Key Takeaways
- Digital Nas announced plans to retire from music, claiming his YZY deal left him with "0 royalties" and no publishing from his work with Kanye West.
- The producer publicly asked Ye to call him after YZY staff allegedly stopped responding, saying unpaid contributions to songs including "Hurricane" and "Carnival" left him unable to support his family.
- He later apologized for airing the dispute online, said it was "getting handled," and announced a break from social media.
Digital Nas has spoken out about the deserved credit he believes he hasn't received from his collaborations with Kanye West.
On Saturday (October 3), the producer announced in a seres of since-deleted Instagram Story posts that he plans to retire from the music industry, along with claiming that his deal with YZY left him without royalties or publishing.
He also shared a list of tracks that he contributed to across Ye's albums Donda, Donda 2, and both Vultures installments. "I know I’m like an annoying little brother but call my phone big bro I really gotta talk to you about sum real life stuff I'm going thru," the producer wrote.
"I hit everybody at @yzy and no one will put me in touch with you so I feel like this is the only way," he continued.
After claiming that he never received royalties or publishing for songs like "Hurricane" and "Carnival," the latter of which Digital Nas called out last November, the producer added that he's unable to financially take care of his family.
More than 10 producers who contributed to Vultures 1 and Vultures 2 did not have signed agreements with Ye, which prevented them from attaining collecting fees, royalties and publishing income, according to a 2024 Billboard report.
Later on Saturday, Digital Nas appeared to show regret for posting about his alleged royalty dispute, apologizing to his followers for his rant and sharing that he was going to get off social media for a while.
"Should've kept this private. I was impatient. I was getting no responses," he wrote. "It's getting handled now."
