Kanye West can't go more than 48 hours without a controversy it seems. The rapper was already been criticized for the messy rollout of VULTURES 2. A rollout that was months and multiple album versions in the making, mind you. Then it was suggested that West was addicted to nitrous gas, which is a story that has effectively drowned out anything that was on VULTURES 2. Despite the seemingly constant barrage of problems, Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign are forging ahead. The duo have decided to drop a music video for the first VULTURES 2 single that was released: "SLIDE."
Let's get the obvious points out of the way. Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign do not appear in the video for "SLIDE." There is no performance element to the song, or famous faces scattered throughout. Instead, the video presents a single, unbroken camera angle moving down a street. We see woman dressed in lingerie, we see homeless people in tents. We also see a vulture at one point, which, sure, why not. It's suggested that the street in question is in a red light district, but other aspects of the video, like cars on fire, don't exactly vibe with the theory. Overall, it feels very much cut from the same cloth as "No Church In the Wild," which is to say, societal chaos.
Kanye West And Ty Dolla Capture Societal Collapse
It's a cool video, even if it doesn't align with Kanye West or Ty Dolla Sign's lyrics. "SLIDE" sees West rap about impossibly wealthy parties and sexual conquests during his first verse. "Headed to the high-rise. Cruisin' like Eyes Wide Shut (Get up)," he spits. But I slide in it like a drive-by. The industry don't like me, tell them p**sy n**gas likewise (Get up). They tried to hit me with the cyanide." Ty Dolla Sign's hook is more of the same. Kanye West hasn't provided much context about the inspiration for the song, either. When he played it during a November DJ set, he merely said: "This is madness for me, I made this with my brother Ty a few months ago."
It's difficult to imagine the music video for "SLIDE" will do much to boost VULTURES 2 album sales. The album pulled in 107K album equivalent sales first week, which marks the lowest first week numbers for a Kanye West album ever. The reviews have been even worse. Fans have chastised West for dropping the album despite it not being close to finished. Several tweaks have been made to the final mix, but rather than intrigue listeners, the way it did when West tweaked The Life of Pablo, it has irritated.
