ALBUM REVIEW: Ye earned his 11th #1 Billboard 200 debut. Ty$ has his 1st number 1 debut. As of Feb 28th, "Vultures" is Ye’s 1st independent album release is in it’s 2nd week at number 1 since the 2011 release of “Watch the Throne” with Jay-Z. Ye standing on his own shows his creativity is a static trend leader. With 16 tracks on Vutures 1, I decided to hit you with a view on each track. Track 1: "STARS" - I enjoy the child choir-like sound. It builds while pulling you in and you can't help but feel excitedly on edge and buoyant. Ye's verse filled my mind with images of a person ripping a contract and saying "I believe in myself and I know I'll do this on my own." That's followed by Ty$, whose vocals warmly wash over the track, balancing the energy that Ye previously ignited. Track 2: "KEYS TO MY LIFE" - Here we jump right into the high-pitched sped-up sample Ye finds so often and that brings a fun familiarity I have always enjoyed and seen as a defined Chi-YE sound. The juxtaposition of the bounce in the bass makes your neck swing. Ye gives some honest family history and makes you connect with his family experience and personal pain. Ty$’s verse for me is peaceful because his vocals are so silky but the content reflects that of a man who knows he has messed up and lost opportunities. Ye thoroughly changes the beat 1/2 way and drops this Wu-Tang bass sound that makes you perk up for that 90s Hip-Hop toughness. I love that part in the song. Ye gets busy with wordplay and you say, yeah Ye still got mean wordplay that he has worked on his entire career. The Keys to My Life sped-up sample at the end gives the listener the sing-along part you can hear a crowd in the venue join in on. The production is progressive and feels ahead of its time. I define it as creative Ye time. Track 3: "PAID" - Leaves you guessing as the piano just hums then the house beat hits your shoulders and you are ready to start your workout. Having Ty$ start the verse adds to the energy of a move your ass song. I thought the lyrics here had to be a song for the strip club. Just here to get paid...Ye is yelling or singing “Roxanne” in pleasure or mixed frustrated pain. Ye is pushing the art limits which are new and unfamiliar to the ear expectations. I enjoy Ty$’s 2nd verse the most on this track. I was able to see his words and the smokiness of the possible scene. The Friday Night Let's All Get Paid ending sample is fun and the production Ye does here makes you route for him I wanted Ty$ to sing with the sample. Track 4: "TALKING" - The 4th track features North West and starts with an in-your-face thrashing sample that taunts the listener, and the tension builds with North rapping in a monotone confidence. Ty$ brings you back to church with his verse and calms you with velvety security in his voice. As a Dad, I connect with Ty$’s lyrics here and you cheer for your kids to do better than you did. Ye finishes the track by singing the hook and you hear the love he has as a father and child of Donda. Track 5: "BACK TO ME" - (Featuring: Freddie Gibbs). The Sample takes the first hit to the ear here joining the beat in a fun head-knocking way. Ty$’s verse adds so much balance to this back-and-forth beat. Ye steps in with a short verse. This track is one of the more fun ones, with Ye going with high-pitched vocals. "Beautiful big-titty, butt-naked women just don’t fall out the sky you know!" This track made me smile like a 7th-grade kid seeing a dirty magazine in a barbershop bathroom. Freddie Gibbs pushes the lyrics in the direction of skinny women coming back in fashion with natural booties being the new flavor like an 80’s fashion trend coming back. Track 6: "HOODRAT" - Ye has always pushed his samples to the limits. Here the sample is the lead vocalist, but Ty$ is providing some voluminous vocals and a memorable hook. It sounds savvy from a mixing perspective. Somehow the vocals are smaller than the beat when you usually hear the vocals over the music or louder than the beat, but this untraditional format keeps the mind and ear on edge for that new new. The Mike Tyson sample is a diamond for the listener because Mike can see the music genius that Ye has consistently proven to be. Track 7: "DO IT" - This track features YG. The strings over the house dance drums are a unique choice of sound. The up-tempo vibe makes the song danceable with an easy-to-remember hook. The radio-ready formula for radio hit. Ye steps into the middle of the track after TY$ starts the joint and YG ends the joint over a familiar 2000s sample that Juvenile made a radio hit. Track 8: "PAPERWORK" - Ye gets right to his verse. I feel this adds experimental excitement to the track leading up the Quavo's verse. I wanted to hear a hidden story in between all the unique sounds but found that a challenge to stay with the chopped-up sound design. Track 9: "BURN" -🔥 . The lyrics are great. The melody is up and down like the motion of lovemaking. Ty$ did so much with this short track it is one you play twice just to get more. Track 10: "FUK SUMN" Great beat with a low low dragged-out bass. There is a balance with a chiming high ping. Play Boi Carti goes in right after dollar sign$ and pushes the track into the ears of all the teens with the robotic squashed auto-tune sound that has a street secret sound. If the track is a car ride Ye pushes the pedal to the floor right before his verse adding off-tempo drums with a higher sound that is challenging for the ear to nod the neck to. Ye turns at the last moment before the passenger is ejected out of the ride and lets the beat knock again for a great Travis Scott verse. The exceptional sample crosses the lane with Ty$ concluding the joint. Track 11: "VULTURES" - Bully vocals collide throughout the track other than Ty$. Ty$ seems flat and not warm almost like hearing a live rap show before voiceovers. There is a hollowness in the vocal here which could be used by YE to make the ear see something different and intended. The line about “sniffing coke from her butt” was funny just to hear Ye say the words because Ye is so great at wordplay but he just went for it all raw. This track is another song about sleeping with multiple women. I have heard the same old song format and formula, but Ye used to do it in a different way that brought the ladies with him but here he sounds against them. Track 12: "CARNIVAL" - This track has that anthem momentum, that get at em charge. The sample and production will supercharge the spirit. We know we are climbing with imagination on the song. This song sums up what I found to be the reoccurring theme. Singing, rapping, and talking about different sexual positions and experiences with women. The content of this song seems more one-sided and self-focused. Rich the Kid does not bring anything memorable for me. Ye has a few bars that made my mind say what did he say right there and I had to let it slide off the mind because the lyrics are more shocking than something that makes you contemplate. Play Boi Carti has a muffled choppy trap style that makes understanding his lyrics rough, but his melody carries his verse. The sample at the beginning is the most exciting part along with this guitar break that is a flair for a Hip-Hop trap track. Track 13: "BEG FORGIVENESS" - This track features Chris Brown, but Ye lights the track on fire right from the jump. The sound is different honest. and The beat stands out most on this song with familiar sounds like Ye’s previous work on 808s and heartbreaks. Track 14: "GOOD ( DON’T DIE)" - This is my favorite track. The simplicity of the track makes it easy to fall in love with as the sample lifts you towards the light. There are no lyrics about having sex, or what sexual act you want your partner to perform. The track hits you with this inner thought brought forward that many of us have struggled to overcome. You are in pain but if you make it to tomorrow you might start the best part of your life you never thought possible. One day and day one mentality is sowed through every part of this great track. Track 15: "PROBLEMATIC" - Ye’s words are heavy and the beat is getting pinched with the high-pitched vocals. This track is a remembrance of the sound Ye started with. This track Ye exposes the lister to the best bars so far. I heard a great balance with Ty$ and Ye going back and forth with the horns bouncing life up a heavenly staircase. Track 16: "KING" - Ye jabs with anger and repellant pushback vocals, I feel an engergy, the homies can't talk to Ye. Ye continues running through all the most controversial things he said in the past and as a listener, you travel back in time and stay there until the next track.