Table of Contents
It Sounds Like Personality Doesn’t Matter When It Comes To Good Music
Ye’s most recent album, “Vultures 1,” topped the Billboard 200 chart this week, indicating that the rapper has maintained most of his popularity despite a series of antisemitic and other vile outbursts that have alienated him from corporate partners and many fellow celebs. Ye‘s current achievement marks his 11th chart-topping hit. According to Luminate, “Vultures 1” generated 148,000 in sales, which were calculated using a combination of album sales, song downloads, and streams. The majority of the listens came from streaming, with approximately 170 million official streams.
The high ranking also comes amid charges that the album, Ye’s first since his tirades against Jews in late 2022, contains unlicensed samples from other musicians, among other issues preceding and following its February 10 release.
Complications During Vultures
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West initially announced that the album would be released in December, but it was delayed several times due to reports that Ye was having difficulty obtaining permission to sample a Backstreet Boys song and use a Nicki Minaj verse for two tracks that never made it onto the official 16-track album.
More complications occurred after Ye and his partner, Ty Dolla $ign, under the name ¥$ previewed “Vultures” at listening events in Chicago and New York before to its release.
Ozzy Osbourne stated on social media that he declined Ye’s request to sample a 1983 live performance of “Iron Man” — “BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY.”
“HE WENT AHEAD AND USED THE SAMPLE ANYWAY AT HIS ALBUM LISTENING PARTY LAST NIGHT,” he said. “I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!”
Is The Album Discontinued?
Then Spotify pulled one of the new album’s tracks, “Good (Don’t Die),” after Donna Summer’s estate accused Ye of copyright infringement for re-creating a portion of her disco smash “I Feel Love” without permission.
On Thursday, the entire album was briefly pulled from Apple Music when a music distributor attempted to get it removed from streaming services.
Fuga, which was first asked to sell “Vultures 1,” stated in a statement that it declined late last year, “exercising our judgment in the ordinary course of business.” Fuga’s service agreement was violated when “a long-standing …client” uploaded the music to streaming services. “Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its … partners and the client to remove ‘Vultures 1’ from our systems.” Fuga did not return a request for comment.
By the end of the day Thursday, multiple news outlets claimed that Label Engine, which had previously published the album’s first two singles, was now in charge of releasing the album.
Kanye Did In-fact Beat Usher
Despite the errors in the album’s release, people continued to stream “Vultures.” It surpassed Usher’s No. 2 spot with his current album, “Coming Home,” which was released shortly before his Super Bowl halftime show. Usher’s ninth studio album, which earned the equivalent of 91,000 in sales, propelled him to his best album chart position in over a decade.
When the Grammy-winning singer suddenly erupted in public antisemitism, his business partners and many of his previous followers turned against him.
Kanye’s History of Anti-Semitic Rants
Balenciaga, the Creative Artists Agency, and JPMorgan Chase cut relations with Ye after he donned a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to his Paris Fashion Week show in 2022 and declared on social media that he would go “death con 3” on “Jewish people.” His net worth plummeted after he was ousted from his collaboration with Adidas, the home of his Yeezy shoe line, which accounted for approximately 10% of the German sportswear brand’s yearly revenue.
Ye apologized for his anti-semitic remarks in a now-deleted Hebrew-language Instagram post in December.
“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any ‘unintended outburst.’ It was not my intention to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused,” the post said. “I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity.”
When asked about the same words in a recent TMZ interview, Ye said, “Black people cannot be antisemitic. “We are Jewish. He also stated that he “survived the cancellation” thanks to his skills and fan base, and he downplayed concerns about his work being taken off streaming sites due to the low rates they pay artists.
“Vultures” was less apologetic. In the title track, Ye wonders how he can be antisemitic if he’s had relations with a Jewish woman, and he notes in his song “Stars” that he has “a few Jews on the staff now.”
Stay updated on all of the latest news by subscribing to the ITP Live newsletter below and by clicking the push notifications.