EGN NEWS DESK
A 12 months and a half in the past, the profession of Ye — the rapper, producer and controversy generator previously often known as Kanye West — appeared all however dead. After a sequence of antisemitic remarks in late 2022, Ye misplaced his major-label file deal and reserving agent, together with profitable style partnerships with Adidas, Balenciaga and different manufacturers.
But he was by no means fairly deserted by lots of his followers. And now Ye has the eleventh No. 1 album of his profession with “Vultures 1,” a joint LP with the singer Ty Dolla Sign that Ye launched on his personal, after previewing it this month with enviornment occasions in Chicago and Long Island the place tickets went for $140 and up. Ye and Ty Dolla Sign’s new LP beats “Coming Home,” the comeback launch by Usher, who had maybe the best platform out there to any performer: the Super Bowl halftime present.
Ye had been teasing “Vultures 1” since late final 12 months, and, becoming a sample that lengthy preceded his latest industry-pariah standing, the album’s rollout was stumbling and chaotic. After its launch to digital companies following a listening occasion on Feb. 9, the LP’s availability briefly flickered, and Ye was rapidly accused of borrowing music by Black Sabbath and Donna Summer with out permission.
Last week, “Vultures 1” once more disappeared for a short while from Apple Music and was made unavailable as a obtain, whereas behind the scenes there was a change within the distribution platform that Ye’s model YZY used to provide the album to digital companies. The music “Good (Don’t Die),” which seems to borrow a melody from Summer’s hit “I Feel Love,” was additionally faraway from on-line variations of the album.
“Vultures 1” ended its first week with the equal of 148,000 gross sales within the United States, which incorporates 168 million streams and 18,000 copies bought as an entire package deal, in response to the monitoring service Luminate. It is Ye’s first No. 1 album since “Donda” in 2021.
Usher scores his highest-charting album in 12 years, with “Coming Home” arriving at No. 2 after the R&B veteran’s efficiency on the Super Bowl on Feb. 11, with company together with Alicia Keys, Lil Jon and Ludacris. “Coming Home,” additionally launched independently, had the equal of 91,000 gross sales, together with 46 million streams and 53,000 conventional gross sales. Usher’s final studio album, “Hard II Love,” went to No. 5 in 2016, and “Looking 4 Myself” reached No. 1 in 2012.
Also this week, Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” is No. 3, Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” is No. 4 and SZA’s “SOS” is No. 5.
