Kanye West has sent a message to his fans after his joint album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 1, was removed from streaming services.
Since its release on February 10, Vultures 1 has encountered a number of issues, with the track “Good (Don’t Die)” being removed from Spotify.
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The entire album was also temporarily removed from Apple Music on Thursday (February 15) after a complaint was raised by its distributor.
Vultures 1 was initially distributed by FUGA but the company then said in a statement to Billboard that “a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement.”
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The album was then pulled from streaming before a new distribution agreement was reached with Label Engine, who had also managed the release of the singles “Vultures” and “Talking/Once Again.”
After the drama, West posted a message on Instagram to his followers, saying: “With all the DSP’s taking the album down go to Yeezy.com to buy the album : ))).”
“Good (Don’t Die)” was removed from streaming services on Wednesday (February 14) after the estate of Donna Summer accused Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign of sampling the late singer’s 1977 disco hit “I Feel Love” without permission.
Summer’s estate said on Instagram shortly after Vultures 1 dropped: “Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer song, ‘I Feel Love,’ [but] he was denied. He changed the words, had someone re-sing it, or used AI but it’s ‘I Feel Love’…copyright infringement!”
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It is not known whether Kanye used the sample without permission, employed artificial intelligence or hired another artist to sing the part as he did with “All Falls Down” from The College Dropout.
That song initially sampled Lauryn Hill’s “Mystery of Iniquity” but Ye could not get clearance to use the track on the album. He instead hired Syleena Johnson to re-sing the portion of the song he wanted to sample.
West was denied use of the sample by the band, with lead singer Ozzy Osbourne issuing a public statement saying he wanted “no association” with the rapper over his antisemitic comments.
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The Chicago native ultimately swapped out the original sample for a section of his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy song “Hell of a Life,” which was already cleared to sample “Iron Man.”
