Vultures 1 will debut atop the Billboard Album 200, giving Kanye West his 11th No. 1 album. Per Luminate, the long-awaited album sold 148,000 copies in its first week. The project beat out Usher, who debuted at No. 2, his highest in a decade, with Coming Home. The album was released on February 11, just hours before Usher headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. The full album chart will have a delayed release due to President's Day.
The album is stacked with features. The first feature of Vultures 1 is India Love on "Keys To My Life". Two songs later, Kanye is joined by his daughter North West for "Talking/Once Again". That is followed by an appearance from Freddie Gibbs on "Back To Me". Tracks 7 and 8 are another pair of back-to-back features, with Nipsey Hussle & YG appearing on "Do It" and Quavo featuring on "Paperwork". The final four features can be found between tracks 10 and 13. There are two appearances by Playboi Carti - "Fuk Sum" (also featuring Travis Scott) and "Carnival" (also featuring Rich The Kid). Meanwhile, Chris Brown adds his vocals to "Beg Forgiveness". Finally, there is the album's namesake, which features Lil Durk & Bump J.
Kanye West Debuts Cover Art For "Carnival"
Meanwhile, Kanye has unveiled the intense cover art for "Carnival", one of the standout tracks from the recently released Vultures 1. Designed by noted Canadian artist Jon Rafman, the cover art for "Carnival" depicts a close-up of a screaming and bloodied skinhead. Rafman also created the AI-generated music video for "Vultures (Havoc Version)" which was released alongside the album.
"Carnival" features Playboi Carti and Rich the Kid. As mentioned, it is widely considered one of the best tracks on Vultures 1. Many people have already called it the best song of 2024. However, the song proved controversial even before it was released. A version heard at a listening party in Chicago earned the ire of Ozzy Osbourne due to an uncleared sample of Black Sabbath. A later version at a Long Island listening party used a sample of Kanye's "Hell of a life", which interpolates the same Black Sabbath song.
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