Kanye West has surprised his fans with a sneak peek of his upcoming collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, which features guest appearances from Future and Young Thug.
The rap superstar was spotted at Art Basel in Miami on Saturday, where he hosted an impromptu listening party at a Jamaican restaurant. He played several unreleased tracks from the project, which is reportedly titled Vultures.
Among the songs he previewed were a track that samples the Backstreet Boys' classic "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and a song that shouts out Young Thug and his label YSL, as well as calling for the freedom of Larry Hoover, the founder of the Gangster Disciples, and Big Meech, the co-founder of the Black Mafia Family.
"This one here for YSL, I ain't talking Saint Lauren," Kanye rapped on the latter track. "Free Larry, free Young Thug/ While we at it, free Meech."
The listening session was captured on video by some of the attendees, who shared the clips on social media.
Kanye's collaborator Ty Dolla $ign also shared a handwritten tracklist for the album on his Instagram story last week. The 18-track project includes the previously released single "Vultures," which features Lil Durk and Bump J, as well as the long-awaited "New Body," a song that Kanye originally recorded for his scrapped album Yandhi in 2018 and may feature Nicki Minaj.
Other songs on the tracklist are "Fuk Sumn," "Beg Forgiveness," "Drunk," "Gun to My Head" and "Timbo Freestyle," which is produced by Timbaland.
The release date for the album has not been announced yet, but it was reported in October that Kanye and Ty Dolla were looking for a distributor for the project. According to Billboard, some major labels turned down the offer due to Kanye's controversial comments about Jewish people last year, but some independent companies like Too Lost, Distrokid and Tunecore were interested.
The duo also planned to debut the album at a concert in Italy in October, but the event was canceled.
The album will mark Kanye's first release since his 2021 album Donda, which topped the Billboard 200 chart for four weeks. It will also be the follow-up to Ty Dolla's 2020 album Featuring Ty Dolla Sign, which featured collaborations with Post Malone, Kid Cudi, Roddy Ricch and more.
Kanye and Ty Dolla have a long history of working together, dating back to 2015 when they teamed up for songs like "Fade," "Real Friends" and "Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)." Kanye praised Ty Dolla as one of the strongest artists in the industry in a 2018 interview with Power 106.
"Oh man, it's so crazy. That's one of the best combinations ever," he said. "Whenever we get on joints together, it be like, 'Yo.' It's just [outta here]."
