When I first heard that Kanye
West had assembled his own “Dream Team,” I was intrigued. Kanye is one of the most talented artists in the
music industry, regardless of genre. He
is often highly inappropriate (see Taylor Swift fiasco) and funny at the same
time. Regardless of whether you like
Kanye, it is difficult not to respect his immeasurable talent and contributions
to hip hop. His roster is strong, as it
includes: Pusha T, Big Sean, Common, Cyhi The Prynce and a host of other
talented artists. In my opinion, his
roster rivals, if not bests, Maybach Music Group’s roster featuring Rick Ross,
Wale and Meek Mill. With those two
groups battling for the top spot, hip hop is becoming fun again. It will never be as competitive as it was in the
mid 90’s, but this is truly a step in the right direction.
THE GOOD:
Cruel Summer’s production is stellar. It was clear to me after listening to the first song that I was in for a treat. Not only does the album feature G.O.O.D. music artists, but it also features other heavy hitting artists such as: R. Kelly, Mase, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, John Legend and many more. I like many songs on the album, but I will only discuss three.
The song titled “Clique” is an energetic collaboration between Jay-Z, Kanye, and Big Sean. This is the song that you will here over and over again if you frequent night clubs, lounges or bars. Jay-Z absolutely went crazy on his verse, but Kanye more than held his own. Some would say that it is knock on Jay-Z. I disagree, and think that it is a testament to Kanye’s ability and growth as an artist. I usually select a favorite verse or line from a song, but on this song, I really love the hook. I feel like it describes my closest friends and I. The hook is: “Ain’t nobody f**king with my clique, clique, clique, clique, clique, Ain’t nobody fresher than my muthf**king clique, clique, clique, clique, clique, As I look around , they don’t do it like my clique, clique, clique, clique, clique and all these bad [women], man, they want the, they want the.” I predict that this song will be in heavy rotation as “homecoming” season approaches.
“The Morning” featuring Raekwon, Pusha T, Common, Two Chainz, Cyhi the Prince and Kid Cudi is another one of my favorite songs. The beat is full of energy and I had to replay the song at least four or five times because I found myself focusing too much on the production and not the lyrics. Each artist performed how I expected that they would. But, Cyhi rapped my favorite verse on the song. His verse sticks out to me because he has a message for his detractors and conspiracy theorists. He raps: “ I hope the people are listening, I could never sell my soul, I gave it back to God at my Christening, it’s tickeling when I hear what haters be whispering, what makes you think Illuminati would ever let some ni**as in . . . “ Kanye did his thing on the track as well.
Although I had previously heard “New God Flow” by Kanye and Pusha T, the addition of Ghostface Killah really made the track standout to me. It almost feels like featuring Ghost on the track was the right thing to do because they sampled his voice. Ghost has always been one of my favorite artists because of his immense talent and creativity. I often find myself laughing outloud at some of his rhymes and his verse on this song was no different. He rhymed: “ I got soccer moms paying for c**k, Asians getting it from behind while they are cleaning their woks . . . “
Cyhi really stepped his lyrical game up on this album, and I think he will be featured more in the future. I thought it was a nice touch that Kanye included Mase and R. Kelly on his album as well.
THE bad
Inevitably, critics will have something negative to say about an album. In this case, I think the album should have had more songs. And I also think it could have included more songs that had not previously been released.
the ugly
Kid Cudi’s song “Creepers” is by far the worst song on the album. If the album has a blemish, it must be “Creepers.” It just seems to be out of place.
Overall, the album is really
good. I am excited to hear Kanye’s new
solo album because it is clear that he has not lost any momentum.
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Peace
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