It's a confusing time to be a Kanye West fan. The last week has been filled with highs and lows the likes of which few fanbases have experienced. West dropped VULTURES 2 after months of delay. Then, the rapper made tweaks. Lots and lots of tweaks. So many tweaks, in fact that VULTURES 2 barely looks or sounds like the project that originally dropped. Kanye West resorted to dropping four different versions of the album on his personal website, Yeezy.com. Then, within hours of doing so, Taylor Swift decided to release four versions of her latest album. Coincidence? The fans don't think so.
To be fair, few things are coincidental when it comes to Taylor Swift. She has a reputation for being one of the most calculated (and oftentimes, vindictive) artists in the world. Swift and West have had beef for over a decade, and the narrative has really turned in Swift's favor since the rapper interrupted her at the VMAs. She's become the biggest artist on the planet in the 2020s. West, meanwhile, has become a pop culture pariah. It's very conceivable that Taylor Swift would drop four different versions of her album the same exact time West is doing so as a means of overshadowing him.
Taylor Swift Dropped Her Versions The Same Day As West
August 8, the day all this happened, was a particularly hectic one for West. The rapper uploaded new songs that were taken down from streaming platforms within hours. Then, he tweeted out that Atlantic Records are trying to stifle his creativity and threatening to take both VULTURES albums down as well. It's a mess of a situation, and one that's developing faster than people are even able to cover it. By the time I finish writing this, there will likely be new changes to VULTURES 2. Did we mention that West took down the different versions of the album on his website? It's impossible to tell whether Taylor Swift's drop was partially to blame, but wilder things have happened. Especially with these two artists.
It hasn't been all smooth sailing for Taylor Swift, however. The album that now has multiple versions for sale, The Tortured Poets Department, was her worst received yet. Fans felt like the singer rehashed what made her notable in the first place. The singer also decided to cancel multiple tour dates in Europe after two ticket buyers were arrested. According to Newsweek, the ticket buyers in question were planning to launch a terrorist attack in Vienna, where Swift was slated to perform.