Vultures 1

After the antisemitic statements and Hitler praise, most wrote off 24 Grammy award winner Kanye West. He lost his billionaire status, his partnerships with Adidas and Def Jam and has arguably tarnished his public image. Despite this, fans were eager for Vultures 1, his collaborative album with longtime collaborator Ty Dolla $ign. But is this album a comeback for Kanye? Yes and no. There’s some highlights on the album like “Burn”, a track with a lively instrumental and a Kanye verse that sounds like College Dropout era Kanye, “Back to Me” with a great Freddie Gibbs feature and a wild beat. However you can kind of see a pattern with the last track I mentioned, it’s good because of the featured artists and production. Kanye’s verses are finished but he sounds like he put as much effort into them as a middle schooler who didn't read the book for his book report presentation. And Bump J’s feature on “Vultures” sounds like he’s half asleep. I didn’t even know who Bump J was until I first listened to the title track, and for someone who “loves Jewish people again” thanks to watching 21 Jump Street (which is the most Kanye statement ever), his line on his verse, “How I’m antisemitic I just fucked a Jewish bitch,” shows that he either just wants to continue being edgy to get the attention, or that he doesn’t care that the hate speech he promoted has real life consequences.

Like I mentioned earlier “Burn”, and “Back to Me” are highlights off the album. But “Hoodrat” might have one of the most annoying instrumentals I’ve ever heard on a hip hop track. “Paperwork” tries to be a Yeezus era track, but the beat is aggravating with that growly synth lead and Kanye’s verse just sounds boring. “Fuk Sumn” is another track that has promise with the Travis Scott and Playboi Carti features, but the high-pitched interlude completely ruins the track. In conclusion, this Kanye album doesn’t stack up with legendary Kanye albums like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and is a step down from even Donda, and while I’m not a fan of Christian era Kanye, there were some great tracks on that album, and Kanye at least tried with his verses on that project. Vultures 1 has no clear artistic direction, and the majority of the production on this project sounds lifeless and dull. It’s sad seeing an artist spiral into darkness like Kanye did, and it’s noticeable on his music. He doesn’t seem to care about the final product of his music, and doesn’t add anything new or interesting like he has on previous albums of his. I really wanted to enjoy this album, but there’s very few tracks on this album that I’d come back to.

Rating: 3/10

Best Tracks: Talking/Once Again, Back to Me, Burn

Worst Tracks: Paid, Hoodrat, Paperwork, Fuk Sumn, Carnival

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCMz7HW6O-g

Genre: Hip-Hop