I won't blame you if you forgot, but there was a time period if Kanye West's life where he was actually focused on his musical career. Throughout his appearances at nearly every important event and relationship with Kim Kardashian, it's easy to forget this guy was once putting out quality music. Kanye took a slight break from his partying and was able to announce the group effort of G.O.O.D. Music, a group Kanye has steadily put together and consists of Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Pusha T, Q-Tip, Mos Def, John Legend, Kid Cudi, and Common. Needless to say, the Internet bloggers shit themeselves before Kanye was able to release a name for the project, and basically crowned the album the best of 2012.
With the star filled cast, Kanye had loads of potential during the recordings. Instead having Q-Tip or Mos Def on the album, we met a man named Chief Keef. This project had insane hype from the world of hip-hop, and with genius artist Kanye West at the helms, and a plethora of deadly mc's at his disposal how could things go wrong.
With all the hype behind this album, was it able to live up?
1. To the World (Kanye West and R. Kelly)
The date for the album was pushed back to the point that is was no where even near summer , this was Kanye first time addressing the world and apologizing. Kanye lets us know he doesn't care about us by sticking his middle finger to the world. The most offensive part of the song though, is how horrible it is. R. Kelly has obviously lost his mind and displays some of the worst lyrics of the album, singing,"the world is a couch, bitch I'm Rick James." Kanye's verse isn't terrible, but you won"t remember anything about it ten seconds after its over. Overall, the opening track sounds antagonistic (for no apparent reason) and starts the album off horribly. Good job
2. Clique (Kanye West, Big Sean, & Jay Z)
Big Sean, who I usually can't stand, doesn't sound bad on his verse, but gets ripped apart by Jay and Kanye. Kanye sounds just as good as he did on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and flows nicely over his own beat. It wasn't hard to tell this was going to get overplayed by the radio, which made it hard give an unbiased review. Honestly, this is a pretty good song that I would much rather hear on the radio than Trinidad James. Nice recovery from the last track.
3. Mercy (Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, & 2 Chainz)
At this point, you already know this song and there's not much I'm going to try to do to mold your opinion. If you're still curious, then just know I liked this song for the most part. Still, there are many problems with the track: this is exactly why I don't like Big Sean, and 2 chainz is still horrible. If Big Sean is going to continue to get the opening verses to all these songs, then this is going to be a long review. With that being said, Kanye and Pusha T sounds good and after much thought, I've decided that I do like the weird ass sample at the beginning and end. Just don't fool yourself into thinking she's saying any words.
4. New God Flow (Kanye West, Pusha T, & Ghostface Killah
Another strong effort from the group. Ghostface sounds good over Kanye's beat. Ye sampled "Mighty Healthy" off ghostfaces Supreme Clientele album, which just happens to be one of my favorite Ghostface songs, so this song obviously fails in comparison. Pusha T also sounds the best he has all album and completely makes this song his bitch. Kanye's verse isnt any good and ultimately crushes the crazy momentum created to none other than Pusha T. Have no fear, Ghostface picks up the slack and lays down an incredible verse that's the best of the album. So far, this is easily the best track of the album.
5. The Morning (Raekwon, Common, Pusha T, 2 Chainz, Cyhi the Prince, Kid Cudi, & D'Banj
So apparently Kanye was a big Wu-Tang fan growing up or maybe he just wanted to appeal to an older fanbase. Nevertheless, Ghostface's buddy Raekwon serves as the second wu member to be featured on the project. After a prolonged introduction, the song starts and the chef proceeds to rip up the track. Everyone's rhymes just seem to click hear and deliver another memorable track. Kanye's beat is pretty good but nothing you're going to freak over. This was a great one two punch to go with "New God Flow".
6. Cold (Feat. Dj Khaled and DJ Pharris)
Whether you call this "cold" or "theraflu", its not going to change the fact that this is terrible. I feel like I've known about this song forever, and it hasn't gotten any better. If I remember correctly, this was released around the same time as "Mercy", which always overshadowed "cold". That last statement just about sums up how bad this song was, because "Mercy" was NOT a very good song. If you're still interested, the two DJs make the song much worse and kind of give this a mixtape feel. They do all they can to drag the song out as long as they can because there's not very much actual rapping going on here. I have no redeeming quality to give you.
7. Higher (The Dream, Pusha T, Ma$e, & Cocaine '80s)
Having an R&B type of track has become increasingly popular among current artists today. Most hip-hop heads and fans of generic mainstream music will scold at this idea because of their reluctance to listen to anything other than our beloved genre. I for one have always enjoyed the idea of mixing two genres of music, but this song is pretty damn horrible. Pusha T and Ma$e do have actual verses but there not any good. Not to be outdone, the chorus is incredibly boring and generic. I don't care how open minded you are, I highly advise staying away from this nonsense.
8. Sin City (John Legend, Travis Barker, Teyana Taylor, Cyhi the Prince, & Malik Yusef)
Holy shit this is bad. This has no reference to the city of Las Vegas , but is actually a chance to give one of the earliest members of G.O.O.D. music a chance to shine: poet Malik Yusef. I like that Kanye is trying to give the respect to his early member, but there is no way this is what he was going for. Even the likes of John Legend couldn't save this one. This album is going downhill very fast.
9. The One (Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, & Marsha Ambrosius)
Any type of hope the first half of this album gave me has been flushed down the toilet. Just look at the names on this track. This was made to get radio play, make money, and nothing else. Thankfully, Kanye's master plan didn't work out, as I've never heard this shit on the radio. (Please let me know if you have) Everyone, including the great Tity boi, sounds terrible. I'm done ranting.
10. Creepers (Kid Cudi)
Kid Cudi gets a solo effort here, which I will admit is a smart move considering Scott's growing popularity. For me, Cudi has always been one of my least favorite musical acts. Sure, he's had his moments, but he also tried to pass that WZRD shit for entertainment. Here, we get an uninterested cudi song that sounds like it belonged on Man On the Moon II. Not a good song at all. I'm begging for this album to come to a close
11. Bliss (Teyana Taylor & John Legend)
Kanye uses a this spot to record another R&B track. I just don't understand how the hell Teyana Taylor gets two appearances and Q-Tip and Mos Def are completely left off the album. Ugg, I am beyond frustrated right now. This song obviously never had a chance with me, but it's still bad and unmemorable. 1 track to go.
12. I Don't Like (Kanye West, Pusha T, Chief Keef, Big Sean, & Jadakiss)
Kanye outdoes himself on this. After 11 tracks I wasn't expecting a good song to finish the show. I was still disappointed after this nonsense. Just as you thought the album couldn't get any worse, we all met a man named Chief Keef. I'll keep saying it, the fact that this guy made the final cut and Q-Tip didn't truly makes me think that hip-hop is dead. Everyone disappoints here and the instrumental is easily the worst on the entire album. I have no idea what was going through Kanye's mind when he signed Chief Keef, because I didn't understand a word this kid said. Maybe he bribed Kanye with a signed Kim Kardashian sex tape. Whatever it was, it got the job done as Chief Keef stars in the closing song of what is arguably the biggest album of the year. If you enjoyed this then go ahead and just buy the damn album because you obviously don't value my opinion
Rating 2/5
The ONLY reason this album get two stars is because of the first 5 songs. (aside from "To the World") Trust me, I wasn't expecting anything good here and I still consider this to be a major disappointment. I don't completely fault Kanye and do acknowledge that he was trying to be innovation. I appreciate the thought but this just isn't any good. As for the rest of the G.O.O.D. music crew, you all can just stop rapping and enjoy the incredible amount of money this album made. If you're wondering whether or not to buy this then there is nothing I can do for you because I think I've made myself pretty clear. Look forward to more '90s reviews because this took a lot out of me.