Kanye West has finally gotten a bit of good news surrounding the embattled Vultures 1 album, with reports emerging that a lyric from the album recently saved a skier’s life.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Mike Petkov from San Francisco, CA, got lost while he was up in the mountains in Kirkwood, but he happened to be listening to the album while he was lost.
“I thought I was getting into one of those cool backside areas where, if I got stuck, I’d be fine,” he explained. “I purposefully didn’t look at the trail map too much because I’ve had a lot of fun exploring [ski areas] and seeing where the day takes me.”
Unfortunately, he lost his cell service along the way. When he finally was able to get reception, he sent his friends the coordinates to his location — but he couldn’t get rescued until the next day.
That’s when he began playing “Beg Forgiveness” from the Vultures 1 album, and explained how he kept repeating, “You’ve gone too far and you should hang your head in shame/ Don’t die/ Don’t die” to stay alive.
The next day, he was rescued. Petkov said he doesn’t blame anyone but himself for his predicament.
“I don’t blame Kirkwood. I should have at least had a little bit of a plan and an outlook of the resort,” he said to the outlet. “And then, just don’t YOLO too much.”
Not all of Ye’s lyrics from Vultures 1, however, have had a positive reception.
In an Instagram Story post that dropped on Saturday (February 10), the estate of disco legend Donna Summer — who died in 2012 — said that West didn’t obtain permission for the use of “I Feel Love,” the 1977 classic track co-written by Summer, producer Giorgio Moroder, and Peter Bellotte.
“Kanye West asked permission to use Donna Summer song, ‘I Feel Love,’ [but] he was denied,” the post read. “He changed the words, had someone re-sing it, or used AI but it’s ‘I Feel Love’…copyright infringement!”
The offending song in question is “Good (Don’t Die)” from the Vultures 1 album.
The story posted by the Summer estate tagged Ozzy Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, in the post — seeming to allude to the Black Sabbath singer’s similarly lodged complaint against West, in which he accused the rapper of using a live sample of “Iron Man” after being denied the right to do so.
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign also allegedly failed to receive permission from the Backstreet Boys to use the anthem “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” for their new song of nearly the same name.