Vultures 1 (2023)

Vultures 1 (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by ¥$, an American hip-hop supergroup composed of the rapper Kanye West and the singer Ty Dolla Sign. It was released independently by West's YZY record label on February 10, 2024. Guest appearances include West's daughter North, India Love, Freddie Gibbs, YG, Nipsey Hussle, Quavo, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Bump J, Lil Durk, Rich the Kid, and Chris Brown. Production was primarily handled by West and Ty Dolla Sign themselves, alongside the Legendary Traxster, 88-Keys, Camper, JPEGMafia, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Ojivolta, Chrishan, Anthony Kilhoffer, and others.

West and Ty Dolla Sign began recording the album with collaborators in Italy in October 2023, then relocated to Saudi Arabia for three months. It sustained multiple delays and changes to the tracklist before release, following West's struggles to secure a distributor. The release was first teased throughout late 2023 under the title ¥$ and was set to be titled Vultures before being retitled to Vultures 1 as the first volume in a series. The tracks "Everybody" and "New Body" were announced for the album, but could not be included due to clearance issues. West and Ty Dolla Sign previewed tracks at the Vultures Rave listening party in December 2023, two months before holding numerous public events in Chicago, New York, and Milan. The album was initially distributed using the FUGA platform, allegedly in violation of FUGA's service agreement, and a withdrawal was made from streaming services on February 15, 2024. However, it was then re-distributed by Label Engine the same day.

In contrast to West's previous two albums, Jesus Is King (2019) and Donda (2021), Vultures 1 finds him forgoing religious themes and instead addressing his preceding controversies, as well as themes of money, relationships, sex, and fame. It also sees him returning to an explicit tracklist, with his previous two albums only featuring tracks with clean or censored lyrics. The cover art features West dressed in all-black with his hockey mask, joined by his partner Bianca Censori. The title track was released as the album's lead single in November 2023, followed three months later by "Talking / Once Again" and "Carnival", the latter of which topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Music videos were produced for all of the singles, with a new version of "Vultures" produced by Havoc used for the song's visual.

Vultures 1 was West's first major release following the controversies surrounding his antisemitic comments. It received mixed reviews from music critics, who criticized West's lyricism and manner of addressing his controversies, though the production and Ty Dolla Sign's contributions received praise. The album marked West's 11th number-one debut on the US Billboard 200, making him the rapper with the third-most number-one albums after Jay-Z (14) and Drake (13). It topped the charts in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, and Germany, becoming West's first number-one album in the latter country. Vultures 1 was certified gold and silver in the United States and the United Kingdom by the Recording Industry Association of America and British Phonographic Industry, respectively. All of the songs entered the Billboard Hot 100, bringing West to 157 career entries. A sequel album, Vultures 2, was released on August 3, 2024, with Vultures 3 also slated for a release indefinitely. The performers were scheduled to embark on a world tour in support of the album from 2024 to 2025, planned for cities such as New York and London, but no updates on this have been provided since.

Background and recording

On August 25, 2023, NBC News reported from two sources that West had been working on music throughout the summer and planned to release an album, revealing "new music is imminent". West held a private listening event for the album in Italy on October 1, that Ty Dolla Sign attended and it was rumored they had been collaborating on the project. During that same month, the musicians were spotted in recording studios in Italy, alongside other artists. A joint concert at RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy was reportedly planned for October 20, 2023, but was delayed by a week and then canceled. The performers had collaborated in the past on multiple occasions, such as West's tracks "Only One" (2014) and "Real Friends" (2016). In an interview with Big Boy on March 15, 2024, Ty Dolla Sign expressed his loyalty to West, acknowledging both his successes and declines, and stated that he always knew West would regain popularity with each comeback and would celebrate his achievements when he did.