Ranking the 10 Best Songs From Kanye & Ty Dolla $ign's 'Vultures' Vol. 1

You can expect Kanye to keep dominating your timeline as Vultures’ first week took the limelight from Killer Mike. If Vol. 2 is released, pray for your friends who aren’t fans. In other news today:

• 10 best songs from Vultures Vol. 1 ranked 📈 

• Kanye’s $20 Yeezy pods & first-week album success 💰️ 

• Who wore it better: Playboi Carti or Iggy Azalea? 👀 

• Discover new music with the Rap Index 🎵 

• Industry Insights 🔎 

Ranking the 10 Best Songs From ‘Vultures’ Vol. 1

After anti-climactic listening parties in Chicago and New York, the Feb 9th release date for Vultures Vol. 1 came and went without the delivery of the album. Kanye fans were sick until the album appeared on streaming services the following day (Feb 10).

Kanye fans up ❗️ It didn’t take long for timelines to flood with first impressions of the album. A few days later, we’ve ranked the 10 best songs from Vultures Vol. 1. Keep reading to learn more about the album, why it’s Kanye’s most cohesive project in years, and vote in the poll below to leave your thoughts.

“Carnival” is Kanye’s “FE!N”

Recruiting Playboi Carti and Rich The Kid for the assist, “Carnival” is undeniably the stand-out track from the album. The chant opening, “go, go, go, go,” and clap-persuading percussion have all the markings of a stadium anthem.

It’s the type of song that bridges the gap between the old and new generation of rap. Kanye’s early contributions to rap walked so Playboi Carti’s genre-bending vocal mutations could run. But their fan bases united in chant? Could break the 1.3 magnitude earthquake record of Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus concert.

The old Kanye still exists

For many longtime Kanye fans, “Burn” might be your favorite song. It’s the one track that truly celebrates College Dropout’s 20th anniversary, which coincided with the Vultures release date. 

The beat is timeless, Ty Dolla $ign is melodic and smooth, and Kanye lyrically hits one of his best pockets on the album. Reminiscent of College Dropout and Late Registration, “Burn” sounds like a vintage Kanye cut, proving no one can bite his early style better than him.

Co-Collaborator > Numerous guest artists

The first volume of Vultures is immensely more balanced than any version of Donda heard in 2021. Ty Dolla provides the vocal backing a young Kanye used to get from sample manipulation.

Ty Dolla’s soulful vocals ground Vultures, making the album sound cohesive and consistent as Kanye travels through the sonic-sphere of Brazilian funk on “Paperwork,” dubstep drum patterns on “Paid,” and 808s & Heartbreaks-esque electro-pop on “Good (Don’t Die).”

Where Donda failed (the number of featured artists and songs made for an erratic album), Vultures soared. Like any good partnership, Kanye and Ty Dolla brought the best out of each other.

Kanye’s $20 Yeezy Pods & ‘Vultures’ Success

The Vultures rollout might be Kanye’s biggest comeback attempt yet. Last weekend, he made good on his promise to release Vol. 1 (although a day late) and his years-long claim that he would sell everything on the Yeezy site for $20. 

Bolstered by a low-budget Super Bowl commercial that reportedly cost $7M for 30 seconds and only aired in Chicago and Miami, Kanye directed fans to his Yeezy.com website to promote his latest shoes—the Yeezy pods.

Originally $200, fans were surprised to see the Yeezy pods on sale for $20. Kanye announced those who purchased the pods at the original price will be refunded the $180 discrepancy. The site also sells Vultures merch and has racked up $19M in profits from the first 24 hours. The pods were the most popular item, making up 266K of the 455K products sold. 

The pods are sold out, but clothing merch and the Vultures vinyl are still available for $20 USD on the Yeezy site.

‘Vultures’ first-week stats

According to Hits Daily Double, Vultures is projected to sell 140K units first week and debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart—making it the first fully independent rap album of the decade to do so. Other noteworthy stats include:

• ‘Vultures’ reached #1 in 100 countries on Apple Music

  • It’s the first ever independently released album to do so.

• ‘Vultures’ was streamed approx. 65M times in its first 24 hrs on Spotify

  • Biggest opening ever for an independent release.

• “Carnival” hit #1 on Spotify’s global songs chart with 5.83M streams

  • This is a first for Playboi Carti and Rich The Kid

Who Wore It Better: Playboi Carti or Iggy Azalea? Singer Asks Fans

Iggy Azalea, who can often be found on a nearby timeline showing off her curves or blasting her infamous baby daddy, Playboi Carti, gave fans a 2-for-1 post this week. In a recent lingerie-clad video, one user commented, “Yo BD out here in the same outfit 💀 ☠️.” See her response below.

The comments refer to photos of Playboi Carti earlier this month in which he appears to wear a black mesh thong bodysuit as part of his fit. Even though the thong is unbuttoned, X had a field day with the meme-serizing photos.

The photos of Carti were reportedly taken while he was going or coming to a studio session with Kanye, inciting more memes about him “recording one of the verses of the decade while wearing a thong.” X (formerly Twitter) is a wicked place.

The Rap Index ft. Kanye, Ty Dolla $ign, Playboi Carti, Fivio Foreign, Chief Keef & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories describing rap subgenres, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

RapTV’s Ranking of Rap Index Songs

1. “Carnival” by Kanye, Ty Dolla $ign, Playboi Carti, Rich The Kid (Listen Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Burn” by Kanye, Ty Dolla $ign (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Fuk Sumn” by Kanye, Ty Dolla $ign, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “Back To Me” by Kanye, Ty Dolla $ign, Freddie Gibbs (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “Waiting” by Fivio Foreign, Sheff G (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Dirty Nachos” by Chief Keef, Mike WiLL Made-It (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “THOUSANDS” by Lil Skies (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Somethin’” by Nardo Wick, Sexyy Red (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

• Roc Nation and Versace announce a multi-year partnership. Centered around “cause-focused initiatives” such as scholarships for the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment.

• Killer Mike reveals Grammy-winning ‘Michael’ is the first album in a trilogy. At Apple Music 1’s live interview set-up for the Super Bowl, he discussed being back in the studio and plans for future music.

• Ice Spice wears Playboi-Carti gifted Opium chain to Super Bowl. Designed by Alex Moss, the one-of-a-kind chain is made of black gold, pointer diamonds, and pink sapphires.

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