Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaboration has faced setbacks from the beginning, and now their debut album has disappeared from Spotify. On Thursday, July 11th, Vultures 1 was mysteriously taken down without any explanation from Spotify or the artists.
Fans were left stunned and upset. One fan exclaimed, “WHAAAT,” while another said, “I was literally listening to ‘Burn’ on my way to the gym, tried listening on the way back, and it’s gone. Wtf.” Some fans, however, were less shocked. One noted, “This is why I bought the vinyl. I knew Ye would eventually remove it from platforms. Surprised he hasn’t taken his whole discography down.”
Fortunately, the album’s removal seemed to be a glitch, as Vultures 1 was back on Spotify a few hours later.
This news comes shortly after Kanye West’s supposed announcement of his retirement from music. He revealed this in a text to Rich The Kid, which Rich shared on social media. This retirement claim also appeared to be false, as Rich later deleted the post and revealed the tracklist for his new album, Life’s a Gamble, suggesting the retirement news was a publicity stunt.
The release of Vultures 1 has been tumultuous since its launch in early February. The song “Good (Don’t Die)” was initially part of the album but was later removed due to a sample dispute over Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” The late singer’s estate filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign, accusing them of using the 1977 hit without permission. They eventually settled, and the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice. Despite the settlement, “Good (Don’t Die)” is still not available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.