Album Review: Cruel Summer Definitely Has Hits, but Don’t Expect Cinematic Excellence

It’s that time again. Kanye West drops another album and the world stands at its feet, ready for lives to be changed and styles to be picked on. For the next month (at least) people all over the world will spit quotables verbatim on the train, in cars, and on the airplane while drinking champagne. Indeed, it has been a cruel summer. We’ve seen so many new faces, and Hip-Hop has encountered so many sub-genres, but even though most playlists are filled with undiscovered talent, Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music still find away to keep Hip-Hop purists happy, while satisfying the hipsters. On Cruel Summer, fans will be satisfied but, be warned, it’s not the classic ‘Ye album you’ve been waiting for.

Kanye’s career has always pushed Hip-Hop’s aesthetic as far as it can go into the highest realm of pop culture. Cruel Summer paints that picture, yet doesn’t carry the angst that most Kanye albums do. After all, it is a compilation. It doesn’t offer a microscope into the lives of the black elite, like Watch The Throne or employ the deep emotional rollercoaster that was MBDTF, but it does have its moments. It’s an album full with the thoughts and feelings of G.O.O.D Music team, not the introspective broodings of Mr. West.

Of course, Kanye’s outdone himself in multiple ways. He’s added more artists to the roster including 2 Chainz, Pusha-T and Teyana Taylor. Majorly draped in ultra bouncy, synth heavy production, the album’s 12 cuts have been touched by some of the games youngest, cutting edge producers including Travi$ Scott, Hit Boy, Hudson Mohawke, Lifted and Million $ Mano. He’s also grabbed the assistance from longtime collaborator Mike Dean and former Cash Money beat maven, Manny Fresh, to perfect the southern bass.

Bangers like “Clique,” “New God Flow” and “Mercy” provide the bouncy blueprint for the structure of the album. While Big Sean proves his doubters wrong on both “Clique” and “Mercy,” flowing confidently with Hip-Hop legends, and 2 Chainz spits what could be the most memorable verses of 2012, Pusha-T broadens his coke flow on “New God Flow” pushing Kanye to his most passionate verse in a hot minute. Each of these tracks extend trap-rap to a church auditorium, welcoming a street-resurrection for the pop charts. It’s also exciting to see ‘Ye’s camp reach out to Ghostface, Raekwon, Jadakiss, and Ma$e for a lyrical introduction to the new generation of rap listeners.

The album slows down in between bangers for a couple ballads that help balance out the swag. Cudi carries his signature tempo on the passionate “Creepers,” while Marsha Ambrosius sings her heart out on “The One.” ‘Ye spits, “It’s been hard preaching to the slums lately/ So I had to put the church on the drums baby.” Teyana Taylor’s vocals are a great addition to the album, especially on “Bliss,” a duet with John Legend.

While most of Cruel Summer is a cohesive sound, the addition of street singles “Cold” and “I Don’t Like (Remix)” make it feel more like a well thought out mixtape rather than an album. Both were powerful street tracks, but their place on the album feels more abstract. Although “I Don’t Like” featuring Chief Keef got much burn this summer, it’s not exactly a song we really expected to reach the tracklisting. Without visible feature’s from Mos Def or Q-tip, and only one verse from Common, the album leaves much more to be said. Truthfully, last year’s G.O.O.D. Friday songs had much more depth. Cruel Summer is great to dance to, but lacks the strong theme oriented cinema of West’s previous work.