"The retirement has begun"- Fans react as Kanye West's Vultures1 gets taken down from Spotify 

On July 11, 2024, Kanye West's album Vultures1 was taken down from Spotify, and fans of the rapper allege it aligns with the news of Ye's retirement. In a now-deleted screenshot on Instagram stories posted on July 10, 2024, Rich The Kid shared his text conversation with Ye wherein the Runaway rapper stated:

"I am retiring from professional music. Not sure what else to do."

Fans of the rapper gave their two cents on the situation via social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter). Hinting at how Vultures1 getting removed from Spotify might be related to Kanye's alleged retirement, one of the fans tweeted:

"The retirement has begun…"

"that's a bummer, hope it gets resolved soon." another fan tweeted.

"bro really retiring 😭 "an X user tweeted

"why is there always something with this album?" a fan questioned hinting at Vultures1 being taken off Apple Music in February 2024

Additionally, fans also shared how the album disappeared from Spotify while they were listening to it:

"its been 1 minute without Burn. I cannot walk without trembling , I feel like I am going through withdrawals. I can't go much longer without Burn, I can barely breathe I don't know how much longer I can last here without Burn." an X user tweeted.

"Agenda has begun against the 🐐" a fan's tweet alleged that the album was deleted to get back at Ye.

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"Go to Yeezy.com to buy the album"- Kanye told fans when Vultures1 was taken off Apple Music

The recent instance of the Vultures1 album being taken off a streaming platform is not the first time Kanye's album has come under scrutiny. In February 2024, the album was temporarily removed from iTunes and Apple Music owing to a complaint raised by its distributor FUGA.

According to FUGA's statement to Variety dated February 15, 2024, the distributor had declined to release Vultures1 in 2023, in the ordinary course of business. The distributor stated:

“On Friday, February 9, 2024, 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.”

Amidst Apple Music removing the Vultures1 album over distributorship issues, Ye took to Instagram stories to tell his followers:

“With all the DSP’s taking the album down go to Yeezy.com to buy the album : ))).”

However, the album was restored on Apple Music after its distributorship was taken over by an independent service called Label Engine.

Additionally, the track Good (Don't Die) from Vultures1 was pulled from streaming platforms in the same month because of a dispute over the sampling of I Feel Love by Donna Summers. Kanye's track allegedly interpolated the elements of Donna Summer's 1977 song in the chorus and the use of the same was disapproved by Donna's estate on the grounds of copyright infringement.

According to Donna's estate, Ye used AI or had someone re-sing the part he wanted to sample after Donna Summer's estate had denied him the use of her track. Moreover, Donna Summer's estate sued for damages and an injunction to block the distribution of the song.

However, there has been no news of Ye responding to claims of copyright infringement.

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In other news, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign will be bringing the Vultures album listening experience to Korea on August 23, 2024, as announced by Ty via an Instagram post.

The event will be hosted at Goyang Stadium in South Korea and LeGrand, the local promoter of the event has stated that the tickets for the same will be available toward the end of July 2024.