A freelance producer suing under the name John Doe sued Kanye West in August, claiming the rapper hired him on an emergency basis two days before the release of "Vultures 2" and again for this year's "Bully," then refused to compensate him for nearly two years despite repeated demands.
According to the lawsuit, first reported by Rolling Stone, Doe was enlisted on August 1, 2024 — two days before "Vultures 2" was scheduled to drop — to provide musical production and vocal production on five songs from the album. He says he recorded his own vocals as source material, then created 13 custom AI voice models and more than 400 individual vocal generations, plus an original AI vocal overlay that became a core production element on one of the final tracks. Ye's team apparently liked the work: Doe says he was called back later that year to work on "Bully," contributing more AI vocal production and songwriting, and ending up on two tracks from that album.
The producer alleges that despite "nearly two years of demands," West "refused to compensate" him for his services, failed to "provide any written contracts as required by law," and failed to credit him on digital streaming platforms for his creative contributions. The suit brings claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violations of laws protecting freelancers, among others. It also notes that West acknowledged the contributions and offered the producer a "master buyout" — but no payment followed. The producer is seeking at least $110,000 in damages for his work across the seven tracks, plus penalties under Los Angeles freelancer-protection law.
The lawsuit has reignited a long-simmering debate among Ye's fans: whether artificial intelligence was used on "Vultures 2." Listeners have speculated for years that AI vocals appear on tracks like "Sky City" and "Field Trip." After that criticism, Ye's team emphasized that AI would not be used on "Bully" — a pledge the Doe lawsuit now directly contradicts, alleging AI vocal work on both albums.
West has not publicly commented on the suit. The case adds to a crowded docket of legal troubles for the rapper, who is simultaneously fighting the Donda Academy discrimination trial — and it raises thorny questions the music industry is still struggling to answer: who creates, who gets credited, and who gets paid when the vocals on a commercial release were generated by machines trained on a producer's own voice.