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Kanye West And Ty Dolla Sign's 'VULTURES 1' Distributor Is Fighting To Get The Album Taken Down
FUGA, the distributor for Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s new album, VULTURES 1, is taking steps to remove the project from digital service providers (DSPs).
Today (Feb. 15), a spokesperson for the company told Billboard, “On Friday (Feb. 9), a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album VULTURES 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement. Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove VULTURES 1 from our systems.”
In October 2023, the publication revealed that the pair’s joint effort faced multiple release delays and issues over distribution, partly due to the fallout from West’s controversial comments and behavior. The Chicago rapper’s anti-Semitic statements similarly cost him partnerships with Adidas and Gap.
West and Ty’s difficulties were exacerbated by conflicts over unauthorized samples, including a recent objection from Donna Summer’s estate regarding the track “GOOD (DON’T DIE),” which led to its removal from Spotify.
“Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer’s song, ‘I Feel Love,’ [but] he was denied,” a statement shared to her Instagram Story read. “He changed the words, had someone re-sing it, or used AI, but it’s ‘I Feel Love’… Copyright infringement!”
Meanwhile, Ozzy Osbourne denied the use of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” sample on “CARNIVAL.” He wrote, “[WE] REFUSED PERMISSION BECAUSE HE IS AN ANTI-SEMITE 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!”
Unfortunately for Osbourne, the internet dug up an old interview of him praising Adolf Hitler in response. “I admired him, not for what he was, but for people. I suddenly stopped and thought, ‘Hang on a minute,’” the heavy metal artist said in the 1980s. “If somebody put that in a positive way, for the good of mankind… Whatever anybody says about me, I might be the biggest lunatic that you’ve ever met.”
. @KANYEWEST 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…
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) February 9, 2024