Cruel Summer Leaks, Yeezy Delivers

*Three things to consider before I begin!* One, this is NOT a review. If you review something after hearing it a couple times, you should take shotgun bullets to the face. That is NOT a sexual innuendo. These are merely initial thoughts, a simple weighing-in by moi, on the part of KWT. Two, I feel mildly bad about listening to this a week before it's to be released. Name all major albums that received retail releases in the past few years, and I guarantee I purchased them when they came out and then, and ONLY then, listened to them. To support the artist, and because I love having the album in my hand and all that shit. Three, if the US Government is reading this, I did NOT participate in any illegal downloading. Malik sent me a copy. He's always leaking shit.

Now that that shit is out of the way, let me assure you that the Based Yeezus delivers. It's shitty that so much of the conversation and hoopla around the album concerns that notion, but I guess that's what happens when your discography looks the way Kanye's does. Ye is synonymous with albums that blow the roof off your head and explosively affect the rap landscape, that shit is fact. Not much anyone can do about that, the pressure is there for a reason. People expect excellence from the G.O.O.D general, the same way you expect to be disappointed when you cop a (recent era) Wayne project, or how you expect to get financially gang-banged by your university in any and all ways they can dream up. (Not bitter).

But there it is; before we dive into this shit, I'm drawing a line in the sand and letting everyone know that I'm firmly in the Yeezy Delivered Again category. Tell that to all hating pussies on Twitter, and all the moronic  clowns currently slitting their wrists on KanyeToThe. They deserve shotgun shots to the face, and this time I mean that as as sexual innuendo. After the jump, a spoiler-ish free evaluation of how the G.O.O.D people fared.

I refuse to do this track-by-track, because those pieces typically strike me as dumb and infuriating, and plus I don't want to fuck with your head and create pre-conceptions about each track. So I'm just gonna ramble on-and-on about the members of the squad... that sounds de/dis/in/anti/non-infuriating. 

First off, despite all the jokes on the Tweeters, CyHi da Prynce showed out on here. For reals. Is there anything as essential or eye-catching as his "So Appalled" verse? No, but that's a high-standard and it was a huge look, and frankly Coach doesn't give him any clutch chances like that here. Still, he stands out, and that's a testament to his voice, presence and abilities. The Prince has been waiting on the bench, but he'll get his chance to shine, the same way Sean is. With what he was given, CyHi did his thing. As a side-note, I actually like that "sandwich/sand-witch" line, so fuck you. 

I'm just gonna throw in some affiliated G.O.O.D girls... you know, for the kids

Big Sean, ahem, the Biggest Sean is wiling out on the game right now, between that Detroit tape and his HIGH-profile spots here. He's on "Clique" and "Mercy", the latter of which dominated the summer, while the former is just starting to cook up, as well as "Don't Like". Those are pretty much the three big bangers on the album, so kudos to him! Yeezy is finally using all his cultural pull to give Sean a G.O.O.D marketing push. His fourth feature on the album is on the song "The One", and it sounds B-E-A-U-tiful.

In terms of other dudes on the label that are getting the promotional focus, Pusha T gets five spots on the album, three of which everyone's already heard. His other two are on "The Morning" (absolute, face-scrunching fire), and "Higher", which features bananas-ass production from Hit-Boy, and continues the trend of the Clipster teaming up with Terius Nash. Pusha stays winning, and just like Sean, is enjoying the type of publicity one can only get from teaming up with Yeezy. Can't wait for the solo joint.

Last of the "major" players, KiD CuDi gets his own song... aaaand it makes sense why he did. That's all I'm saying. 2 Chainz, though not officially G.O.O.D, gets three shots from Coach here. One being that splashy "Mercy" verse, then another one on the star-studded "The Morning" (probably my favorite record as of this writing, and also proof that when you're as dope as Kanye, you can just start sampling your own shit) and his last one on "The One". The Kanye/2 Chainz muse theory is further reinforced by the fact that Tity Boi pops up all over the album, dropping adlibs and shit. Can't (and won't) forget about Common, who gets a single verse on the album, and comes through with some hard-ass, swaggering-all-over-motherfuckers type shit. Blah blah blah he should have got more shine, but it's probably better keeping his mic time short. It makes it that much doper. (Also, his new movie looks CRAZY).

You don't like John Legend? He's not worried...

In terms of the minor league fellas and fellettes, John Legend does what John Legend does, and also notably teams up with Teyana Taylor for low-key one of the best cuts on the album. Truly, truly dope shit. Outside of sending me my Cruel Summer copy, Malik Yusef appears on "Sin City", a dense record that I still need time to unravel and get my head around. Who else am I forgetting... oh yeah, D'Banj happens... in the form of a hook that's dope, and has me intrigued for what's to come from him. 

As for Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def, who proved during the G.O.O.D Friday run that what he brings to the team is necessary, and one-of-a-kind? He's nowhere to be seen here, and neither is Q-Tip. And Mr. Hudson, who probably has at least three more Billboard-dominating hooks in him (a la "Young Forever")? Also a no-show. I guess Ye likes making hits the hard way (see: the chorus on "Mercy"). I can't remember anybody else on the roster, and if I gotta look you up then you just gotta be more memorable.

Finally, Kanye Weset. He features prominently on ALL the shit you've already heard ("Cold" is still so tough), as well as "The One". It's easy to write off songs that have already been released, but we really shouldn't. And if you do, it only helps the album years down the road, in the hindsight factor. When I look back on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I don't feel bitter about how I'd already heard most of the major rapping looks, like I did when it dropped. Nope, I think about how ridiculous a combination of songs Ye came with, and how he rapped his ass off. Your bitterness will fade, and you'll realize that on top of putting this whole wacky circus together, Kanye West did his thing on this album.

Cruel Summer is here folks, and rest assured, Yeezy delivered. 

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