Review: G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer

BY ANDREW MORALES

Rap legend Kanye West is known for creating amazing, iconic songs that everybody knows and loves. His impressive album history includes Graduation, College Dropout, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. West just released his new masterpiece, The G.O.O.D. Music Album Cruel Summer.  This new album is possibly West’s greatest project yet; in addition to writing and rapping, he also produces all of the songs. Every song is worth replaying nonstop, and there are great collaborations with new artists.

The Cruel Summer album shows off Kanye West’s ability to produce incredible songs that have great meaning. In the track “New God Flow” Kanye raps, “From working at Mcdonalds, barely paying the car note, he even got enough to get his mama a condo.”  His lyrics express how he has become a successful artist who never forgot about his mother, the woman who supported him through it all.  In the song “To the World,” the message is that some fans will attack an artist and stop listening to them; but after they hear the artist’s new songs they beg for a come back. These two songs prove that not only can Kanye West produce killer beats, but he can also write songs that have significance.

West put several collaborations with other top artists on this album, making it better as a whole by combining everyone’s various styles. For example, in the song “The Morning” featuring Raekwon, Common, Pusha T, 2 Chainz, Cyhi the Prynce, Kid Cudi, and Dbanj it’s interesting to hear how these talented rappers can come together in one song.

In every track, it seems that the theme is how spectacular West is. In the song “New God Flow” West raps, “Champion god flow I guess that’s a feeling only me and Lebron know.” He’s comparing his success to that of Lebron James, which comes off as a little egotistical.  West acknowledges the fact that he’s the best rapper out there, but he also doesn’t fail to mention his past struggles and what he went through to be where he is today.

Cruel Summer is a great album. Kanye West is truly a one of a kind artist who can write, rap, and produce beyond belief. Cruel Summer’s catchy lyrics and outstanding collaborations make it a perfect rap album. I recommend this it to any Kanye West fan, or to anyone that just likes good music.