By Kanye standards, ‘Vultures 1’ is a disappointing album

Courtesy of Kanye West

The first “Vultures 1” album cover, shown above, drew criticism due to its similarity to Norwegian neo-Nazi black metal artist and convicted murderer Varg Vikernes’ “Filosofem” album cover. The current album cover is not appropriate for publication in a school newspaper.

After his studio album “Donda” was released in 2021, Kanye West divorced his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, scrapped the nearly finished Donda 2, made numerous public antisemitic statements, dropped off the billionaire list after losing his profitable deal with Adidas, married architect Bianca Censori and incensed longtime fans of his music with sparse communication and multiple broken promises about a new album during 2023.

On Feb. 10, West released his collaborative album “VULTURES 1” as a part of the supergroup (a collaboration between already-established, individual artists) ¥$ with singer-songwriter Ty Dolla $ign. The album was delayed four times and breaks away from West’s previous two albums’ religious themes and clean lyrics: Some of the subject matter includes irreverent commentary on his own notorious and widely criticized anti-Semitic remarks.

This album does not outrank any album in West’s discography besides his 2018 album “Jesus Is King.” West seems to have stopped caring about the quality of his lyrical performances: “BURN” is pretty much the only song on the album where West has a remarkable verse: “When my campaign turned to canned pain / I burned eight billion to take off my chains.” Everywhere else, his lyrics range from passable to distractingly bad, like on “BEG FORGIVENESS”: “And if I go tonight, know that I lived a lovely life / Just make sure my kids are right and it is alright.”

Meanwhile, Ty Dolla $ign’s contributions to the album are more consistent. His melodic and easygoing vocals have a reassuring presence, rarely overshadowing West, the guest artists or the beat. 

Although West’s skill as producer and a curator of talent is uncontested, “VULTURES 1” does not feature the same flawless production as his previous work. Similar to “Donda,” “VULTURES 1” combines influences from gospel, electronic and trap music. The opening track “STARS” sets high expectations with its ethereal instrumental, but the rest of the album generally fails to meet that standard. If “Donda” can be described as midnight on the edge of a large city bordering wilderness, “VULTURES 1” would be a sleazy back alley at 3 a.m.

For example, “PAID” both directly interpolates and borrows the subject matter of the ‘70s classic “Roxanne” by the rock band The Police, while sounding like a watered-down version of “Fade,” a song released by West in 2016. A star-studded production team and strong features from other artists can only do so much when West refuses to seriously rap or write meaningful lyrics. 

Fortunately, there are guest artists on the album to pick up the slack. Freddie Gibbs saves “BACK TO ME” with a clever, gritty verse long enough to make the listener forget West’s repetitive lyrics halfway through the song. Frequent collaborator Playboi Carti carries both of the songs that he’s featured on: “F** SUMN” and “CARNIVAL.” The latter, combined with its menacing, electronic production, has propelled the song to the top of the charts and eliciting widespread use on social media. On the other hand, while West’s inclusion of his 10-year-old daughter North West on “TALKING” is heartwarming, it doesn’t excuse the fact that the middle-schooler’s verse is objectively terrible and completely out of place in an album featuring plenty of sexually explicit lyrics.

Still, West deserves credit where it’s due. As mentioned before, “STARS,” “BURN” and “CARNIVAL” are very good songs; so are “DO IT” and “KING.” However, the questionable quality of the rest of the tracklist puts a damper on the few instances of inspiration. 

 The generic, uninspired nature of many of the tracks can be summed up by a lyric sung by Ty Dolla $ign: “I’m just here to get paid.” All in all, I had higher expectations for West. Unfortunately, the few glimmers of inspiration in “VULTURES 1” are drowned out by an overwhelming amount of redundant drivel. This album gets 2.5 Falcons out of 5 from me. Though future collaborations by ¥$, as well as West’s upcoming solo album, have already been confirmed to be in production by insiders, I’m not enthusiastic. If West continues to prioritize raging against society instead of focusing on artistry, his music will only get worse.