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Cruel Summer (GOOD Music album)

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Untitled

Cruel Summer is a compilation album[2] by recording artists of GOOD Music, released on September 14, 2012, by the record label and Def Jam Recordings. American rapper Kanye West, head of the label, first revealed plans for a label collaborative album in October 2011. The album produced four singles—"Mercy", "Cold", "New God Flow", and "Clique"—that charted on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Upon its release, Cruel Summer received generally lukewarm reviews from music critics, who commended its hubristic style and the tracks featuring West, but found it uneven as an album. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 205,000 copies in its first week. The album also reached the top 10 of charts in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. As of October 21, 2012, Cruel Summer has sold 331,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Background

Kanye West founded the GOOD Music label in 2004.[3] Since the label's inception, multiple acts have been signed to the label, including close collaborators of West such as Big Sean, Common, Kid Cudi, John Legend and Pusha T. West first announced plans for a GOOD Music album in October 2011 via his Twitter account, writing: "GOODMUSIC.THE ALBUM.SPRING2012".[4] Later on May 23, 2012, the title was revealed in part with a film, Cruel Summer, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.[5] The album was originally slated for release on August 7, 2012, but underwent several delays.[6] Pusha T later said he recorded over 20 verses for the album and a song with Big Sean and Common called "Trash Bags" that was left on the cutting room floor.[7]

Release

Cruel Summer was made available to pre-order on the website of the Japanese branch of retail chain HMV on September 1, 2012, revealing the album's track listing as well as each track's respective performers.[8][9] The album was also made available to pre-order on Amazon on September 7, 2012, revealing the lengths of each track.[10]

Singles

"Mercy", a song by Kanye West featuring rappers Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz, was released as the album's lead single on April 3, 2012. The track was premiered by Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and was released onto the Internet the following day onto West's official website.[11] The release of the track continued West's GOOD Fridays, a music giveaway that provided free MP3 downloads every week, which had been on hiatus since December 2010.[12] The song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts.[13]

The Kanye West track "Cold", featuring DJ Khaled, was released as the album's second single. The track was then released as a single onto iTunes on April 17, 2012.[14] Following its digital release, the song impacted urban contemporary radio on May 8, 2012.[15] The single peaked at numbers 89 and 69 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs singles charts.[13]

"New God Flow", a collaboration between Pusha T and Kanye West, was released onto iTunes as the album's third single on July 21, 2012.[16] It first premiered at the 2012 BET Awards on July 2, 2012, with West performing an a cappella version of his verse.[17] The song peaked at number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.[18]

"Clique", a collaboration between Kanye West, Jay-Z and Big Sean, was released as the album's fourth single on September 7, 2012.[19] The single peaked at numbers 12 and 22 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs singles charts.[13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[20]
The A.V. ClubC+[21]
Robert ChristgauB+[22]
The Guardian[23]
The Independent[24]
NME7/10[25]
Pitchfork Media6.5/10[26]
Rolling Stone[27]
Slant Magazine[28]
Spin6/10[29]

Cruel Summer received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics.[30][31] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 68, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 27 reviews.[31] Christopher R. Weingarten of Spin commented that it is "not a cohesive crew album" and called it "a runway show of small, costly, uncomfortable missteps."[29] Julian Benbow of The Boston Globe critiqued that, "while every second of Cruel Summer sounds high quality, it never feels cohesive."[32] Although he found its production "uniformly great", Consequence of Sound editor Mike Madden felt that the album lacks "focus" and stated, "For every fiery, self-serious verse here, you'll find at least one maladroit dud."[33] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club commented that it "feels like an unusually crowded solo album, but West’s affiliates don’t share his gift for fusing self-aggrandizement with soul-searching reflection."[21] BBC Music's Marcus J. Moore also found it "largely unfocused" and called the album "a recording of flashy excess that ultimately sinks into its own lethargy."[34]

Slant Magazine's Ted Scheinman observed no "concept or production value to hold" the album, which he felt "isn't a Kanye album per se, but even as a high-pedigree compilation, it still falls flat."[28] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times complimented the album's four singles for "show[ing] [West] at or near his best", but found GOOD Music's other rappers to be "a mixed bag".[35] Jonah Weiner of Rolling Stone called the album "occasionally exhilarating, ultimately underwhelming", and observed "no grand statements, but plenty of hot lines", citing West as "the star ... who bum-rushes every song he's on like it's someone else's acceptance speech".[27] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ rating,[22] indicating "remarkable one way or another, yet also flirts with the humdrum or the half-assed."[36] He found the rapping to be clever, but plagued by a "Conspicuous Consumption Equals Authentic Negritude" philosophy, and stated, "The surprise is that the attention requires so little effort, because there's always a musical touch to keep you alert".[22]

Andy Gill of The Independent viewed it as less "ambitious" than West's own albums, although he commented that the songs "may lack grandeur, but they bring a sinister, stalking ambience that matches the blend of money, mystery and menace in the contributions of collaborators".[24] Adam Fleischer of XXL cited the songs with West as the album's highlights and stated, "The rest of the G.O.O.D. family, though, is less adept at the practice—though there are glimpses".[37] By contrast, Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly felt that West "knows how to get the best from his guest list" and commended him for being "a benevolent host, letting each squad member show off his skills".[38] David Amidon of PopMatters commented that the album "pretends to be nothing more than an experiment in grand hubris" and felt that each song "has a flaw worth pointing out, but they all make an argument why they’re worth listening to as well."[39] Paul MacInnes of The Guardian commented that "West's penchant for superabundance is one of the most exhilirating [sic] things in pop music."[23] Although he found it "slight in comparison" to West's previous two albums, Priya Elan of NME called the album "an essential purchase" as "a cross section of the most brilliant, solipsistic mind in rap".[25] Allmusic editor David Jeffries called it "mixtape-minded" and likened its "fireworks" aesthetic to "the best bottle service you ever had."[20]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 205,000 copies in its first week.[40] It also entered at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[40] Cruel Summer debuted at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 12,000 copies in Canada.[41] As of October 21, 2012, Cruel Summer has sold 331,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."To the World" (Kanye West, R. Kelly and Teyana Taylor)K. West, R. Kelly, A. Wansel, W. Felder, C. Smith, M. Jones, J. Johnson Jr.Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Oakwud Kanye West (co.), Hudson Mohawke (add.), Ken Lewis (add.), Mano (add.), Travi$ Scott (add.), Anthony Kilhoffer (add.)3:51
2."Clique" (Kanye West, Jay-Z and Big Sean)K. West, C. Hollis, S. Anderson, S. Carter, J. FauntleroyHit-Boy, Kanye West (co.), Anthony Kilhoffer (add.), Noah Goldstein (add.)4:53
3."Mercy" (Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz)K. West, S. Taft, S. Anderson, T. Thornton, T. Epps, J. Thomas, D. Beagle, W. Riley, R. WilliamsLifted, Mike Dean (add.), Mike WiLL Made It (add.), Kanye West (add.), Hudson Mohawke (add.)5:26
4."New God Flow" (Kanye West, Pusha T and Ghostface Killah)K. West, T. Thornton, H. Rooney, R. Bean, H. Crizoe, D. Coles, R. Townsend, M. ValleKanye West, Boogz & Tapez (co.), Anthony Kilhoffer (add.)5:57
5."The Morning" (Raekwon, Pusha T, Common, 2 Chainz, Cyhi the Prynce, Kid Cudi and D'banj)C. Woods, T. Thornton, L. Lynn, T. Epps, C. Young, A. Martin, A. Lerner, F. Loewe, K. West, R. Ibanga, J. Bhasker, Travi$ ScottKanye West, Illmind, Jeff Bhasker (co.), Travi$ Scott (co.)4:35
6."Cold.1" (Kanye West, DJ Khaled)K. West, C. Hollis, J. Smith, M. WilliamsHit-Boy3:36
7."Higher" (The-Dream, Pusha T, Mase and Cocaine 80s)C. Hollis, T. Nash, T. Thornton, M. Betha, J. FauntleroyHit-Boy, Kanye West (co.), Mike Dean (add.)4:34
8."Sin City" (John Legend, Teyana Taylor, Travi$ Scott, Cyhi the Prynce and Malik Yusef)T. Taylor, J. Stephens, T. Scott, T. Brown, J. Young, C. Young, M. Jones, V. McCantsTommy Brown, Travi$ Scott4:28
9."The One" (Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Marsha Ambrosius)K. West, M. Ambrosius, S. Anderson, T. Epps, B. Thomas, C. Ridenhour, J. Boxley, D. Barker, W. Riley, A. Collins, M. Jones, J. Fauntleroy, C. SmithKanye West, Hudson Mohawke (co.), The Twilite Tone (co.), Anthony Kilhoffer (co.), Mannie Fresh (add.), Lifted (add.)5:44
10."Creepers" (Kid Cudi)S. Mescudi, D. BlackDan Black3:14
11."Bliss" (John Legend and Teyana Taylor)T. Taylor, R. Birchard, E. Hamilton, J. StephensHudson Mohawke3:30
12."Don't Like.1" (Kanye West, Chief Keef, Pusha T, Big Sean and Jadakiss)K. West, K. Cozart, T. Thornton, S. Anderson, J. Phillips, T. Pittman, R. Townsend, B. Levy, P. LoveYoung Chop, Kanye West (co.), The Twilite Tone (add.), Noah Goldstein (add.)4:43
Total length:54:31
Sample credits[42]
  • "Mercy.1" contains samples from the recording "Dust a Sound Boy", written by Denzie Beagle and Winston Riley, and performed by Super Beagle; samples from the recording "Cu-Oonuh", written by Reggie Williams and Winston Riley, and performed by Reggie Stepper; and samples from the recording "Lambo", performed by YB.
  • "New God Flow.1" contains samples of the recording "Synthetic Substitution", written by Herb Rooney, and performed by Melvin Bliss; samples of the recording "Mighty Healthy" (a capella), written by Herb Rooney, Ronald Bean, Highleigh Crizoe and Dennis Coles, and performed by Ghostface Killah; samples from the G.I. Townsend recording "Sermon Fragment", written by Townsend; and samples from "Bôdas De Sangue", written and performed by Marcos Valle.
  • "The Morning" contains elements of "Get Me to the Church on Time", written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.
  • "Cold.1" contains interpolations of "Illegal Search", written by James T. Smith and Marlon L. Williams.
  • "The One" contains samples of the recording "Public Enemy No. 1", written by Carlton Ridenhour and James Boxley, and performed by Public Enemy; and samples of the recording "Double Barrel", written by Dave Barker, Winston Riley, and Ansell George Collins, performed by Dave and Ansell Collins.
  • "Don't Like.1" contains samples from the G.I. Townsend recording "Sermon Fragment", written by Townsend; and interpolations of "Under Mi Sensi", written by Barrington Levy and Paul Love.

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[43] 7
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[44] 61
Canadian Albums Chart[45] 4
Danish Albums Chart[46] 12
Dutch Albums Chart[47] 69
French Albums Chart[48] 30
Swiss Compilations Chart[49] 10
UK Compilation Chart[50] 2
US Billboard 200[40] 2
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[40] 1
US Billboard Top Rap Albums[40] 1

Release history

List of release date, showing country, and record label
Region Date Label
Ireland[51] September 14, 2012 GOOD Music, Def Jam
New Zealand[52]
Denmark[53]
United Kingdom[10] September 17, 2012
United States[54] September 18, 2012

References

  1. ^ "Production Credit: Lifted Talks "Mercy," Signing to G.O.O.D. Music & First Meeting With Kanye". XXL. New York. April 9, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  2. ^ "Kanye West's 'Cruel Summer' compilation leaks online". NME. IPC Media. September 14, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-22.
  3. ^ "Kanye West". AllMusic. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  4. ^ "Kanye West Announces G.O.O.D. Music Album". Rap-Up. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  5. ^ Kaufman, Gil (May 18, 2012). "Kanye West Reveals G.O.O.D. Music Album Title, 'Cruel Summer' Film". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  6. ^ "G.O.O.D. Music Album 'Cruel Summer' Pushed to September". Rap-Up. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  7. ^ a b "Pusha T Says "Cruel Winter" Is A "Q-Tip/Kanye Thing"". Retrieved 27 October 2012. {{cite web}}: Text "Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales" ignored (help); Text "HipHop DX" ignored (help) Cite error: The named reference "www.hiphopdx.com" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ "G.O.O.D. Musicコンピ『Cruel Summer』" (in Japanese). HMV Group. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  9. ^ Horowitz, Steven J. (August 31, 2012). "G.O.O.D. Music "Cruel Summer" Tracklist". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  10. ^ a b "Kanye West Presents Good Music Cruel Summer [Explicit]: Various artists". Amazon. Retrieved 2012-09-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Amazon UK" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  11. ^ Arnold, Don. "Kanye West Releases 'Mercy' on G.O.O.D. Friday". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  12. ^ "Kanye West Promises New Song Every Week Through Christmas – Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV Networks. August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
  13. ^ a b c "Kanye West – Awards (Billboard Singles)". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  14. ^ Coleman, Miriam (April 15, 2012). "Kanye West Renames 'Theraflu' 'Way Too Cold'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
  15. ^ "Urban/UAC Future Releases (May 8, 2012)". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  16. ^ "New God Flow – Single by Pusha T & Kanye West". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  17. ^ "Kanye West Drops 'New God Flow'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. July 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  18. ^ "Pusha T Album & Song Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  19. ^ "Clique – Single by Kanye West, Jay-Z & Big Sean". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  20. ^ a b Jeffries, David. "Cruel Summer - Various Artists". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  21. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (September 25, 2012). "Various Artists: G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer". The A.V. Club. Chicago. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  22. ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (October 16, 2012). "Jamey Johnson/G.O.O.D. Music". MSN Music. Microsoft. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
  23. ^ a b MacInnes, Paul (September 20, 2012). "Kanye West presents GOOD Music: Cruel Summer – review". The Guardian. London. section G2, p. 21. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  24. ^ a b Gill, Andy (September 21, 2012). "Album: Various Artists, Kanye West Presents Good Music, Cruel Summer (Good Music/Def Jam)". The Independent. London. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  25. ^ a b Elan, Priya (September 21, 2012). "Kanye West's Good Music - 'Cruel Summer'". NME. London. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  26. ^ Greene, Jayson (September 18, 2012). "G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  27. ^ a b Weiner, Jonah (September 20, 2012). "Cruel Summer". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  28. ^ a b Scheinman, Ted (September 22, 2012). "Various Artists: Kanye West Presents G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  29. ^ a b Weingarten, Christopher R. (September 17, 2012). "G.O.O.D. Music, 'Cruel Summer' (G.O.O.D. Music-Def Jam)". Spin. New York. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  30. ^ "Cruel Summer by G.O.O.D. Music reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2012-09-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ a b "Cruel Summer Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  32. ^ Benbow, Julian (September 18, 2012). "'Cruel Summer' and the comeback of the crew record". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  33. ^ Madden, Mike (September 17, 2012). "Album Review: G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  34. ^ Moore, Marcus J. (September 17, 2012). "Review of G.O.O.D. Music - Cruel Summer". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  35. ^ Caramanica, Jon (September 19, 2012). "Man Who's Everywhere May Really Be Nowhere". The New York Times. p. C1. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  36. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Key to Icons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
  37. ^ Fleischer, Adam (September 18, 2012). "G.O.O.D. Music, Cruel Summer". XXL. New York. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  38. ^ Anderson, Kyle (September 28, 2012). "Cruel Summer - review - G.O.O.D. Music Review". Entertainment Weekly (1226). New York. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  39. ^ Amidon, David (September 28, 2012). "G.O.O.D. Music: Cruel Summer". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
  40. ^ a b c d e Caulfield, Keith (September 26, 2012). "Pink Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Los Angeles. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
  41. ^ Tuch, Paul (September 26, 2012). "P!nk Scores First Number One Album" (PDF). Nielsen Music 360° Report. Canada: 1. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  42. ^ Cruel Summer (Media notes). Def Jam Recordings. 2012. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=&titel=Kanye+West+Presents+Good+Music+Cruel+Summer&cat=a
  44. ^ http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=&titel=Kanye+West+Presents+Good+Music+Cruel+Summer&cat=a
  45. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/canadian-albums
  46. ^ http://danishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=&titel=Kanye+West+Presents+Good+Music+Cruel+Summer&cat=a
  47. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=&titel=Kanye+West+Presents+Good+Music+Cruel+Summer&cat=a
  48. ^ http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=&titel=Kanye+West+Presents+Good+Music+Cruel+Summer&cat=a
  49. ^ http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=&titel=Kanye+West+Presents+Good+Music+Cruel+Summer&cat=a
  50. ^ "2012-09-29 Top 40 Compilation Albums Archive - Official Charts". Official Charts Company. 2012-9-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  51. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/kanye-west-presents-good-music/id561345385
  52. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/kanye-west-presents-good-music/id561345385
  53. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/dk/album/kanye-west-presents-good-music/id561345385?l=da
  54. ^ iTunes - Music - Kanye West Presents Good Music Cruel Summer by Various Artists
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