife’ like 7 times, then on top of that, the unfinished/bad mixing, and why did bro change the demo track on lifestyle????” questioned another X user. “AND ON TOP OF THAT AN AI KANYE VERSE????? WTF WAS BRO THINKING.”
With all of these substantial accusations flying around, as well as the general disdain for the album, it’s unlikely Vultures 3 would be received any better. This is partially because similar controversies diluted the impact of Vultures 1. Donna Summer’s estate sued Ye and Ty for using an unauthorized sample of Donna’s “I Feel Love” on their “Good (Don’t Die)” song. The camps reached an undisclosed settlement, but “Good (Don’t Die)” still has not been posted back on streaming services.
While the quality of Vultures 2 has been a conversation piece online since it debuted, it could also be said that the album’s rollout wasn’t nearly as strong as its predecessor. Prior to the release of Vultures 1, Ye and Ty hosted two cinematic “raves” in Miami and Las Vegas, the latter of which culminated in a livestreamed listening party inside a cramped hotel room. Then, shortly after the album’s release, Ye and Ty took their rave listening events to Ye’s hometown of Chicago as well as New York. Vultures 1 felt much more like a full-circle experience, with fans having more than enough time to digest the album.
As for Vultures 2, there are currently three upcoming listening parties in Salt Lake City on Aug. 9, South Korea on Aug. 23, and Taiwan on Aug. 25, but details remain scarce about the ticketing and venue situations. No listening events prior to V2 arriving had the same buzz nor wow factor as those planned for V1.
There was also a substantial amount of confusion about when Vultures 2 would actually arrive, if at all. After another prospective date of May 3 came and went, Ye remained completely silent in the months that followed. It was unclear when fans could expect to see Vultures 2. As for Ty Dolla $ign, he continued to give cryptic, vague updates on the status of the album. He told concert crowds that the album was coming “soon,” and said to YouTuber Vitaly Zdorovetskiy in May that the album could drop, “Any day now. It could be tomorrow.”
During the same conversation with Vitaly, Ty told a curious fan that the album would solely be released only on Ye’s YZY app, though that obviously ended up not being true. As Ty tried to fan the flames of excitement surrounding the project, it’s also safe to say that fans simply forgot about it. By the end of May, the mayhem surrounding Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s beef completely overshadowed anything Kanye did or said by the end, even when he tried to add himself to the mix by dissing Drake on a remix of Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” which Ye couldn’t even get cleared.
However, there is hope Vultures 2 could still pack a punch. Eric J. Cui, who is reportedly the Yeezy Chief of Staff, claimed on Instagram on Aug. 6 that there were “more surprises on the way” for some of the tracks, and that six of the songs had already been updated. Ye had previously said this album would be tinkered with in real time, so it’s likely in the next few weeks fans could be hearing a completely different project.
Still, with all the confusion and controversies embroiled in both Vultures 1 and 2, as well as the sloppy rollout, the idea of doing this all over again for a third time frankly feels exhausting. If the end result is as convoluted as Vultures 2 and a downgrade from V1, Vultures 3 should stay shelved at all costs.
Stream Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 2, and see some of the fans’ reactions to the album below.