Kanye West has been teasing his new album “Vultures” — a collaborative project with R&B singer and producer Ty Dolla $ign — for months. On Tuesday, after multiple setbacks and date changes, West once again doubled down on a fresh rollout plan that splits the album’s release into three volumes, with the first edition slated for Feb. 9.
The second volume is expected to arrive on March 8, and the third part should follow on April 5. These dates, naturally, are subject to change, considering West’s history of postponements.
This latest announcement came as a part of a video trailer that compiles clips of a burning home, figures disguised in black cloaks, wolves and more eerie imaging. The video is soundtracked by a reworked version of apreviously released title track.
“Vultures” was initially set to be released on Jan. 12 while the title track was released in mid-November. The original version included lines about West’s problematic history of antisemitic behavior (“How am I antisemitic? I just fucked a Jewish bitch,” he raps on “Vultures”). Just a few weeks later, West was live-streamed at a listening session in Las Vegas delivering a lengthy rant that included further antisemitic messaging, including him comparing himself to Jesus Christ and Hitler. West later uploaded a short, written apology to the Jewish community on Instagram.
West also played a rough version of the new album at a live-streamed listening session in Miami late last year. That version of “Vultures” included a variety of featured artists includingKodak Black, Playboi Carti, Chris Brown and Freddie Gibbs, while Nicki Minaj appearedon the highly anticipated finished version of “New Body.” Minaj has since publicly stated she will not approve the release of her verse on the song. West also sampled the Backstreet Boys’ 1997 hit “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” on a track called “Everybody.”
“Vultures” would be West’s first proper album since his 2021 record, “Donda,” which received an album of the year nomination at the 64th Grammys. He also released a part two of the project dubbed “Donda 2” but it was reportedly never completed and made exclusively available on his Stem music player.
Watch the trailer for “Vultures” below.