Bad news is on the way for fans of Kanye West’s new album Vultures 1 with Ty Dolla Sign. FUGA, the album’s distributor, says the album was delivered to DSPs without authorization and it’s now working to have the project removed. As a FUGA spokesperson told Billboard, “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.”
That Kanye. Always trying to wiggle his way around regulations.
The news is jut the latest rut in an increasingly bumpy road for the long-awaited album. Last year, it was reported that Kanye and Ty were looking for distributors for the project, but finding it somewhat difficult to do so. FUGA’s statement sheds some light on the reason: “Late last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to release Vultures 1,” it read. “Exercising our judgment in the ordinary course of business, we declined to do so.” Presumably, so did a lot of other companies in the wake of Kanye’s disturbing antisemitic comments, which also cost him lucrative deals with the likes of Adidas, Gap, and more.
The album has had several different release dates, and has been pushed back each time without prior notice — something for which Kanye had previously developed a reputation for doing, which seems another likely factor in distributors’ hesitation to work with him again. He’s also had trouble booking venues for a proposed tour, and had multiple stars, from Backstreet Boys to Ozzy Osbourne, protest his use of unauthorized samples of their work. The latest artist to object to his liberal sampling practices is disco star Donna Summer, who had the track “Good (Don’t Die)” removed from Spotify.
On Instagram this past Saturday, Summer’s estate wrote: “Kanye West… asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song I Feel Love, he was denied… he changed the words, had someone re sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!”
It certainly sounds like Kanye will try to get his way by hook or crook, and somehow, I don’t think he’ll learn anything from the recent spate of setbacks. Instead, he’ll only use them to justify his view he’s being persecuted unfairly, because the only thing it seems he won’t take is accountability.
