This Friday, Kanye West will apparently release the long-delayed first volume of Vultures, the three-part project he’s cooking up with Ty Dolla $ign. The album will mark Ye’s first proper release since the 2022 barrage of antisemitic remarks that have caused numerous brands and fellow entertainers to cut ties with the rapper. Today, Ye released the music video for the song “Talking/Once Again,” featuring his daughter North West. Ye is largely absent from the song, as North and Ty each take a verse, leaving West to sing on the outro.
“Talking/Once Again” opens with a battle chant sampled from a video of the cheerleading squad at Wilkes-Barre Area High School in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Ye modifies the chant—which goes, “You don’t want no problem, you’re just talking like you do!”—so it ends with someone softly singing the word “talking.”
You don’t want no problems, you’re just—(Talking)
You don’t want no problems, you’re just—(Talking)
You don’t want no problems, you’re just—(Talking)
You don’t want no problems, you’re just—(Talking)
You don’t want no problems, you’re just—(Talking)
Next comes North West’s endearing verse, which the 10-year-old debuted in Miami back in December, during a controversial Vultures listening event.
I love it here
We gonna take over the year for another year
It’s your bestie, Miss, Miss Westie
Don’t tryna test me
It’s gonna get messy
Ty goes next and worries about his daughter, Jailynn, growing up and facing tough situations he didn’t necessarily handle well in his own life. Any parent can relate.
How much to stop my daughter from growing? I just can’t take it now
’Cause she just doing all the shit I did when I was her age
I don’t know how I’m gonna tell her, but her dad’s just afraid
Of her choices, know that I’ve been through it
I just hope I haven’t been the wrong influence
Kanye ends the song by singing the chorus Ty has already crooned a couple times. It’s all about rain clouds releasing their burden, which could be read a lot of different ways in light of recent Kanye events.
Once again the clouds are gathering to release what they held in (Oh, oh-oh, oh, oh-oh, oh)
Once again the clouds are gathering to release what they held in (Oh, oh-oh, oh, oh-oh, oh)
Directed by the D'Innocenzo Brothers, the “Talking/Once Again” music video features close-ups of Ye and Ty and both of their daughters. North West gets her hair braided and looks adorable.
You can read all the lyrics to “Talking/Once Again” on Genius now.
