Ye not dropping an album on the announced release date is one of the surest bets in hip-hop. The formula is pretty much always the same. He announces an album. He promotes the album. He gives fans a release date. Then, following a lull on updates, the clock strikes midnight on said day and…crickets. Yeezy supporters cry, complain and post angry GIFs on X, formerly known as Twitter. And they do it all again the next time.
Thus was the case yet again on Friday (May 3), when Ye and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures 2 did not drop after Ye stated it would. This isn’t a particularly good time to be pump-faking, as Drake and Kendrick Lamar currently have the rap world in a tizzy. Now that Vultures 2 has been delayed once again, Ye and Ty$ might as well put it on the back burner and let fans focus on the hip-hop battle of the decade.
Tunnel Vision in Hip-Hop
Rap fans seem to like to focus on one big moment at a time. And right now, Drake and Kendrick Lamar are the main event. Kendrick Lamar opened a can of worms when he dissed Drake and J. Cole on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” back in March. J. Cole returned fire first a couple weeks later on “7 Minute Drill” but threw in the towel a few days later. That left Drake. And apparently, Aubrey has been waiting on this moment for years. Drake dropped his first response, “Push Ups,” in April. Then, he doubled back with “Taylor Made Freestyle” several days later.
It took a few weeks, but K-Dot finally clapped back with “Euphoria.” Before fans could break down the multi-layered, Easter egg-filled response, Kendrick circled the block with “6:16 in LA” on May 3. And just like that (no pun intended), hip-hop has a heavyweight battle involving two of hip-hop’s biggest titans. And fans have been laser-focused on every bar, tweet and Instagram Story since then.
Ye Wants the Spotlight
No one hates Drake more than Ye. So, it seemed inevitable that he would have something to say. He inserted himself into the beef by dissing Drake and shading J. Cole on his “Like That (Remix)” verse in late April.
“Y’all so outta sight, outta mind/I can’t even think of a Drake line/Play J. Cole, get the p***y dry/Play this s**t back a hundred-thirty times,” Ye raps on the song.
In the same The Download podcast interview where Ye debuted his “Like That (Remix)” verse, he announced the highly-anticipated Vultures 2 collab with Ty Dolla $ign would be dropping on May 3. However, Ye’s rudimentary diss lacked the luster of recent diss tracks from Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Quavo, J. Cole and others, and failed to land like Ye hoped it would. Partially due to the delays, anticipation for the V2 album has also waned, as the hip-hop world has become immersed in the Drake versus Kendrick squabble.
At this point, it’s hard to think of anything that will take all eyes off hip-hop’s Rumble in the Jungle. Ye and Ty might as well step aside and watch the carnival.
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