Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s joint project Vultures 1, released on Friday, debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes chart, but the project was removed from Apple Music just hours after release.
The album went number one on both Apple Music and iTunes but was taken down temporarily on iTunes and, up to Saturday night, was back in the number one spot. It’s unclear why the album was taken down, but fans have complained that the project can only be streamed on TIDAL and Amazon Music but not Spotify.
The controversy with the project comes amid many persons calling out Kanye for being Antisemitic and other artists claiming that the Grammy-winning rapper illegally sampled their work. Among those who complained about a sampling of their work was Donna Summer, who said that the rapper reached out but was denied, and he still went ahead and used her music.
“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,” the official account of Donna Summers on Instagram wrote.
Kanye West reportedly sampled the song on the song “Good (Don’t Die)” featuring Ty Dolla $ign.
In the meantime, others like Keyshia Cole also noted her disapproval. “I don’t think it’s ok to sample people’s music without clearing it first. Stealing people’s hard work isn’t ok. Ever,” she wrote on Twitter.
I don’t think it’s ok to sample people’s music without clearing it first. Stealing peoples hard work isn’t ok. Ever
— Keyshia Cole (@KeyshiaCole) February 10, 2024
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s 'Vultures 1' has been removed from charts on US Apple Music and iTunes following temporary unavailability.
It was previously #1 on both. pic.twitter.com/W8zLiSoSNu
— chart data (@chartdata) February 10, 2024
On Friday, Ozzy Osbourne also slammed Kanye for sampling his music without permission. Kanye also seemingly responded to the artist as he reposted a photo of him and his wife dressed as Kanye and his wife for Halloween last year.
Fans also reacted to the album, with many excited for the release.
“Spotify really about to lose half its subscribers,” one fan wrote on Instagram. “Bro I literally jus bought apple music for Kanye,” another person wrote. “The greatest album ever in the history of human kind,” another said.
