Ye’s Donda 2 streaming debut could be short-lived.
Mere hours after the lost 2022 project hit streamers on Tuesday night, Ye (formerly Kanye West) revealed that he received threats of legal action from managers of producers who contributed to the album over financial compensation.
“Free Maiden tried to charge me 3 million dollars for these beats from people I showed how to make beats to now he going to take down Donda 2,” Ye wrote to X. “Managers.”
Free Maiden appears to be the manager of producers BoogzDaBeast and Brian “AllDay” Miller, who worked on Donda 2 tracks including “530,” “Broken Road,” “City of Gods,” “Get Lost,” “We Did It Kid,” “Too Easy” and “First Time.”
“We did not & do not consent to the usage of our work for Donda 2 or ANY Ye project,” an alleged text from Free Maiden read in Ye’s tweet. “He’s owed us $ for almost 3 years now, has refused to pay, yet keeps stealing our work.”
Ye continued to threaten that the tracks would be taken down: “The lawyers are getting this taken down within the hour.”
It’s unclear if the threats have been executed on the streaming side just yet. The project appears to still be present on YouTube Music, Spotify and iTunes.
West premiered the album with a listening party at Miami’s LoanDepot Park in February 2022, but many of the tracks were unfinished and never landed on streaming services, as Ye focused on releasing Donda 2 exclusively through the Stem Player.
The 18-track album is executive produced by Future and features Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, Migos, Baby Keem, Jack Harlow and more.
Billboard has reached out to Ye’s reps and Spotify for comment. This is a developing story.
