Ty Dolla $ign
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Earlier this year Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign were hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by Donna Summer’s estate for their unauthorized sample of her 1977 hit, “I Feel Love.” But luckily for Ye and Dolla, the issue has been settled and everyone can avoid going to court over the issue.
According to Digital Music News, the issue over Ye and Dolla $ign’s sample of the song on their cut, “Good (Don’t Die),” has officially been put to rest. Interestingly enough, the court documents, which were filed June 20, don’t outline any specifics as to what agreement was reached other than stating that the case itself was “being dismissed with prejudice.” In other words, this case cannot be brought back to court under any circumstances. You have to wonder what led to this final resolution.
Digital Music News reports:
In his lawsuit, Sudano claimed that although the artists sought a clearance request for the use of Summer’s song, they were denied by both the estate and her label, Universal Music Enterprises. Instead, according to Sudano, Ty and Ye “used the song’s iconic melody as the hook for their infringing song and essentially re-recorded almost verbatim key, instantly recognizable portions of “I Feel Love” using a singer soundalike to Summer, with slight changes to the lyrics (also done without permission.”
Ye and his team really got creative trying to get around the copyright infringement didn’t they? Donna Summer’s estate wasn’t the only one to deny Kanye permission to use Summer’s work on his and Ty Dolla $ign’s duo album, Vultures 1, as he found he didn’t quite hold the same weight he did just a few years ago.
Both Nicki Minaj and Ozzy Osbourne confirmed on social media that they refused to authorize samples of their music on the album in the wake of Kanye’s very public descent into antisemitism and hate groups. “West is known as a controversial public figure whose conduct has led numerous brands and business partners to disassociate from him,” Sudano’s lawsuit reads.
Don’t be surprised if more artists (both alive and deceased) deny Kanye permission to sample their work as his MAGA ways have turned off many of his music peers. He might end up with options like Kid Rock and Ted Nugent for his music creations going forward. Just sayin’.
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It seems Kanye West’s business strategy continues to evolve. He says Vultures 2 will not be available for streaming but sold on his website.
As reported by Hypebeast, the sequel to the Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative project will have a more independent roll out compared to its predecessor. Last week, the rapper engaged with a fan account on Instagram and explained that he has reevaluated how he sells his art. “Was talking with the team about how to release the next album. Like James Blake said streaming devalues our music” Kanye explained. “We sell albums on Yeezy.com. I got 20 million Instagram followers. When 5% of my followers buy an album. That’s 1 million albums sold. That’s 300k more than the biggest album last year. We sold 1 million items on Yeezy.com on Super Bowl Sunday so we know it’s possible. How do you feel about us not streaming and only selling the album digitally.”
In a separate screenshot Kanye went on to add, “It would be nice for our community to support the albums, Streaming is pirating.” Since cutting ties with adidas, Kanye West has embraced a direct to consumer model specifically for his Yeezy apparel line. As referenced earlier, his brand sold over 1 million combined units of the polarizing Yeezy Pod sock shoe, a pant, t-shirt and a top. All the pieces sold at a $20 dollar price point prompting fans to believe Vultures 2 will also be sold for $20.
Vultures 2 was originally scheduled for March 8.
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Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign‘s new collaborative project Vultures 1 has been met with delays and false starts before its release last week. FUGA, a music distribution company, moved to take down Vultures 1 from DSPs and now the album is being distributed by another company.
Rolling Stone reports that Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign dropped their new project but not without a hitch. In the report, FUGA says that a client of theirs uploaded Vultures 1 without their approval despite never agreeing to a full-on deal with Ye and his team.
“Late last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to release Vultures 1. Exercising our judgment in the ordinary course of business, we declined to do so,” a spokesperson for Downtown Music, FUGA’s parent company, shared in a statement to Rolling Stone. “On Friday, February 9, 2024, a long-standing FUGA client delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement. Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the client to remove Vultures 1 from our systems.”
The outlet adds that the album is now being electronically distributed via Label Engine and is back on DSPs such as Apple Music. The album is facing other hardships after the estate of Donna Summer didn’t clear the use of the singer’s sample on one track along with Ozzy Osbourne blasting West for sampling one of his songs without clearance, citing Ye’s antisemitic views.
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Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign are close to releasing their collaborative album Vultures and hosted a listening party in Miami this week. What has some people talking is the moment when Kanye West came onstage donning a Black hood stylized like the white KKK hood.
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign, collectively known under the ¥$ moniker, appeared together in Miami’s Wynwood Marketplace for an outdoor listening party according to a report from Variety.
The event got a late start and there were some technical issues with audio assistants having a time trying to connect West’s phone to the audio system at the venue. The event was also streamed on YouTube with fans at home experiencing viewing issues as well. According to the outlet, tickets for general admission for the event were listed at $200, $600 for VIP, and $10,000 for tables.
The pair played 10 tracks from Vultures with notable features from Lil Baby, Charlie Wilson, Lil Durk, Bump J, Nicki Minaj, Kodak Black, and more. Joining West and $ign on the stage were Chris Brown, Offset, the aforementioned Kodak Black, Lil Durk, Bump J, Freddie Gibbs, and more.
During the album’s controversial title track where West decries being antisemitic in a vulgar fashion, the artist came onstage wearing the Black hood and stared at the crowd for effect. Instead of shying away from the heat sure to come from the song and the image, West reportedly paused the song after the line in question from the song.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans are chiming in with their thoughts on the album, Kanye West himself, and more.
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Kanye West is positioning himself to release new music to the masses via a collaborative effort with Ty Dolla $ign, and he’s also looking to get back to signing artists. According to a new report, Kanye West is allegedly looking to buy out the remaining years of Lil Durk‘s contract after the pair recently performed together.
As reported by TMZ, Ye, Lil Durk, and Bump J recently performed at Blu Dhabi, sharing the Chicago producer’s newest track “Vultures” presumably from the upcoming collaboration album with Ty Dolla $ign. Sources close to the outlet say that Ye is in talks to buy out Durk’s contract with Alamo Records, which is helmed by 300 Records co-founder, Todd Moscowitz.
The track “Vultures” was released on November 22 featuring Ye, $ign, Bump J, but Lil Durk was noticeably absent. However, the track was released again the following day with Durk’s feature intact. A lyric from Ye addresses his past antisemitic comments in a colorful and vulgar fashion.
Moscowitz, according to sources, refused to clear Durk’s appearance on a Ye track which sparked talks of the contract buyout. Durk and Ye have a good working relationship, dating back to the single “Hot Sh*t” track with Cardi B back in 2022. Durk also appeared on the track “Jonah” from Ye’s Donda album.
A release date for Ye’s latest collection of music, tentatively titled ¥$, has yet to be announced.
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Kanye West, also known as Ye, is making his return to music soon with a reported collaborative project with Ty Dolla $ign. With reports that the pair will be performing the project at the end of the month, it’s also come out that Kanye West is looking to shop the project to a distributor partner.
As reported by Billboard, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign have been hard at work on an album, which remains untitled. The Italian version of the music publication previously reported that the joint concert was slated to happen at RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia but those reports are not confirmed by West’s team. For now, the location remains undisclosed but the outlet added that tickets were to go on sale this past weekend.
Recently, Ye made an unannounced appearance at Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus concert in Rome this past August. West has also spent significant time in Italy over the course of the summer.
The outlet added in a separate report that Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign are looking for a distribution partner and are considering offers from five unnamed entities according to sources close to the situation. The album was supposed to be released this past Friday (October 13) but it appears that the business being worked out on the backend moved things to a later date.
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Kanye West loves to call himself a genius, and as the saying goes there’s a thin line between genius and insanity. Over the past few years it seems like Yeezy’s been leaning towards the latter, and his latest outburst serves as more proof of that theory.
According to TMZ, Kanye West let a pedicurist witness first hand what it’s like to deal with his infamous mood changes. He cut his pedicure appointment short and walked away due to a little pain he suffered at the hands of the nail technician. The incident unfolded in a hotel room where he and Ty Dolla $ign were holed up, and it was Ty who actually uploaded the video onto the internet for all to see.
TMZ reports:
Kanye’s pal, and music partner Ty Dolla $ign uploaded the funny footage Thursday showing Kanye’s interaction with the puzzled pedicurist. You see Kanye react with a quick jolt of pain before deciding the whole treatment was over … standing up and saying he wanted to stop.
The woman performing the pedicure tries to convince Kanye to let her finish, but he ain’t budging, saying “It’s my toes.” Check out the look on Ty’s face, he’s stunned by the whole interaction.
Kanye’s essentially been trekking barefoot in Europe throughout the summer — so you gotta imagine the nail tech had her work cut out for her — but Ye didn’t wanna take a chance.
Well, they are his toes and from what we know pedicures can sometimes be painful. Maybe Kanye has a regular pedicurist with the hands of a goddess who never makes his little piggies squeal or something.
Still, Kanye didn’t let a little foot pain keep him from getting back on his grind and continuing to create his upcoming album with the help of Ty Dolla $ign, who previewed their collaborative cut in the club.
Check out clips of the aforementioned incident and unreleased song below. Let us know your thoughts on Kanye’s actions and song in the comments section.
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