Review Summary: Let's have a toast for the douchebags
Despite being billed as a joint venture with Ty Dolla $ign -a man whose status as a public figure is largely anonymous from a lack of interest despite his obvious and unique vocal talents-
VULTURES1 is very much a Kanye West album that lives in and in spite of the long shadow of his various controversies of the last few years, with his hateful and misguided rhetoric taking residence firmly in the eye of the storm. Rather than steering headfirst into the wreckage as he did on
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he is only sometimes willing to confront the damage done and almost entirely through the lens of himself being a victim of Cancel Culture a la Dave Chapelle. This is all to say, those wondering if the music at hand could somehow possibly explain or rise above his antisemitic views, the answer is the obvious one: no, of course not.
And that’s kind of a damn shame, because the music in question is mostly quite interesting and good. In another life, one where the stink of his actions don’t taint these songs,
Vultures1 would be a pretty good time. “Back to Me” has what will surely be one of the most hypnotic hooks of the year, paired with a memed out Kanye line that rattles around in the brain like the best of them, and an absolute dynamite verse from a hungry Freddie Gibbs. “Problematic” somehow steers clear of anything too problematic and has wonderfully airy production thanks to its “Bound2” comparisons giving way to percusion-less trumpets. “Burn” is as Old Kanye as one could ever possibly hope to hear in this or any other year, with shockingly self-aware lyrics that end Kanye’s verse on a legitimately funny punchline of R. Kelly being in the next Balenciaga ad.
Oh, how I wish that that was the only mention of R. Kelly on the album.
“Carnival” is a track that is already making waves with its infectious beat of soccer hooligans interpolating “Mo Bamba” and surprisingly great performances from Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti of all people, yet Kanye is on center display deeming himself “Ye Kelly”, declaring that he is “Me Too Rich.” This comparison to other troubling figures is lazy and lame and sucks all the oxygen out of the room and he just can’t stop doing it all throughout the record! It’s such an important point for him, that closer “King” has him proclaiming that despite being “Crazy, Bipolar, Antisemitic” that he “is still the king.” It’s not that I don’t understand his point and that there is maybe some weight to his popularity despite him being a lightning rod for criticism, it’s just that the point is ill-founded and dumb. Coming from the man who made “Runaway”, it’s a disappointing about-face to reduce all of his being hoisted by his own petard as a wayward dub due to him simply still being here.
It shouldn’t be surprising then that the album is considerably better when Kanye harkens back to
808’s on “Good (Don’t Die)” or steps away from the mic entirely. “Beg Forgiveness” is a showstopping epic thanks to Ty’s angelic go-for-broke performance, hamstrung by another tortured, stilted performance of Kanye complaining. “Paid” is again carried by an incredible club-ready beat and Ty’s game hook delivery that will surely end up as Tik Tok fodder, with Kanye doing his best to steal the spotlight with some sort of episode captured on the mic. Hell, even Kanye’s daughter delivers a performance that is entertaining and cute at face value, and metatextually touching on “Talking.” “Do it” straight up slaps in no small part to Kanye having a small part.
Ultimately, any conversation surrounding
VULTURES1 is going to be incomplete and imprecise, with as much negative tilt as possible. Kanye’s decision to reduce much of his criticism as mere cancel culture fodder hampers the album from ever approaching the heights of his past work by miring what could have been an opportunity for clarification or reflection in mindless, recursive hedonism that is so obviously acting as a band-aid for wounds that require extensive and vital surgery. Perhaps the supposed sequels will shed more light and paint a more holistic and nuanced view on where the hell Kanye’s head is at, but there actually is a pretty rough outline of a complete arc. For everyone’s sake including his own, I hope against hope that Kanye can get his head on straight because for all the hoopla and missteps, it’s clear that the man is still just as capable of making good music as he is incapable of taking accountability.
