Nobody is waiting on Kanye West. At the world premiere of “Vultures,” his eagerly anticipated joint album with Ty Dolla Sign under the moniker ¥$, fans got a firsthand look at this. Only one day after he guerilla-style debuted project cuts at a Jamaican restaurant in Miami, he commandeered Wynwood Marketplace for the Vultures Rave, which was scheduled to begin at midnight.
Stagehands had a difficult time connecting West’s phone to the audio system, so after nearly two and a half hours, West and Ty took center stage. With multiple glitches and restarts in the YouTube stream before the broadcast, viewers at home saw it all happen in real-time. General admission tickets cost $200, VIP tickets cost $600, and table tickets cost $10,000 for those who wanted to attend.
Those who stayed at home and became fans were treated to roughly ten tracks from the project, which is apparently out this Friday. To provide the complete experience, the pair invited the album’s guest stars to perform live alongside them. These artists included Chris Brown, Offset, Kodak Black, Lil Durk, Bump J, Freddie Gibbs, and West’s daughter North. (Those expecting Playboi Carti to make an appearance were disappointed; he was traveling on a plane that didn’t arrive in time.)
Fans were treated to a more incisive sneak peek at the rough and poorly produced bits that have been leaking out lately. The first song, “Everybody,” which West teased on social media last week and which features an interpolation of Backstreet Boys’ 1997 hit song “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” was probably already well-known to fans of the rapper. Charlie Wilson recreates the chorus for the song, joining West, Ty, and Lil Baby instead of using a sample from the boy band.
North, West’s daughter, had her big break on “Slide,” where she collaborates with her father and Ty to rap over a James Blake sample. “Bless me, bless me, it’s going to get messy / It’s your bestie, Miss Westie,” she raps. Several West’s children held court and cleared the stage before the performance, so North wasn’t the only one. (Those observing on social media saw Saint perform the Sui dance on IShowSpeed.)
The album “Vultures” has a galloping tempo and plucking synth bass notes that give the impression of having an audio throughline. There is no shortage of room for featured artists thanks to West and Ty. Nicki Minaj contributes a verse to the much-awaited completed version of “New Body,” and Gibbs makes a stunning cameo on “Back to Me,” which is produced by 88-Keys, a frequent collaborator with West. The latter features a snippet from the movie “Dogma,” in which West repeatedly quotes co-star Jason Mewes as saying, “Beautiful, big-tittied women don’t just fall out of the sky, you know.”
House music makes an appearance on “Paid,” while Brown occupies most of the space on “Beg Forgiveness.” “River” pays homage to Young Thug, who is presently on trial and appears on the song. Ty closes out the song by interpolating the title song by Leon Bridges.
As someone who is accustomed to controversy, West has already faced backlash for a line from “Vultures” that goes, “How I’m antisemitic, I just fucked a Jewish bitch.” He has made some antisemitic comments in the last year, and he hasn’t refrained from talking about them. Wearing a black Klansman hat and stopping the song to glare at the crowd, West fanned the flames as it was playing.
The show, which was more of a showcase than a performance, came to an abrupt end when Miami’s clock struck three in the morning. The venue turned off the speakers, so West took the mic and repeated the line from “Vultures” to get one last lick in. Seemingly satisfied with himself, West moved through the audience as the crowd filed out.