Chicago artist, rapper, singer and songwriter Kanye West has been in the rap game for years on end and has been in as well as created many controversies.
With all the albums that he’s released, this one might be the most controversial as to what is considered art, and what is an unfinished project.
There has been much speculation as to whether Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign would release the predecessor to their divisive album “VULTURES 1” initially receiving mixed reactions across various sources including Pitchfork, rating it a 4.6 out of 10, and even the popular YouTube music reviewer Anthony Fantano dubbing it “unreviewable.”
After many Fridays of anticipation from fans, Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign surprisingly dropped the second in the series, “VULTURES 2.” With the original release date given to fans as March 8, 2024, and finally releasing Aug. 3, this was a long overdue release that had been delayed many times.
Even with the album dropping after so many delays, the initial mixing and mastering feels undercooked. These delays were most likely due to putting finishing touches on the project, as Ye responded in Instagram DMs to @yefanatics saying, “we in the lab.”
Muddy vocals, weak Kanye verses, songs with no substance, and even a possible YouTube reupload are all contributors to what feels like a repeat of the first “VULTURES”, just with its mistakes even more prominent than they were the first time around.
One of the tracks, titled “530”, was even pointed out to be a possible rip from an unreleased YouTube video, as pointed out by Fantano in his second video on the “VULTURES” albums, “unreviewable 2“. From that fact alone the album already seems a bit sketchy right on release.
The opener track “SLIDE” is OK on its own, but leaves a lot to be desired lyrically, as neither Kanye nor Ty add anything new or unique to the track. The production, although creative, comes off as somewhat underwhelming, bundled with the melody (if one could even call it that) sounding a lot like the THX movie intro.
The follow-up track, “TIME MOVING SLOW”, is a decent track that features traces of Kanye’s old sound from his “Life of Pablo” era. Unique drums and production is included with a few out-of-pocket lines from Kanye himself, such as “reach for the popcorn, oops that’s my c—k” with Ty on the chorus.
Kanye’s verses, although including some of that bizarreness, don’t do enough to make it a huge standout from the rest of the songs, as there are more lyrically structured songs that do miles better than this one. If listeners just want a turn-your-brain-off song, this one would definitely fit that category.
Another example of these kinds of songs is “LIFESTYLE,” featuring Lil Wayne on the first verse. Overall the track is probably the closest someone can get to better lyrics, with another middle-of-the-road verse by Kanye. The high-pitched voice he does by the end is not great and makes the song feel significantly longer.
Most songs, including “LIFESTYLE,” have good ideas but tend to fall flat at the end. Usually that involves the mixing, line delivery or just overall production of the track.
A lot of what this album wants to be is a more experimental side of Kanye, especially tracks such as “TIME MOVING SLOW” or “RIVER.” The project does carry a slight similarity to his previous album “Donda” on the production. with features that someone wouldn’t normally see Kanye work with, like Young Thug or Don Toliver.
“VULTURES 2” definitely has ideas that could possibly be implemented into “VULTURES 3” if and when it does release, but the fact that the album released in an unfinished state, the project feels like a step back from what Kanye and Ty could achieve if they both put in the same amount of effort into their tracks. Kanye feels underutilized in the album, while the features can be hit or miss, depending on the track.
If Kanye West decides to keep fans waiting for longer on his next project, it should be to clean up the structure and perfect his craft. While fixing mixes and flaws later is a good start, making a good first impression involves getting things right the first time.
