Kanye West’s latest album ‘Vultures 1’ was removed from Apple Music and iTunes over a conflict pitting the rapper against distribution company FUGA.
Vultures 1, which is Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative album, was released on February 10, 2024, but was taken off of iTunes and Apple Music on February 15, 2024, where it had previously been dominating the streaming and sales charts.
Music distribution company FUGA told Billboard that it was working to remove ‘Vultures 1’ from its systems because a longstanding FUGA client released the album through the platform’s automated processes, violating their service agreement.
FUGA had already declined to release ‘Vultures 1’ late last year.
Music distributors are typically able to remove content uploaded through their systems if they choose, Billboard reported.
Kanye West had shopped ‘Vultures 1’ around to multiple music distributors last year, some of whom declined to release the album because of West’s history of antisemitic comments.
The controversial rapper had already faced criticism and threats of legal action against ‘Vultures 1’ because of allegations that he sampled songs from multiple artists without permission.
The track ‘Good (Don’t Die)’ was removed from Spotify on Wednesday after Donna Summer’s estate accused Kanye West of “copyright infringement” by sampling her 1977 track, “I Feel Love,” after being denied permission.
Similarly, Ozzy Osbourne tweeted on February 9, 2024 that Kanye West had used a sample of his 1983 performance of “Iron Man” in his new track, “Carnival,” after being denied permission.
Osbourne—who said he denied West the sample because of his history of antisemitism—reportedly threatened legal action, and the track was reportedly released without the sample.
Kanye West also clashed with Nicki Minaj after she denied him permission to use her verse from their 2018 collaboration ‘New Body’ on his new album ‘Vultures 1’.
Related: Kanye West responds with fury after Nicki Minaj denies him rights to her verse
