A freelance producer has sued Kanye West and his Yeezy label in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming he was never paid for creating AI-generated vocal models used on two albums — Vultures 2 and Bully.

The producer, filing as a John Doe, alleges that Ye hired him on 1 August 2024 on an emergency basis, two days before Vultures 2 dropped, to help finish the album under extreme time pressure. According to the complaint, he created at least 13 custom AI voice models and generated more than 400 individual vocal tracks. Five tracks on Vultures 2 include his contributions, he says. He also claims to have begun work on Bully in October 2024, co-writing two tracks that were commercially released. Rolling Stone

The lawsuit asserts that Ye and Yeezy acknowledged his contributions and told him they were updating streaming platforms to reflect his work. They later offered him a master buyout — a lump-sum payment in exchange for ownership of the recordings — but, the producer says, never actually paid him for the work itself. The complaint brings claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, violations of state and local freelance-worker protections, and California's Unfair Competition Law. He is seeking at least $110,000 in compensatory damages across seven commercially released tracks, plus double damages under the Los Angeles Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance. Rolling Stone

This is not the first time payment disputes have circled the Vultures albums. In December 2024, Billboard reported that more than ten producers who worked on the Vultures records had not been paid. An attorney for several of those producers described the situation as "a mess." Billboard

The Vultures project has drawn legal challenges from other directions as well. In February 2026, Ye was sued over an allegedly unauthorised sample on the Vultures 2 track "530." Billboard Days before Bully's March 2026 release, he settled a separate copyright lawsuit filed by Swedish artist SWSH. Forbes He had also settled a lawsuit brought by three rappers in April 2026. Billboard According to Billboard, Ye has faced 12 copyright infringement lawsuits since 2019. Forbes Most recently, in July 2026, he settled a sexual assault lawsuit filed by his former assistant Lauren Pisciotta. USA Today

What sets this latest complaint apart is the AI angle. The plaintiff's account of building 13 custom voice models and generating hundreds of vocal takes places the case squarely in territory the industry is still scrambling to regulate — the intersection of artificial intelligence, music production, and fair compensation for freelance work.

Ty Dolla $ign, Ye's collaborator on the Vultures albums, told Billboard that Vultures 1 was "a very expensive album," recorded across multiple locations including Las Vegas. The Root How much of that expense was meant to reach the producers and engineers doing the work is now a question for the courts.

Neither Ye nor Yeezy has publicly responded to the lawsuit.