1. To The World - 4/5 It's an awkward auto-tuned R. Kelly dominated song. It almost feels like what Kanye tried to pull off with the first song, "Dark Fantasy", on his latest masterpiece of an album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". The production quality is top notch, but it seems almost kind of lazy in terms of originality lyrics wise.
2. Clique - 5/5 Big Sean starts the song off with the chorus, followed by one of the better verses I've heard from him, he performs the chorus, but it seems kind of lazy "Clique, Clique, Clique, Clique, Clique, ain't no one fresher than my clique." Jay-Z follows Sean with a great verse, he seems to feel right at home with this beat. Kanye lays down the last verse, but it seems to go on for a little too long, it's not bad, as it's comparable to Jay's verse, he just got a little carried away.
3. Mercy - 3/5 The lead single off the album comes off a little bittersweet. Kanye's verse stands out as the best, while Big Sean continues off his latest mediocre hit "Dance (A$$)". Pusha T's verse starts out quite well after blending into the background. 2 Chainz's flow doesn't match up with the other three rapper's, and turns out to have the worst verse in the song. The beat is pounding and demand's your attention, but once the chorus hits, you realize how mediocre the song really is. It was actually quite disappointing knowing the potential Kanye has, the song does nothing to stand out as one of the better songs as of late, let alone the album.
4. New God Flow - 5/5 Kanye and Pusha team up to make up for their latest commercially successful "Mercy" with "New God Flow". The hook comes courtesy of Ghostface Killah's "Mighty Healthy". The piano beat fits the two rapper's flows very well. Pusha T starts out with two exceptional verses, while Kanye finishes with one verse and a long chanting outro. The song fits together very well, and stands out as one of the better tracks on the album.
5. The Morning - 5/5 The first thing that is almost immediately noticeable about this one is the incredibly original beat. All of the guests on the song do an incredible job, though it's obvious that Raekwon had the best verse. The hook comes in without really any warning, and doesn't stop the song dead, but more like brings it to a weird halt.
6. Cold - 4/5 Cold was a somewhat confusing release. It came out within just a few days of the release of the lead single "Mercy". Kanye goes almost solo in the song, which is for the better. Kanye's flow fits the beat almost flawlessly, the hook blends in perfectly with his rapping. Kanye also throws in a few very memorable lines and DJ Khaled finishes the song shouting what seems to be his, as well as other people's addresses like a wild gorilla. It's incredibly annoying, not to mention unneeded. If it weren't for DJ Khaled's part at the end, we'd be looking at a 5 star song.
7. Higher - 3/5 This brings back weird Deja Vu's of T-Pain's latest album "Revolver". For better and worse. The rapping is great like usual, Pusha T does a great job with his verse, though it's short lived. The Dream comes in to put in an awkward T-Pain-esque chorus that fits the song, but still really just doesn't impress anyone.
8. Sin City - 5/5 One of the higher Points of the album. The pounding beat leads into the chorus where Teyana Taylor and John Legend put in a solid hook. The song reminds of Kanye's latest solo album for the better. It's a darker sounding song, where even Malik Yusef says you're not welcome to Sin City.
9. The One - 4/5 This easily could have blended right in with Kanye's original 15 G.o.o.d. Friday singles from before "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". The Piano beat mixes in well with Kanye's slower flow, and the guests and the chorus just give it that G.o.o.d. Friday feel.
10. Creepers - 4/5 Probably the most confusing song on the album. Kid Cudi goes solo on this one, and its for the better, it's a beat that only Kid Cudi could work with. It's a good song but it just doesn't seem to fit in with anything else in the album. I could of seen this one on "Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager"
11. Bliss - 2/5 Another confusing song to go along with "Creepers" and "Don't Like" to end the album on a sour note. When you hear Teyana Taylor and John Legend doing a song together, I'm sure you would imagine a slower serenading type song, and while the lyrics are there, the beat... well not so much. The song is filled with flat horn sounding synthesizer beats that seem to get bored half way through their parts. Both Taylor and Legend do a good job, but the two artists, lyrics, and the beat just turn into a confusing mess of song they just seemed to spill out.
12. Don't Like - 2/5 This was the song that made people start freaking out about Chief Keef? Its an incredibly mediocre, pounding song that seems to be like a love child between "Cold" and "Mercy". Big Sean's verse demands the most attention of the other guests on the track. The song turns into just a failed attempt at making another Mercy-esque song.
Closing Remarks: Cruel Summer is not a bad album by any means, it's just one that can't keep it's focus. Most of the songs are just kind of out there doing their own thing, and they never seem to come together to make a good album. The lack of Qtip and Mos Def was really disappointing, especially seeing that there were places that really could have used them, like I dunno, replacing Don't Like to a song that was actually part of G.o.o.d music in the first place?
FINAL SCORE:
7.5/10