G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer

Kanye West | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 18, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: ISLAND / DEF-JAM
• ASIN: B008RLY1OU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (165 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #57 in Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Pop Rap

Editorial Reviews

Cruel Summer, the musical companion and inspiration for West's acclaimed 7-Screen cinematic experience, is one of the most hotly anticipated albums of the summer. The Cruel Summer film saw its debut in Cannes in May, and drew ecstatic reactions from those in attendance.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 75 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Cruel Summer 3.5 Stars September 18, 2012

By Hip-Hop-Fan2786

Format:Audio CD

It's finally here, G.O.O.D. releases their debut compilation album. If your on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook or Hip Hop sites then you mostly heard some of these joints months ago and you were anticipating the album. Let's get into this track by track review

1. "To the World" (Kanye West and R. Kelly) Kanye & Kells deliver on the opener, R is doing what he wants as he says "The whole world is a couch/ B**** I'm Rick James and I'm not giving a f*** tonight",(Hes referring to the Rick James skit from Dave Chappelles show where he said "F*** yo couch") and Ye drops a dope verse as he takes a swipe at Mitt Romney by saying "I'm just tryna to protect my stacks/ Mitt Romney don't pay tax/ Mitt Romney don't pay no tax". This basically is the not giving a f*** anthem, great track !

2. "Clique" (Kanye West, Jay-Z and Big Sean) These three are just having fun on the Hit-Boy produced track doing their usual boasting, and its a good song nonetheless. Was anybody else surprised when Jay said "I'm talking bossy/ I aint talking Kelis" ? For those who might not of understood the line Kelis had a song out called "Bossy" back in 2006.

3. "Mercy" (Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz) The first single that was released back in April, you all should know this song by now. the hook is very catchy and the production is dope as well.

4. "New God Flow" (Kanye West, Pusha T and Ghostface Killah) This is an updated version, Pusha T and Kanye still have their same verses, which are very good and we get a brand new Ghostface verse which definitely stands out. When you hear that verse from Ghostface you gonna know why people still consider him one of the best still doing it. Kanye West, Boogz & Tapez supplies a great beat on here.

5.... "The Morning" (Raekwon, Pusha T, Common, 2 Chainz, Cyhi the Prynce, Kid Cudi and D'banj) Another great collab, they all drop enjoyable verses and D'banj supplies the hook. This is a stand out track you should check out as well.

6. "Cold" (Kanye West and DJ Khaled) This song was originally called "Theraflu" but we all know that had some Controversy with the title so it got changed to "Way Too Cold", then they changed to just "Cold". Kanye spits "Only n**** I got respect for is Wiz / And I admit I fell in love with Kim around the same time she fell in love with him" and he disses Kims ex husband Kris Humphries for no apparent reason by saying "lucky I ain't had Jay drop him from the team". He plays for Nj Nets, which Jay owns some percentage of.

7. "Higher" (The-Dream, Pusha T, Mase and Cocaine 80s) The beat on here sounds Timbaland inspired, rapper turned pastor turned back rapper Mase is back on the scene and he says "I bumped into Loon he like As-salamu alaykum/ You know I ain't Muslim my n**** I'm about my bacon". I'm not sure what was the point of Dream using auto tune, Pusha on the first verse and Cocaine 80s is last. I'm not too big on this

8. "Sin City" (John Legend, Travis Scott, Teyana Taylor, Cyhi the Prynce and Malik Yusef) Travi$ Scott sets the track off, John Legend sings the bridge, Teyana sings the hook, Cyhi drops a nice verse, and we also get some spoken word from "Malik Yusef. Nice track

9. "The One" (Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Marsha Ambrosius) Marsha gets gangsta on here as she says "Got a pistol on my hip/ And Its gonna be some s***", but besides the hook I don't really have a issue with this joint. The beat is laid back

10. "Creepers" (Kid Cudi) Solo joint by Cudder, you guys should know what to expect here. It was interesting to hear Cudi say "I don't love who I am/ so I'm working on a fix". This was okay but definitely not one of his best

11. "Bliss" (John Legend and Teyana Taylor) Nice R&B track from these two. The chemistry was good and it didn't feel forced.

12. "I Don't Like" (Kanye West, Chief Keef, Pusha T, Big Sean and Jadakiss) The remix to Chief Keef song with everybody telling you what they don't like. This was released back on May and shouldn't even be on here in my opinion.

Overall the album has its good moments but somethings missing. As much as this cd kept getting pushed back, its no reason to leave us with just 12 tracks and four of those were released months ahead of time. I felt it should of had 15 or 16 tracks. Another question I was wondering is why Q-Tip, Mos Def and Mr. Hudson are not on here and they all are signed to G.O.O.D. Music ? . It seems like some of these joints were just sitting around and somebody was like hey lets throw these on the album.. the lack of direction is what hurts it the most. Maybe on the next compilation we'll get a more focused product. Its a solid compilation that I think everyone should at least check it out. Its not a album of the year contender but it should hold you over until the next G.O.O.D. Music release. All the featured artist on here came through and did their thing, 3.5 stars Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great songs, weird layout October 4, 2012

By dustincjames

Format:Audio CD

Beware: You are about to buy a G.O.O.D. music album, not a Kanye West album. Don't go into this thinking you are going to get a Kanye West album, because while he is behind this...these are not all his songs.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I can talk about the album a bit.

Cruel Summer is a good, but weird listen. I say weird not because any of the songs are bad, but because the way the tracklisting was laid out. The first six songs are set up pretty decent, but it's after those songs that, in my opinion, the tracklisting could have used a little bit of a shake up. It seems like whoever chose the order of the songs after the first six did it by putting their iTunes on shuffle, or throwing all the names of the songs in a hat and picking them one by one til they ran out.

The best example of this is sandwiching a song like Bliss between Creepers and I Don't Like. It doesn't make any sense. None of these songs are bad, but they don't belong next to one another on an album. You go from a love song to a thug song and the feeling of listening to those songs next to each other is just strange. With that being said, if you're just buying this to throw on your iPod, or whatever the mp3 player of your choice is, then that's a problem you will never notice.

As for the album's songs I have to so say there are a lot of great ones and a few okay ones. Cruel Summer serves it's purpose as showing off the talent that Kanye West has signed to his album very well. It is one of the better compilations put out by a rapper that I've bought. If you're a fan of any artist featured on this album then grabbing a copy of this is a no brainer because you will enjoy most, if not all, of it.... Overall this album has some really good songs on it, and if you need a new Rap/R&B album to listen to then I suggest you pick this one up because, for the most part, I think you'll be satisfied with your purchase. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Cruel Summer is not a bad album, it's just one that can't keep it's focus. September 18, 2012

By Chris

Format:Audio CD

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 Read more ›