Vultures 2 is Embarrassingly Bad
That might even be an understatement.
Note: This review is based on the version of Vultures 2 released on 3/8, there have been minor changes to the project since.
Kanye West’s career may not survive this latest fall. The much-maligned artist has somehow managed to cling onto relevancy despite his repeated anti-semitism and odd co-signs, solely due to the strength of his artistry, tortured genius perhaps?? Take away the music and the artistry, what’s left?
The first volume of Vultures was a collaborative project between West and long-term friend Ty Dolla Sign aka YS (stylized as ¥$) released under a cloud of his above controversies, yet it managed to provide a semblance of enjoyment still, even spawning a Carti lead hit in Carnival. The project was significantly less refined and had Kanye at one of his lowest points yet, poor bars and misogyny reigned supreme, yet there was still something appealing about it, saying that would be a stretch for the sequel, which dropped this past weekend.
Firstly, I just want to mention that the cover art shows Ty’s brother Big TC, who was controversially incarcerated in 2016, wow that’s powerful, I love it! It’s a shame his plight or name is not even mentioned until the last track, it doesn’t do his story justice at all, why even have him on the cover?
The highlights from this album are the long-term leaks of Sky City (leaked in 2020) & 530 (leaked in 2022), both were leaked in good states but are tainted by West’s need to 2024ize them. The latter is a beautiful track seemingly referencing his public issues with ex-wife Kim Kardashian but he inexplicably adds a verse to the end telling people to “go listen to Drake bitch” and to play Lil Baby? This thematically has nothing to do with the track and ruins any momentum that builds, West also mumbles and hums without words at points. Sky City retains the leaked hook but has the addition of an alleged AI Kanye verse for some reason. The charm of the original version is generally still present and the Manchester United bar from CyHi the Prince had me swooning.
There’s an unfinished feeling to even the passable songs, a common theme of West’s modern catalogue, starting with 2016’s The Life of Pablo, an album which was “patched” post-release. The last two projects released by West were undercooked on release day, Donda 2 was essentially a demo tape released exclusively on the Yeezy-branded Stem Player, while Vultures v1 dropped with non-existent mixing and a lack of refinement. Vultures 2 continues the trend; Isabelle, a seven-second interlude is redundant, Field Trip/Time Moving Slow are two of the better tracks but both suffer from being mixed so poorly that they have next to no sonic impact, with the latter songs’ audio levels changing so frequently that at one point Ty Dolla Sign sounds like a recording of a recording.
Technical aspects aside, the album is of poor lyrical quality too, Kanye’s appearances in particular infect any song like a toxic leech, he insists on repeating lines and elongating songs for minutes at a time while he croons. I’ve had a theory for a long time that Kanye no longer writes and instead freestyles all his verses and hooks, this project has solidified that idea for me given the lack of structure and repetitive bars. There’s a (bad) hook repeat on both Husband and Lifestyle and in his latest showing of nepotism North West sings in Japanese on the dubiously titled “Bomb”.
Kanye’s rapping has never been worse than it is on this project.
A special mention to Ty Dolla Sign and many of the features who try their absolute best but suffer from similar issues to West. Young Thug on River is great, Ty also shows his chops at points, especially Time Moving Slow but then there are features like Kodak Black or Lil Wayne which sound horrible. Ultimately the project feels Kanye-led, Ty has a reputation for being a feature artist and he feels like an afterthought on his own project. Whatever the intention of YS and Vultures, it has not lit any musical or inspirational fire in Kanye, that’s for sure.
The rate at which Kanye’s career has fallen to this point is astonishing, he feels so far removed both personally and musically from someone capable of creating beautiful songs like Reborn, a personal favourite of mine. With every passing release of music it feels like the legacy that he once had is wilting away. I don't see the quality of his projects changing either, this project is embarrassingly bad and I may not listen to many more ablums of Kanyes if this is the bar, this is the lowest he has ever been musically.
Have you listened to Vultures 2? What did you think of it?
P.S. the website is a work in progress, bare with me!
Liam.