Less than a week after Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s latest album, a joint effort called Vultures, finally hit streaming services after months of delays, the music distributor FUGA announced on Thursday that it is “actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove Vultures 1 from our systems,” Billboard reported.
“Late last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to release Vultures 1,” a spokesperson explained in a statement to Billboard. “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,” the spokesperson continued. “Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove Vultures 1 from our systems.”
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As of Thursday afternoon, it appears that Vultures 1 is no longer being hosted on Apple Music, although the new single “Talking / Once Again,” which features vocals from Ye’s daughter, North West, remains. Vultures 1 is still available on Spotify, though the song “Good (Don’t Die)” was removed from that service following copyright complaints from Donna Summer’s estate .Rolling Loud announced on Thursday that Ye and and Ty Dolla Sign will headline the festival on March 14.
On Wednesday, Ye posted a rebuttal to Taylor Swift fans determined to keep his new album off the charts by encouraging people to stream Beyoncé’s new singles instead. On Instagram, Ye wrote that he was “far more helpful to Taylor Swift’s career than harmful. I am not your enemy, ummm, I’m not your friend either, though, LOL.”
On Vultures, Ye raps, “I mean, since Taylor Swift / Since I had a Rollie on the wrist / I’m the new Jesus, bitch.”
A succession of antisemitic outbursts at the end of 2022 cost Ye his exalted space in pop culture, causing him to be dropped from formally lucrative collaborations with Gap and Adidas.
Ye attempted a blanket apology for his many rants in December, writing on Instagram, “I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions,” but clearly, he’s erred far beyond being welcomed back into the fold with open arms.
Last week, Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne ripped Ye for playing a track of a live performance of Black Sabbath’s 1970 song “War Pigs” during a listening party for Vultures.
Ye, Osbourne raged on X, “WAS REFUSED PERMISSION [to sample ‘War Pigs’] BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTISEMITE AND HAS CAUSED UNTOLD HEARTACHE TO MANY. I WANT NO ASSOCIATION WITH THIS MAN!”
