Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s joint album continues to negotiate hindrances as it was pulled from a major streaming service and then put back up soon after.
Upon its release last week, the tracklist was noticeably missing from Spotify for a few hours after it went live on every other service. Still, Vultures 1 debuted at No. 1 on Apple Music and the iTunes charts but was removed soon after it went missing from both platforms. Upon being reuploaded, the cover art had been tweaked slightly as Ye’s Friday The 13th-inspired mask was replaced with a black one.
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On Thursday (February 15), all 16 tracks were once again taken down from the app. Just a few hours later, however, it was back up again.
A few months before the album’s release on February 10, Ye and Ty were actively searching for a distribution deal. After several delays, the LP was finally released via FUGA, “a [business-to-business] tech platform for the music industry, enabling content owners to manage and deliver music to DSPs.”
Just hours before the project was removed from Apple Music for the second time, a spokesperson for FUGA issued a statement to Billboard claiming that the duo wrongfully released it through their service.
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“Late last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to release Vultures 1,” they said. “Exercising our judgment in the ordinary course of business, we declined to do so.
“On Friday, February 9, 2024, a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement. Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove Vultures 1 from our systems.”
HipHopDX has reached out to West’s team for comment but has not yet received a response.
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The news comes after the album cut “Good (Don’t Die)” was pulled from Spotify over a dispute involving its sample of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” The hook of the song prominently borrows from the late singer’s 1977 disco anthem, which her estate took issue with.
Shortly after Vulture 1 dropped, the Grammy-winner’s team wrote on Instagram: “Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer song, ‘I Feel Love,’ [but] he was denied. He changed the words, had someone re-sing it, or used AI but it’s ‘I Feel Love’…copyright infringement!”
Prior to that, Ozzy Osbourne took to social media to blast Kanye West for using an unauthorized Black Sabbath sample even after the band turned down his clearance request.
Following the album’s first listening party in Chicago, the heavy-metal pioneer sent out a PSA regarding one of the tracks that featured elements of his band’s 1970 hit, “Iron Man.”
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In the post, he wrote: “@KANYEWEST ASKED PERMISSION TO SAMPLE A SECTION OF A 1983 LIVE PERFORMANCE OF ‘IRON MAN’ FROM THE US FESTIVAL WITHOUT VOCALS & WAS REFUSED PERMISSION 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. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN.”
