Vultures 2, a continuation of Ty Dolla $ign and Ye’s series of albums, dropped surprisingly on Aug. 3. This came only six months after the first installment in the trilogy, and the short production time of the album is clear in the final product.
After multiple missed release dates over the summer and an underwhelming reception of Vultures 1, fans lacked excitement for the sequel. Once the album finally dropped, Ye’s decades-long career reached an all-time low.
On a single playthrough, Vultures 2 featured many glaring issues. The top two offenders of this were the AI vocals used on songs, including “Lifestyle,” “Fieldtrip” and “Sky City,” along with the unfinished mumble on “530.” Multiple audio issues made many tracks hard to listen to, completely ruining numerous people’s first impressions of the album.
Ultimately, Ye’s indifferent attitude toward Vultures 2 made listening to this album a waste of time. The songs “530” and “Sky City” have been complete for years and are even regarded as classics by Ye fans. Despite both songs being 95% finished, he somehow found a way to make them sound worse than they ever have.
While this album is deeply flawed, I significantly prefer it over Vultures 1 as the finished songs are some of my favorites from Ye over the last decade. With features from Playboi Carti, Future, Young Thug and Lil Wayne, Vultures 2 has a lot of talent on its roster. Additionally, the lyricism had a significant jump in quality from Vultures 1 where nearly every song has a deeper meaning. One of the album’s highlights is the orchestral production of “River” and “My Soul.” Both songs contain meaningful lyrics, rich sounds, heavenly production and, most importantly, gorgeous outros.
Vultures 2 is also a work in progress, with six major updates already added. It is significantly better than it was on release, and these updates have no end in sight. The revamped mixes and large production changes hold the key to Vultures 2’s success. The most improved song off the album is “Forever,” which at release was a forgettable house/R&B beat, but it was transformed when Ye added one of his best verses. He turned it from a bottom song to a highlight of the album with a unique dreamy feeling.
This idea of improving the album post-release is far from new to Ye, as he took a very similar approach to his 2016 album, The Life of Pablo. Although it was released as a rough project, Ye turned it into what is now regarded as one of his best albums through updates like the ones we’re seeing on Vultures 2. Along with the updates, Ye and Ty Dolla $ign have promised to bring four new songs to the upcoming deluxe album.
In its full context, Vultures 2 is one of the most frustrating pieces of art I’ve ever seen. Its potential for a top-three Ye album and album of the year is decisively there, but the clear lack of effort made it fall short. While the album had its moment and will likely age better than its predecessor, Ye can’t recover from its initial reception. I am also highly doubtful Ye and Ty will finish the Vultures trilogy. Rather, Ye’s best move from here is to find a healthier lifestyle, recover from his recently exposed nitrous addiction and take his time on his next project so he can drop a complete piece of art.
