The Vultures were circling on Wednesday after Kanye West suggested he is ready to retire from the music industry. 

The pioneering rapper helped redefine hip-hop throughout the 2000’s and 2010’s, but his legacy has been tarnished by allegations of antisemitism and his vocal support of controversial former US President Donald Trump.

West, 47, is expected to release Vultures 2, the second of three planned albums with Ty Dolla Sign, later this year.

But a recently published text conversation – purportedly between West and fellow rapper Rich The Kid – suggests he is ready to throw in the towel on his 20-year career in music.

News of his potential withdrawal from public life prompted an inevitably mixed response across social media, with die-hard fans urging him to continue while others expressed relief at West’s possible retirement.

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The Vultures were circling on Wednesday after Kanye West suggested he is ready to retire from the music industry

A recently published text conversation – purportedly between West and fellow rapper Rich The Kid – suggests he is ready to throw in the towel on his 20-year career in music

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one follower – evidently unimpressed with West’s recent output – wrote: ‘At least he won’t ruin his discog any more.’

A second added: ‘Oh thank God.’

While a third snapped: ‘Good, he’s washed and just ruining his legacy.’

A fourth commented: ‘Leaving his legacy off with vultures 1 is insane.’

The text from a person believed to be West read: ‘I’m retiring from professional music. Not sure what else to do’

Rich then tried to convince the father-of-four to reconsider his decision, even bringing up the recent success of his Vultures 1 album with rapper Ty Dolla Sign.

‘Retire? Why ? How ? The [people] NEED you the music you & Ty & we have made was the BIGGEST STAMP in culture to this date In 2024,’ he wrote.

Rich was notably featured on West and Ty’s lead single Carnival, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart when it debuted in March.

News of his potential withdrawal from public life prompted an inevitably mixed response across social media, with many followers expressing relief at West’s possible retirement

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His 10th studio album, Vultures 1 (pictured) was released on February 10. Vultures 2 is expected to be released laser this year

The song also marked West’s first number one hit in 13 years – his last being Katy Perry’s 2011 single E.T.

‘Drop Ye about mine & V2 and we do it all over again,’ Rich continued. ‘the kids need you big bra fasho maybe some time to chill buy retiring ain’t it.’

After news of West’s apparent retirement gained traction online, Rich went on to delete the screenshot from his Instagram Story.

This sparked fan speculation that he may have made the post to stir up publicity for his upcoming album, Life’s A Gamble.

As just hours later, Rich returned to Instagram to reveal the release date as well as a peek at the track list that includes a new song with West.

West — who is rumored to have produced Life’s A Gamble with collaborator Ty Dolla Sign — will be featured on track 16, titled Plain Jane.

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Fans speculated that Rich may have made the post to stir up publicity for his upcoming album, Life’s A Gamble, on which West features

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West has two Diamond certified songs — 2007’s Stronger and 2011’s N***as in Paris featuring Jay-Z — and all 10 of his albums have been at least certified Gold