ALBUM REVIEW: VULTURES 1

Artist: ¥$
Review by: Hudson Pitcock
Rating: 2.5/5

Only 29 days late from its original release date, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign dropped their highly anticipated album VULTURES 1 on February 9.

In contrast to West’s previous two albums JESUS IS KING and Donda where he explores his own spiritual beliefs, Vultures 1’s 16 songs feature West as he explores his thoughts on his recent controversies.

In an attempt to validate himself in the song “VULTURES,” West asks his listeners how he could even be anti-Semitic when he’s had a relationship with a Jewish woman. Of course, this is meaningless in amending his bigoted public persona and it doesn’t help his message that it’s shown throughout the album that Kanye has not reformed his old belief system in any way.

For example, on the track “BURN,” West responds to losing a total of $1.6 billion in brand partnerships due to similar racist comments by making it apparent that he still thinks his negative press attention was unwarranted, singing “I burned eight billion to take off my chains.” His words make it evident that he still thinks he was oppressed by society due to his beliefs, making it very difficult to believe any form of apology or signs of edification.

However, in spite of West’s continued prejudiced remarks, VULTURES 1still had some minor successes. The album’s most played song, “CARNIVAL,” had smooth-flowing, yet vulgar lyrics and an infectious introduction/chorus warranting its wide-spread popularity. Songs like “BURN” and “DO IT” were also stand-out tracks that had been designed to be more catchy and melody-based rather than lyrical.

Though the rest of the album isn’t necessarily unpleasant, many of the other tracks hadn’t been up to par with expectations for the renowned artist. Tracks like “TALKING” and “PAPERWORK” are two examples of songs that both have a mediocre background beat accompanied by forgettable lyrics.

With VULTURES 1, West and Ty have managed to produce a few great hits that are easily recognizable amidst a tracklist full of many less-alluring songs. As online debates continue over whether the album is West’s worst release, it is clear that compared to his previous music, VULTURES 1 is somewhat of a disappointing release from Ye.