Kanye West is speaking out after revealing both VULTURES 1 and VULTURES 2 may be removed from streaming platforms due to a dispute with Atlantic Records.
On Thursday (August 8), West shared a message on his Instagram Story featuring a text message thread in which he was informed former Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Julie Greenwald was fired from her post. In addition to breaking the news to Ye, the text revealed that the incoming executive at Atlantic is allegedly demanding 40 percent of all revenue from both albums or else they will be pulled from streaming platforms.
“Co-head of Atlantic Julie Greenwald just called me,” the text reads. “She just got fired. She said the new head is not going to give us a grace period to handle Atlantic’s compensation.
“She suggested I let [distributors] Too Lost and Create know that 40 percent of all revenue from V1 and V2 needs to be paid to Atlantic She’s saying that if we don’t handle immediately Atlantic will issue take downs for both albums Pls advise.”
In response to the news, Kanye wrote on his Instagram Story, “This is what ‘they’ do to independent artists. “This is my favorite part,” before questioning who Atlantic’s new chairman/CEO is.
Apparently, the situation with Atlantic Records isn’t the only potential barrier standing in the way of the success of West and Ty’s latest collaborative effort. The Chicago rapper’s longtime adversary Taylor Swift released four new versions of her album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, on July 8 — seemingly in response to West and Ty Dolla $ign dropping four new versions of VULTURES 2.
Fan theories have emerged that Swift was attempting to block West from securing a chart-topping debut for the project, considering she delivered the releases to streaming one hour before the end of the sales tracking week. According to HITS Daily Double, West and Ty’s effort is set to debut with around 83,000 first-week sales, while Swift’s LP is expected to post around 142,000 units.
While Greenwald and West’s connection to each other is somewhat vague outside of their obvious ties from a record label standpoint, one may recall that she testified during an October 2021 court hearing in a case stemming from NBA YoungBoy’s indictment in March that year.
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