Background:

Recently on February 9th, Kanye released his latest album Vultures 1. This album was a collaboration between Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign. Kanye plans to release a total of three parts of this album. The second part of the album originally was supposed to release on March 8th, which did not happen, and the third part will release on April 5th. Unfortunately, this could be false information as Kanye is notorious for being late to release his albums. Vultures 1 is fantastic, exceeding expectations, but a slight warning to readers, Kanye’s album is explicit, be careful before listening. In this article, I will be rating each song!

A Bit about Kanye:

Born on June 8th, 1977 in Atlanta Georgia, Kanye is not only a rapper, but a producer and designer. He is “one of the most controversial and influential celebrities of his generation” (Kautz, 2024). When Kanye was 3 years old, his parents divorced and he grew up with his mom in Chicago. Kanye actually lived with his mom in China for a year while his mom taught for an education exchange program at Nanjing University. Kanye’s mom, Donda West, was someone that Kanye heavily looked up to and when she passed away in 2007, the death hit him hard. He was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder, which he raps a lot about in his album featuring Kid Cudi, Ye. Kanye was married to Kim Kardashian for 6 years, together, they have four children, North, Psalm, Chicago, and Saint. Their divorce was extremely hard for him as well, but he has since remarried model Bianca Censori, and is bouncing back better than ever.

Songs:

STARS– This song reminds me of Kanye’s past album, Donda due to it’s heavy use of group background vocals. It’s a short song but there’s not much to write home about. This was an okay start to the album. I’d rate it a 5/10.

KEYS TO MY LIFE– This was probably my least favorite song on the album, it just wasn’t very catchy to me and I didn’t personally understand it. It kind of sounds like it’s from his past album, Donda, as well because of the unique sounding background vocals. There just isn’t anything interesting about this song either. I’d rate it a 3/10.

PAID– I love this song. It is very catchy and a fun listen about how Kanye is “just here to get paid” (Kanye Paid). This song is comparable to songs from his Graduation album because of the catchy beat and upbeat vibe. I’d rate this one an 8/10.

TALKING– This song is so cute because Kanye’s daughter, North, is featured for the first half where she raps. This led North to be one of the youngest ever to chart on the Hot 100, at only 10 years old. The second half of the song is good as well. It’s not exactly rap and has a similar vibe of songs from his Jesus is King album because of the way he sings rather than raps. I’d rate this song a 7/10.

BACK TO ME– This is one of my favorites on the album with a very fun catchy chorus. This song is very funny and can easily make someone smile. I wouldn’t compare this song to one of his other albums but instead it sounds similar to Kanye’s numerous rants about how Twix bars are double the size to make people fat. If you haven’t heard these rants, I would recommend looking it up and listening because his voice sounds similar to the way he raps in the song. I’d rate this song a 10/10.

DO IT– I like this song a lot as well. It’s very catchy and hype. If I had to pick a Kanye album to compare this to, I would pick Watch The Throne because a majority of those songs could be heard while at sporting events, and this song fits that vibe. I’d rate this song a 9/10.

PAPERWORK– This song is very interesting, especially the background noise. It is very similar to songs from his Yeezus album because of these loud, unknown background instruments. Not my personal favorite because the loud background noise is unpleasant in my opinion, but others may enjoy, I’d rate this one a 5/10.

BURN– Another one of my favorites because this song has a very pretty sound, and I like how much Kanye sounds like himself. There isn’t a lot of auto-tune and the background music sounds very pleasant as well. This song is very similar to songs in his Graduation album because of its upbeat beat and pleasant sound. I’d rate this song a 10/10.

VULTURES– This was released before the album as a single and I also really liked it. Many of the lines in this song are very interesting and unique so this song is an interesting listen. This could be compared to his album, The Life of Pablo because of his fast paced style of rapping in this song. I’d rate this song a 10/10 as well.

CARNIVAL– This song is probably the most popular song on the album as it is very catchy and hype and a good listen in general, but I personally believe that it’s overplayed. This song sounds similar to his songs in Watch the Throne because of it’s sporting event vibe. I would rate this song a 9/10.

BEG FORGIVENESS– I personally like this song a lot as it is very pleasant sounding. This song is extremely similar to the style of his songs in the album Donda because of it’s slower paced, but it’s also kind of long. I would rate this song a 7/10.

GOOD (DON’T DIE)– This song keeps getting taken off of streaming platforms for an unknown reason, but it’s pretty good song in my opinion. Donna Summers is featured singing “I’m alive” over and over again, which is probably the only female feature on the album other than his daughter, which is notable. I’d personally rate this song a 6/10 and would compare it to his single Only One.

PROBLEMATIC– This song sounds almost royal with the trumpets playing in the background. It’s an okay listen, nothing notable in my opinion. This song is very repetitive with the same sound repeating over and over again. I would rate it a 4/10.

KING– This song can definitely be compared to Watch the Throne because of it’s competitive vibe. I find this song to be very funny. Kanye lists all the reasons people cancel him and then states that he is still the king. It’s sound is kind of boring but the lyrics are interesting. A solid end to the album and I’d give it a 6/10.

Conclusion:

This long awaited album has been on repeat and I would definitely recommend it for others. It’s nice to listen to during every occasion such as driving, doing homework, and hanging with your friends. Ty Dolla $ign and Kanye mixed really well and hopefully Vultures 2 and 3 are just as good!

Work Cited:

Kautz, Justin. (2024). Kanye West Biography, Albums. Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kanye-West.

West, K. (2018). Ye [Album]. Label Def Jam Recordings.

West, K. (2024). Vultures 1 [Album]. Label Engine.

West, K. (2011). Watch The Throne [Album]. Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings.

West, K. (2021). Only One [Single]. GOOD Def Jam. 

West, K. (2021). Donda [Album]. Def Jam Recordings.

West, K. (2016). The Life of Pablo [Album]. Roc-A-Fella Records, GOOD Music, and Def Jam Recordings.

West, K. (2007). Graduation [Album]. Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings.

West, K. (2007). Jesus is King [Album]. Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings.

West, K. (2019). Jesus [Album]. GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings.