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North West Announces Her Debut Album 'Elementary School Dropout'
On Sunday (March 10), North West attended the VULTURES 2 listening event in Phoenix, Arizona, alongside her father, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. There, she announced her debut project and its title.
“I’ve been working on an album, and it’s called Elementary School Dropout,” the 10-year-old told the crowd, who subsequently applauded. The name pays homage to Ye’s 2004 LP, The College Dropout. The iconic body of work housed classics such as “Through the Wire,” “Jesus Walks,” “Last Call” and “All Falls Down,” among others.
North’s foray into music isn’t entirely new. She previously featured on “TALKING,” a track from Ye and Ty Dolla Sign’s VULTURES 1. On the record, she rapped, “I love it here / We gonna take over the year for another year / It’s your bestie, Miss, Miss Westie / Don’t tryna test me / It’s gonna get messy.”
The song debuted at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, placing her among the youngest artists to reach the index. Meanwhile, VULTURES 1 managed to top the Billboard 200 chart with 148,000 album-equivalent units earned. Of those, 129,000 came from streaming, 18,000 were pure sales, and the last 1,000 were from individual track sales.
In addition to North’s announcement, Ye and Ty Dolla Sign reportedly previewed eight records from their forthcoming project over the weekend. Future, Playboi Carti, Lil Durk, Project Pat, Don Toliver and 070 Shake were among some of the notable collaborators.
The Chicago rapper seemingly plans to let fans purchase the VULTURES 2 directly through his website, as revealed in a conversation with Ye Fanatics. “We [will] sell albums on yeezy.com. I got 20 million Instagram followers. When [five percent] of my followers buy an album, [that’s] 1 million albums sold,” he wrote via Instagram DM. “That’s 300,000 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.”
Ye: Was talking with the team about how to release the next album
Like James Blake said streaming devalues our music
We sell albums on https://t.co/KZ5lBI5zfMI got 20 million instagram followers
When 5% of my followers buy an album.That's 1 million albums sold
That's 300k… pic.twitter.com/oIFK89A9Ki— YEFANATICS (@yefanatics) March 10, 2024