GOOD Music - Cruel Summer

Having spent a few years assembling artists to his GOOD Music label, Kanye West chose this summer to release a group album showcasing the talent acquired. Unfortunately, the album is hit and miss, and most of the hits are due to Kanye himself or guests from outside of the GOOD Music roster. Such is his charisma and reference-heavy rhymes, West is more often than not the highlight of the seven tracks he features on, unintentionally overshadowing the roster he tries to promote simply through greater talent.

The album starts with To The World, an R-Kelly song with Kanye verse. I saw this collabo and thought of Jay-Z and R-Kelly's unsuccessful The Best of Both Worlds but the song is a strong start to the album, complete with Kanye referring to himself as 'the God of rap'. Next up are the singles, Clique, with Kanye, Big Sean and Jay-Z and Mercy with Big Sean, Pusha T, Kanye and 2 Chainz. Don't let the name fool you, Mercy is actually a bragging song with heavy references to the famous Lamborghini model. I'm surprised the whole album isn't sponsored by Lamborghini with the absurd number of references to Aventadors, Murcielagos or plain 'Lambos'. New God Flow is the best track on the album, finding Pusha T and Kanye with decent verses but more importantly an appearance from Ghostface Killah. 

All in all the album seems in-cohesive especially when compared to Kanye's solo material, Common gets less than 16 bars in total and one of John Legend's appearances is for about 20 seconds via a talkbox. Most critically though, Kanye is let down by the roster he is trying to promote. Big Sean and 2 Chainz are the album's main beneficiaries with four and three appearances respectively but they don't take the opportunity to stand out. All they do is leave you begging for more Ghostface, Raekwon or Kanye. Part of the problem is their mimicking of Kanye with regards to bragging on cars, clothes and money. Sorry, how many albums, let alone platinum albums have you had each? Also, someone needs to tell Sean to stop referring to himself as B.I.G., that jersey is retired. Pusha T is more miss than hit when compared to his hot verses on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

The album starts well but fades away into mediocrity and by the time you reach the later tracks you have moved so far away from the promising start that you lose interest and the artists at the end, Kid Cudi and John Legend can't reignite the enthusiasm.

Best guest: Ghostface

Stand-out tracks: New God Flow, Clique

Best bars: (New God Flow - Ghostface)

600, Cuban cigar and the big tub
Medallion on, ducks soak on the French cut
With soap suds on the Mac-11
My big lion haven't ate since 12, it's half to 7
We feed the nigga like 40 chickens
His tail wag when I send him a bag with just one victim
Uh-huh! Now let me show you what my closet on
Gems in the display case, call it a rock-a-thon
Ock, I got soccer moms prayin for cock
Asians get it from behind while they cleanin they wok

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