Today has proved to be VERY HOTTTTT across the board, but at the top of the list, (if you checked our -definitive- ranking on the homepage) is Kanye West's new single for Cruel Winter, which just so happens to be a posse cut featuring G.O.O.D. Music artists and beyond. You'll hear ad-libs from Desiigner, a hook from Travis Scott, in between verses from Kanye, Big Sean, 2 Chainz (who we've basically decided is a G.O.O.D. Music member by affiliation) and more. If there's one thing Kanye knows how to do, even better than the track curator himself DJ Khaled, it's putting together a a variety of artists over a massive beat and ensuring it's dope as fuck.
Since we've already run through our Top 5 G.O.O.D. Friday singles, this time we're doing five of the best crew cuts from the G.O.O.D. camp-- for the purpose of this list, that basically means at least three G.O.O.D. artists are on each song (albeit one exception). Click through.
"Looking For Trouble"
Feat. Kanye West, Pusha T, CyHi The Prynce, Big Sean & J. Cole
"Looking For Trouble" came out during the tail end of the fan-favorite G.O.O.D. Friday series. A lot of the songs released during that 2010 period were basically ‘posse’ cuts, in that they consisted of at least four artists, however they varied in terms of the G.O.O.D. Music representation on each song. On our previous list of Top 5 G.O.O.D. Friday cuts, this was a strong contender, but in the end, didn’t make it (we even debated this with fans in the comment section). It seems only fitting, given that the line-up is largely composed of G.O.O.D. artists, that it land on this list. The only non-G.O.O.D. artist, Cole, ended up using this song for his Friday Night Lights mixtape-- apart from that it's loose unto the world. The song features Kanye West trademark sample-driven production, with Ye opting for a slice of music from the opening minutes of Steel Pulse’s "Blues Dance Raid." This ends up being the hook, while you can guarantee some witty bars from the likes of Kanye, Pusha, CyHi, Sean Don.
"Mercy"
Feat. Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz
Here we’re getting into some of the Cruel Summer cuts. While the Cruel Summer album (at least in my personal opinion) was pretty disappointing, one of the main reasons for that was because so much of the music had been released beforehand (and overplayed at that), and some of the songs that hadn’t been released fell flat. Nonetheless when "Mercy" did drop as the first single from the compilation, it took over the radio/the youth in general, and it should definitely bring back some memories. It really defined the summer of 2012.
It’s another sample-heavy cut (with the sample also becoming the focus on the hook), although the production comes from then-relatively-unknown producer Lifted. Apart from a banging-ass beat, the record is littered with ad-libs-- this was during the time that Big Sean was still trying to make "Swerve" happen. Sean kicks off the verses with his usual dose of wordplay ("Whoa, make the ground move, that's an ass quake / Built a house up on that ass, that's an ass-tate / Roll my weed on it, that's an ass tray"), before Pusha comes in with some slick cocaine-referencing rhymes. The beat changes up for Kanye’s braggadocio rhymes, and Tity Boi has the honor of closing things out with his uncannily descriptive lyrics like "Okay, now catch up to my campaign, coupe the color of mayonnaise." This joint is still a worthy turn-up anthem.
"I Don’t Like Remix"
Feat. Kanye West, Chief Keef, Pusha T, Big Sean & Jadakiss
It's crazy when you look at this list as a whole and see how many of the records on it were simply massive hits. Chief Keef blew up off the strength of the original record (which features a now-absent Lil Reese), but Kanye West's co-sign and remix took things even further. The remix initially dropped in May 2012, but ended up being the closing record on the Cruel Summer album (which dropped in September-- hence what I mean about overplayed records being reused for Cruel Summer). Coincidentally, all three songs on the list thus far feature the trio of Big Sean, Pusha T and Kanye West (sorry not sorry? They do make up the core of G.O.O.D. though).
Ye added his own production flourishes to the remix of this record (which, as you should already know, was produced by Young Chop), namely, vocal samples (all those fun "Woah"'s and "Ayy"'s) taken from Barrington Levy’s "Under Mi Sensei." It just makes the production that much catchier. Pusha Ton makes sure to have you hype from the outset with his opening bars (sans beat), while Keef’s original hook remains intact.
"The Morning"
Feat. Kanye West, Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Common, DBanj, Raekwon & 2 Chainz
This was another Cruel Summer cut, one of the few that we didn’t get to hear prior to the album’s release. It’s quite the posse cut though, with many G.O.O.D. artists popping up (this was near the very end of Cudder’s affiliation with G.O.O.D. Music) in addition to Raekwon, D’banj and 2 Chainz (who, for the purposes of this list, might as well be counted as a G.O.O.D. member). Yet another sample-led beat, which counts Kanye, Illmind, Travis Scott and Jeff Bhasker as producers.
A recurring theme within the Cruel Summer compilation turned out to be reggae-sampled music, and while this song doesn’t have a straight-up dancehall interpolation, D’banj does bring that vibe to the hook (as well as a bit of soul). The sample that runs through out comes from a more surprising source: the "My Fair Lady" soundtrack. In between the nostalgic sample that appears on the hook, we get ultra-modern beeping production, making for quite the juxtaposition.
"Clique"
Feat. Kanye West, Big Sean & Jay Z
I’ll admit we may be stretching a bit to include "Clique" among G.O.O.D. posse cuts, but let us live. Jay Z is basically Kanye’s BFF and by extension he’s almost G.O.O.D. Then we have the ever-reliable Big Sean and Yeezy. Plus it is THE 'clique' song, how could we not include it?
Much like “Mercy,” this song should bring back a swell of memories that was 2012. The record dropped after "Mercy," and in the same vein as "Mercy," it went on to take over airwaves and clubs everywhere. Hit-Boy and Kanye were responsible for creating the operatic-laced beat that sounds like it’s hiccuping through out-- this was around the height of Hit-Boy’s buzz, and he could do no wrong. The jumpy production was sided by a catchy and repetitive hook from Big Sean, easily making it an anthem for circles of friends everywhere.