The cover art for Vultures 2 features Ty Dolla $ign wearing an all-black costume while holding a picture of his older brother, Jabreal Muhammad, also known as Big TC, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder they both deny that he had committed.

[14] West started recording "Can U Be" during the 2016 sessions for his seventh studio album The Life of Pablo, the same year that fellow rapper Travis Scott previewed it with a video of him.

[21] In January 2024, North West wore a T-shirt with an early track list for Vultures 1 that included songs such as "Time Moving Slow", "Promotion", "Dead" and "Take off Your Dress".

[25][26] The instrumentation at the start of Vultures 2 invokes the Deep Note of THX that is also used at the beginning of rapper and record producer Dr. Dre's 2001 (1999); Kanye West previously stated the album's track "Xxplosive" influenced his sound.

[23] The album's opening track, "Slide", begins with a cinematic sound that combines a booming percussion section with organs,[24] alongside THX synths.

[18] "Fried" relies on chants that invoke Vultures 1 single "Carnival",[23][24][27] with lyrics from West threatening people who consider becoming opposed to him and Ty Dolla Sign comparing himself to deceased rapper Tupac Shakur.

[18][27] Future's voice is sequenced and he raps about his involvement with an Instagram model, while Ty Dolla Sign identifies himself as "the new [Hugh] Hef" and rapper Lil Durk engages in a call and response with the singer and West.

[18][26] "Forever Rolling" incorporates clattering drums in its grand production,[30] opening with a verse from West calling out companies that parted ways with him.

[26] A bouncy track with a Jersey club beat, "Bomb" consists of bilingual rapping from Kanye's daughters North and Chicago West, the former of whom repeats greetings in Japanese.

[26] The song is themed around the freedom of Young Thug and mobster Larry Hoover,[18][23][24] marking a rare reference to the criminal justice system from Kanye West on Vultures 2.

The song features a verse from fellow rapper Lil Wayne about women's Brazilian butt lift, as well as a reference to West's rival Taylor Swift.

[18] "Sky City" is driven by lightly strummed electric guitar and changes the song structure from its original leak,[23][28][30] while Ty Dolla Sign harmonizes the chorus of the Five Stairsteps' single "O-o-h Child" (1970).

[26] West raps incoherently on the song as he compares his brand YZY to liberation from "picking cotton", followed by associate and fellow rapper Cyhi the Prynce envisioning making visits to his ancestors.

Ty Dolla Sign delivers an emotional prayer to his brother Big TC, who harmonizes about the freedom of maintaining his Muslim faith in spite of imprisonment.

[18][26] West shared the cover art for the album through his Twitter account on March 9, 2024, showing a masked figure standing in all-black outfit.

The figure on the cover was revealed to be Ty Dolla Sign and he holds a photo of Big TC, who has the real name of Jabreal Muhammad and has been given a 16-year prison sentence under for a murder that they both insist he did not commit.

[44] Geoff Barrow of English band Portishead responded to the sample of their 2008 single "Machine Gun" on "Field Trip" by expressing disappointment that an artist used the song without permission again, as well as questioning why West can not "write his own beats".

[61] After fans complained about the mixing on Vultures 2 following its release, West announced that updates "will be published in real time", with no specified conclusion to potential revisions to the songs.

"Fried" had a new mix and seemingly unmastered ad-libs (removed the day after), while "Field Trip", "Sky City", "Dead",[31][68][69] and "Time Moving Slow" also received alterations.

[32][74] On March 10, 2024, West and Ty Dolla Sign held a listening party at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, where they played songs from the first two installments of the Vultures series on a stage with minimal lighting and backing from smoke.

[77] The event was held at the city's Delta Center and alongside Vultures 2, songs were played from West's fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) and The Life of Pablo.

[78] On August 11, 2024, West previewed his unreleased collaboration "Alpha Omega" (fan-titled "Cash Cow") with British rapper Skepta at a private listening event in Los Angeles.

[86] The crowd chanted "Fuck Adidas" during the event, as West acknowledged by raising his middle finger and then quipping if this was okay in reference to China's strict laws against obscenity.

[27] Providing a similar review at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel Bras Nevares said that the album's "greatest flaw is its hollow execution" and was disappointed with the lack of effort, unoriginality, and unclear purpose.

He described the unfinished demos as seeming like "a scam tracklist" uploaded to a YouTube channel and found the lyrical themes poorly written, although he commended Ty Dolla Sign for being a more skilled performer than West at points and elements of the production.

[23] Writing for Rolling Stone, Mosi Reeves compared Vultures 2 to "second helpings of a memorably distasteful meal" and questioned unfollowing West's "shitty content", considering aspects like the demos and lyricism to be typical of him.

[26] For HipHopDX, Sam Moore commented that West and Ty Dolla Sign have not established any chemistry, delivering a combination of "half-completed ideas and dueling demotapes".

[25] Even though Moore appreciated Ty Dolla Sign's vocals, he found the singer to seem anonymous and criticized West's lyricism; he finalized that the album is completely "devoid of substance".

[24] The Guardian's Ben Beaumont-Thomas said that Vultures 2 follows West's "tried and tested current blend of edgelording and emotional candour", with the confusion echoed in the beats and musical style for going from clever details to mindless ones.

[28] In a mixed review, Billboard's Saponara asserted that the album has potential to be great and highlighted West's avant-garde production, although found it to be held back by instances of "sound quality issues, unfinished thoughts or portions when Ye's rapping dips".