​Producers on Kanye West’s ‘Vultures’ albums allegedly haven’t been paid

More than 10 producers who worked on Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s 2024 albums ‘Vultures 1’ and ‘Vultures 2’ are claiming that they’ve yet to be paid, Billboard reports.

The initial record, first released by the duo in February under their ¥$ alias, marked the first of two 2024-released albums from the supergroup. Both records were independently released by Ye’s YZY brand.

Some 10 months after the first record’s release, producers who worked on ‘Vultures’ are alleging that they haven’t been paid for their contributions, calling the subsequent situation a “mess”.

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Music attorney Bob Celestin told Billboard: “We have clients who’ve produced music on the ‘Vultures’ album(s) and have still not been paid for their services even though both albums have been released.”

“Presently, we have no idea when payment will be made, which is so unfortunate and unfair. You would think Ye would be more sensitive to this issue because he is a producer.”

According to Billboard, five lawyers who have clients who worked on ‘Vultures 1’ have said that the process of being compensated for their work has been “more challenging than usual”.

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They added that Ye has used at least two lawyers to help with clearances, and is now using a third. It also claims that Ye changed distributors through the process of both album releases.

An attorney with a client on ‘Vultures 1’ told Billboard: “We have no recourse besides to try to sue [Ye], but that’s costly”. A music lawyer told the publication that if they did attempt to sue, “legal claims against Ye don’t really seem to go anywhere.”

[Via Billboard]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter