Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign released their collaborative album Vultures 1 earlier this month and immediately came under fire for uncleared samples. The list of unapproved samples and interpolations includes tracks from Ozzy Osbourne and James Brown among others. After coming under fire, West replaced one unapproved sample with another, according to reports.
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According to Billboard, West removed the sample of Osbourne’s band performing “Iron Man” at the Us Festival. However, he replaced it with a sample of his song “Hell of a Life.” It contains an interpolation of the iconic “Iron Man” riff. Osbourne and other members of Black Sabbath—Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward—hold writing and publishing credits on “Hell of a Life.” As a result, West’s use of the song on Vultures would likely need to be cleared by members of Black Sabbath. It was not.
Kanye West Adds More Unauthorized Samples to Vultures
The members of the legendary metal band aren’t the only ones with credits on the song. Tony Joe White and Sly Stone also have credits on the song due to samples. He reportedly didn’t clear the use of the song with Stone or White either.
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Randall Wixen is the founder of WIxen Music and represents the “She’s My Baby,” the Stone song used in “Hell of a Life.” He also owns a 35% stake in the West’s 2010 song. Wixen spoke to Billboard about the current state of West’s album. “It’s ironic that Kanye replaced the unlicensed sample of the Ozzy Osbourne track ‘Iron Man’ with a sample of ‘Hell of a Life’ which also samples a song by Osbourne and Tony Iommi,” he said. “So, he’s just substituted one unauthorized Ozzy sample for another and now brought our song into the picture,” Wixen added. “In a perfect world, all samples would be approved and cleared prior to release. It is basic respect for the songwriter.”
West’s team is currently working to get the samples and interpolations used on the album cleared by their respective owners. However, these negotiations usually take place before an album’s release date.
Rell Lafague, president and COO of Reservoir Media spoke on the situation. “On the level of Kanye in 2024 to put out an entire album with samples that haven’t even been requested to be cleared, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen that today,” he said.
