We're hoping VULTURES 2 is the wildest album rollout of 2024. We can't imagine an album being more scattered and confusing than this, much less conceive of an artist who could get away with it. The album has been a talking point for all the wrong reasons, between streaming removals, sample clearances, and the rumor that Kanye West used AI to complete his verses. All that said, VULTURES 2 has sold decently well. Chart Data has dropped the first week numbers for the anticipated sequel, and it's set to do better than expected.
The outlet reports that Kanye West and Ty Dolla's Sign's joint album will sell 83K units in its first week. That's good enough for a number two spot on the Billboard 200. In a separate tweet, Chart Data noted that the number two debut will end Kanye West's streak of having albums top the charts. To make things even worse, Taylor Swift will be the artist who ends it. Swift will continue to hold down the top spot with her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Departments. As we previously noted, Swift put out four new versions of the album on August 8. Innocuous enough on the surface, but fans were quick to point out the fact that West dropped four versions of VULTURES 2 the same day.
Kanye West Sold Under 100K First Week For The First Time
Fans will never know for sure whether Swift was trolling Kanye West with her rollout. That being said, the VULTURES sequel would have struggled regardless. Ye's album sales have been steadily declining in the last few years. Jesus Is King and DONDA sold 264K and 309K first week, respectively. VULTURES was a significant downturn with only 148K units sold. VULTURES 2 is the first time Kanye West's career that he has failed to sell at least 100K in the first week. That said, album sales appear to be the least of the star's worries these days.
Kanye West took to social media on August 8 to blast Atlantic Records over their business tactics. He said that the label was threatening to take both VULTURES albums down from all streaming platforms. "40% of all revenue from V1 and V2 needs to be paid to Atlantic," the rapper claimed. "If we don’t handle immediately Atlantic will issue take downs for both albums." West then likened himself to an indie artist, and continued to release new music throughout the day. "This is what ‘they’ do to independent artists," he added on his IG Story. We will have to wait and see where the VULTURES 2 story goes next.
