The highly anticipated debut album from Hip Hop super duo ¥$ -- Kanye West (Ye) and Ty Dolla $ign has officially arrived, along with a whole new bag of drama spurred on by the artists themselves.
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Along with the arrival of the first of three albums in their joint ¥$ project, (volumes 2 and 3 will be released on March 8 and April 5) Kanye West (Ye) and Ty Dolla $ign were joined by quite a few of the album's collaborators as they hosted a sold-out live listening event at Chicago's United Center on Friday, February 9.
After the event took place, rocker Ozzy Osbourne took to social media to explain to fans how the album's sampling of his former band Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" was in no way sanctioned by himself due to his past remarks. In all caps, Osbourne revealed that Kanye had “Asked permission to sample a section of a 1983 live performance of 'Iron Man' from the US Festival without vocals & was refused permission because he is an antisemite and has caused untold heartache to many. He went ahead and used the sample anyway at his album listening party last night. I want no association with this man!”
Ozzy's wife and manager Sharon Osbourne, who identifies as Jewish, doubled down on the statement later telling TMZ, “Kanye f***ed with the wrong Jew this time,” clarifying that although Ozzy normally doesn’t refuse samples, in West’s case, he had “special f***ing occasion to say no.” Sharon added that she had already sent West’s team a cease and desist order, and will pursue further legal action if the sample is used any further. “The motherf***er’s a pig,” says Sharon.
The couple also spoke to Billboard about the sticky situation, as Sharon explains, “We get so many requests for these songs, and when we saw that request, we just said no way." Ozzy adds, "The simple thing is, we don’t want to be associated with a hater... To spread hate the way he does, it shouldn’t be allowed. All the excuses – he’s bipolar or whatever – doesn’t change that. It’s like, f*** you, basically.”
It's not just Ozzy and Sharon who are calling out Ye and Ty over copyright infringements. The estate of late singer Donna Summer has also claimed exactly that, after finding out that an "unauthorized interpolation" of her 1977 hit “I Feel Love" was also used on the album. "The alleged copyright infringement is found on the pensive electro-pop track 'Good (Don’t Die)'" the singer's Instagram account claims. A separate Instagram Story posted on February 10 added context, saying “Kanye West… asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song I Feel Love, he was denied… he changed the words, had someone re sing it or used AI but it’s I Feel Love… copyright infringement!!!"
¥$ -- Kanye West (Ye) and Ty Dolla $ign's Vultures 1 is out now, Ye’s first album since 2021's Donda and his first after being called out for using hate speech, which resulted in the fall out of multiple business collaborations. Check out the album art right here (NSFW) as well as the full tracklisting below.
Vultures 1 track listing:
1. Stars
2. Keys to My Life
3. Paid
4. Talking
5. Back to Me
6. Hoodrat
7. Do It
8. Paperwork
9. Burn
10. Fuk Sumn
11. Vultures
12. Carnival
13. Beg Forgiveness
14. Good (Don't Die)
15. Problematic
16. King