Photo: Des and Instagram/Drake
Legendary emcee, record producer and the infamous ¥$ affiliate Kanye West, or Ye, has returned to the Billboard Hot 100 charts with his first #1 rap record in nearly 13 years. Produced by West, TheLabCook, Ojivolta & Digital Nas, the single features a verse from his “Vultures” collaborator Ty Dolla $ign and guest verses from Atlanta’s marquee rapper Playboi Carti and Rich The Kid.
Notably, “Carnival” marks Ye’s first #1 rap record since his historic track “Stronger” which first featured on the artist’s third studio album “Graduation”.
After achieving the unprecedented feat independently, West flagrantly dissed Drake, German athletic apparel and footwear corporation Adidas, top-tier publications Daily Mail and GOAT magazine and thanked Carti, Rich The Kid, Ty Dolla and his supporters.
Read everything about “Vultures 1” by Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign.
“Rich Ty Carti and the supporters that stood by us through everything… This #1 is for you… its for the people who won’t be manipulated by the system,” West wrote via Instagram and continued his shocking comments aimed at various music and fashion behemoths.
“F— Adidas and everybody who works there or with them… Just know they tried to destroy me and here we are with the #1 song in the world. Like the fake dude I saw in the lobby at the Ritz that works at Goat… you p—– don’t stand for s— and f— everybody at the Daily Mail,” West wrote.
The Chicago-bred rapper, who drew scathing criticism for his anti-semitic comments in 2022 for which he later apologised, further dissed Drake for “taking Lil Durk right at the beginning of the Vultures roll out”.
“That’s how I feel and it’s f— Drake for taking Durk right at the beginning of the Vultures roll out. I’ll come to y’all if I think of more f— you’s,” West said further.
The top-tier spot at the Billboard arrives amidst Kanye West gearing up for the second instalment of “Vultures”.
Originally slated to release last week, “Vultures 2” will not be released on streaming platforms and will be available for purchase on Yeezy.com as per Ye.
Via a brief conversation with his fan account Ye Fanatics, Kanye West spoke about ways to release his forthcoming album with Ty Dolla.
“Was talking with the team about how to release the next album,” West wrote.
“Like James Blake said streaming devalues our music. We sell albums on Yeezy.com. I got 20 million Instagram followers. When 5% of my followers buy an album, that’s 1 million albums sold. That’s 300k more than the biggest album last year. We sold 1 million items on Yeezy.com on Super Bowl Sunday so we know it’s possible,” West added.
"It would be nice for our community to support the albums, Streaming is pirating"
— Donda Times (@dondatimes) March 10, 2024
It seems like Ye already took the decision to not release Vultures 2 & 3 on streaming platforms pic.twitter.com/I074AwU0p7
Ye considers selling Vulture 2 & 3 digitally only on https://t.co/UA38iJjMB2 and not to release them on streaming platform pic.twitter.com/DqDCKYuB1z
— Donda Times (@dondatimes) March 10, 2024
The rapper is yet to confirm a release date for “Vultures 2”.
Earlier today, West previewed the forthcoming rap album at a listening event in Phoenix, Arizona and premiered an exclusive “Carnival” visual cut directed by Jon Rafman.
Watch it below.
Look out for ‘Vultures 2’ by Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign.
Ye’s ’Vultures 2’ album cover pic.twitter.com/XBVugDPnGS
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) March 9, 2024
Stream ‘Vultures 1’ by Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign via Spotify.
