The long-awaited release of Vultures happened last Friday, with some turbulence. While many people were anticipating this, other people were boycotting this album due to Kanye's anti-semitism in 2022. It did ruin Kanye's reputation and got him the closest to ever being canceled, but with a fanbase like Kanye's, you can never be truly canceled. Kanye is one of my favorite artists ever and I was waiting for the album to release, so let's dive into my thoughts of this album.
The album starts with "STARS", a short introduction track that doesn't show much but is decent enough. Quickly we go on "KEYS TO MY LIFE" which is better, with Ty Dolla $ign showing his prowess, which in my opinion, elevates this album. The India Love feature was weird and honestly, I don't believe it was needed but it doesn't ruin the song. The third track "PAID" has Ty on another hook doing his magic just for Kanye to have some chipmunk-like voice. Ty up to this point is doing a bunch of heavy lifting on this album, in my opinion. "TALKING" features Kanye's daughter North on the track giving a fun and energetic feature and then slowly transitions into "ONCE AGAIN" another good Ty performance, probably the first great track on this album. The only problem is that Kanye is barely on it.
"BACK TO ME" has a great hook (again by Ty Dolla $ign), and a great verse from Freddie Gibbs. Kanye is the worst part of this track as he has fun with his verse, and while it is fun, it could've been so much better. "HOODRAT" is probably one of the worst songs on this album, Ty sounds decent on it but it seems like there is no structure for the song and the sample we hear is terrible. Then we go into my favorite track on the album "DO IT", a song where every person brings their A-game including Kanye. We need more of this if they are going to drop two more volumes of this album. "PAPERWORK" is decent but it's a song you forget right after listening. So far, eight songs in, it's truly a mixed bag.
"BURN" is the first song where it's just Kanye and Ty and where they both sound good and make truly a good song, with good structure and concept. We then go on to "FUK SUMN", another one of my favorite tracks where Carti, Travis, Kanye, and Ty are all on the same page and making a song just to be played to turn up, and that's what we needed more of on this album. "VULTURES" is the first song we heard off this album when it was released in late 2023. I didn't like this song at all and thought it was average, but after multiple listens it's better than I first thought, it's not a top-tier song but it's decent. "CARNIVAL" has been the hit for this album since it came out last Friday. It's a good song and one of the better songs we have had on this project. My one question: Why was the album not more like this track 9-12 run?
"BEG FORGIVENESS" is more just a Chris Brown interlude with some Ty on it, it's a decent interlude though. "GOOD (DON'T DIE)" is a nice slow track from Ye and Ty and again gets the job done. "PROBLEMATIC" is a Kanye-only song where he talks about his life and where his mind is at and "KING" does more of the same. They are okay tracks to end the album but the album could've ended with more of a punch.
All in all, Vultures 1 is a decent album that doesn't overstay its welcome (only 16 tracks). Ty Dolla $ign is very obviously the best part of this album. Kanye could've been better. But what do we expect from a now mid-40s Kanye? He's more of a producer and a constructor of songs than a rapper. We rarely get performances from him like "Off The Grid". I wish we did but that's not where Kanye is anymore. This album is better than Jesus Is King and I could see a debate about it being better than Ye. It's a decent album that could've been better.
Best Song: DO IT
Worst Song: KEYS TO MY LIFE
6.5/10
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