¥$ (pronounced Yen-Dolla or Ye n Dolla) is a superduo consisting of Los Angeles, California singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & producer Ty$ alongside Chicago, Illinois rapper, singer/songwriter, one of my top 10 producers of all-time, fashion designer & former G.O.O.D. Music founder Ye formerly known as Kanye West. We’ve seen them together a handful of times for nearly a decade on tracks like “Guard Down”, “Real Friends”, “Ego Death” & “Everything We Need”. However with my favorite Ye album The College Dropout turning 20 today, ¥$ are officially kicking off the Vultures trilogy ahead of the sequel in March & the final chapter in April.

“Stars” co-produced by Digital Nas, FNZ & most importantly JPEGMAFIA samples “Good Luck” by Dijon to begin things talking about ripping up contracts & keeping “a few Jews on the staff now” in reference to Ye calling himself a Nazi on InfoWars whereas “Keys to My Life” takes the hazy trap route thanks to Timbaland explaining that it wasn’t always like this. “Paid” explains they’re only here to stack bread as KAYTRANADA & Wax Motif flip “Brighter Days” by Cajmere leading into “Talking / Once Again” featuring Ye’s oldest daughter North West finds her dad’s mentor No I.D., Swizz Beatz, DJ Camper & even James Blake help blend alternative R&B, jersey club rap, gospel, pop rap & art pop as they address that “the clouds are gatherin’ to release what they held in”.

Meanwhile, “Back to Me” featuring a jaw-dropping Freddie Gibbs verse details their sexual desires including Ye referencing Jay & Silent Bob in Dogma or a bar Freddie had about Twitter owner, Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder & Neuralink founder Elon Musk over YZY SND’s head of music 88-Keys sampling “Rock Box” by Run-D.M.C. just before “Hoodrat” dabbles into rap rock territory overdoing it with the Latarian Milton vocal chops & ¥$ continuing the themes of romance by expressing the divine beauty they see in both of their current partners Bianca Censori & Zalia respectively. “Do It” featuring a Nipsey Hu$$le intro & a YG verse near the end mixes these strings & hi-hats thanks to Wheezy, DJ Mustard & Cubeatz as they try to make a movie just before the heavily distorted “Paperwork” featuring Quavo talks about getting their paper right.

“Burn” might be my favorite on the LP speaking on a dangerous kind of love as Chicago veteran The Legendary Traxster & Leon Thomas III sonically throw it back to the Late Registration days while “Fuk Sum’n” featuring Playboi Carti & Travis Scott is this experimental trap 2-parter looking to do exactly that. Havoc’s remix of the title track featuring Bump J & Lil Durk is the only version of it that exists to me going for a cloudier vibe as opposed to the Chicago drill influence of the original except the “How I’m antisemitic? I just fucked a Jewish bitch” line is still trash, but then the aptly titled “Carnival” featuring Playboi Carti & surprisingly Rich the Kid samples “Hell of a Life” off my 2nd favorite Ye album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy talking about her “riding the dick like a carnival” ride.

Starting the last leg of the album, “Beg Forgiveness” with co-production from London on da Track has to be one of the most tiring moments heavily building itself around “Gabriel” by Joe Goddard for nearly 6 whole minutes while “Good (Don’t Die)” picks things back up with will.i.am sampling “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer talking about their hearts being ice cold & the thoughts that keep them up all night. “Problematic” talks about feeling like they beat a murder case over Chad Hugo’s horns & the epic closer “King” addresses that they thought the headlines were Ye’s kryptonite when it’s really his antisemitic behavior.

KIDS SEE GHOSTS’ self-titled debut & even The Throne’s only album Watch the Throne are superior in comparison, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy a pretty solid amount of Vultures & I’m hoping the next 2 installments of the trilogy are superior. The first chapter has a predominant experimental hip hop & pop rap sound with additional elements of trap music, hip house & alternative R&B as Ye breaks down everything that’s happened these last couple years although I don’t like the way he handled the backlash that he got for the antisemitic comments.

Score: 2/5

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