Cruel Summer (GOOD Music album)

Cruel Summer
Compilation album by GOOD Music
Released	September 14, 2012 (2012-09-14)
Recorded	2011–12
Genre	Hip hop
Length	54:31
Label	GOOD, Def Jam
Producer	Kanye West (also exec.), Che Pope (also exec.), Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Anthony Kilhoffer, Boogz & Tapez, Dan Black, Hit-Boy, Hudson Mohawke, Illmind, Jeff Bhasker, Ken Lewis, Lifted, Mano, Mannie Fresh, Mike Dean, Mike Will, The Twilite Tone, Tommy Brown, Travi$ Scott, Young Chop
GOOD Music chronology
Cruel Summer (2012)
Singles from Cruel Summer
"Mercy" Released: April 3, 2012 "Cold" Released: April 17, 2012 "New God Flow" Released: July 21, 2012 "Clique" Released: September 6, 2012

Cruel Summer is a compilation album by recording artists of American record label GOOD Music, released on September 14, 2012, by the 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 November 4, 2012, Cruel Summer has sold 438,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Background and recording

Kanye West founded the GOOD Music label in 2004. 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". Later on May 23, 2012, the title was revealed in part with a film, Cruel Summer, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. The album was originally slated for release on August 7, 2012, but underwent several delays.

Pusha T said that he recorded over 20 verses for the album, and a song with Big Sean and Common called "Trash Bags" that was ultimately scrapped. American rapper Azealia Banks also said that she recorded with West earlier in 2012, but her contributions did not make the album.

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.

The album art was designed by DONDA, West's creative agency.

Singles

"Mercy", a collaboration between Kanye West, 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. 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. 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.

"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. Following its digital release, the song impacted urban contemporary radio on May 8, 2012. The single peaked at numbers 89 and 69 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs singles charts.

"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. It first premiered at the 2012 BET Awards on July 2, 2012, with West performing an a cappella version of his verse. The song peaked at number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The A.V. Club	C+
Robert Christgau	B+
The Guardian
The Independent
NME	7/10
Pitchfork Media	6.5/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	6/10

Cruel Summer received generally lukewarm reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on 28 reviews. 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." Julian Benbow of The Boston Globe critiqued that, "while every second of Cruel Summer sounds high quality, it never feels cohesive." 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." 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."

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." 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". 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". MSN Music's Robert Christgau gave the album a "B+", indicating "remarkable one way or another, yet also flirts with the humdrum or the half-assed." 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".

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". Adam Fleischer of XXL cited the songs with West as the album's highlights. 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." Paul MacInnes of The Guardian commented that "West's penchant for superabundance is one of the most exhilirating [sic] things in pop music." 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". Allmusic editor David Jeffries called it "mixtape-minded" and likened its "fireworks" aesthetic to "the best bottle service you ever had." Rolling Stone ranked Cruel Summer number 24 on their year-end best albums list.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 205,000 copies in its first week. It also entered at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Cruel Summer debuted at number four on the Canadian Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 12,000 copies in Canada. As of November 4, 2012, Cruel Summer has sold 389,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"To the World" (featuring Kanye West, R. Kelly and Teyana Taylor)	Kanye West, Kelly, Andrew Wansel, Warren Felder, Che Smith, Malik Jones	Wansel, Oakwud, West, Hudson Mohawke, Ken Lewis, Mano, Travis Scott, Anthony Kilhoffer	3:51
2.	"Clique" (featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z and Big Sean)	Chauncey Hollis, Sean Anderson, West, Shawn Carter, James Fauntleroy	Hit-Boy, West, Kilhoffer, Noah Goldstein	4:53
3.	"Mercy.1" (featuring Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz)	West, Stephan Taft, Anderson, Terrence Thornton, Tauheed Epps, James Thomas, Denzie Beagle, Winston Riley, Reggie Williams	Lifted, West	5:26
4.	"New God Flow.1" (featuring Kanye West, Pusha T and Ghostface Killah)	West, Thornton, Herb Rooney, Ronald Bean, Highleigh Crizoe, Dennis Coles, G.I. Townsend, Marcos Valle	West, Boogz & Tapez, Kilhoffer	5:57
5.	"The Morning" (featuring Raekwon, Pusha T, Common, 2 Chainz, Cyhi the Prynce, Kid Cudi, D'banj and Kanye West)	West, Ramon Ibanga, Jeff Bhasker, Jacques Webster, Corey Woods, Thornton, Lonnie Lynn, Epps, Cydel Young, Andrea Martin, Alan Lerner, Frederick Loewe	West, Illmind, Bhasker, Scott	4:35
6.	"Cold.1" (featuring Kanye West and DJ Khaled)	West, Hollis, James Smith, Marlon Williams	Hit-Boy	3:36
7.	"Higher" (featuring The-Dream, Pusha T, Mase and Cocaine 80s)	Hollis, Terius Nash, Thornton, Mason Betha, Fauntleroy, Jeremiah Probodanu	Hit-Boy, West, Mike Dean	4:34
8.	"Sin City" (featuring John Legend, Travis Scott, Teyana Taylor, Cyhi the Prynce and Malik Yusef)	John Stephens, Webster, T. Brown, Taylor, J. Young, C. Young, Jones, Victoria McCants	Tommy Brown, Scott	4:28
9.	"The One" (featuring Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Marsha Ambrosius)	West, Anderson, Epps, Ambrosius, B. Thomas, Jones, Fauntleroy, C. Smith, C. Ridenhour, J. Boxley, Dave Barker, Winston Riley, Ansell Collins	West, Hudson Mohawke, The Twilite Tone, Kilhoffer, Mannie Fresh, Lifted	5:44
10.	"Creepers" (featuring Kid Cudi)	Scott Mescudi, Dan Black	Black	3:14
11.	"Bliss" (featuring John Legend and Teyana Taylor)	Stephens, Taylor, Ross Birchard, E. Hamilton	Hudson Mohawke	3:30
12.	"Don't Like.1" (featuring Kanye West, Chief Keef, Pusha T, Big Sean and Jadakiss)	West, Keith Cozart, Thornton, Anderson, Jason Phillips, Tyree Pittman, Townsend, Barrington Levy, Paul Love	Young Chop, West, The Twilite Tone, Goldstein	4:43
Total length:				54:31

Notes

• Track listing and credits from album booklet.
• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^b} signifies an additional producer

Sample credits

• "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, also includes a sample from "Lookin' At Me" by Ma$e.
• "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.

Personnel

Credits for Cruel Summer adapted from Allmusic.

• 2 Chainz – primary artist
• Virgil Abloh – creative director
• Marsha Ambrosius – primary artist, vocals
• Chris Atlas – marketing
• Craig Balmoris – producer
• Daniel Betancourt – engineer
• Big Sean – primary artist
• Dan Black – producer
• Tommy Brown – producer
• Don C. – A&R
• Guido Callarelli – art direction
• Jim Caruana – assistant, engineer
• Chief Keef – primary artist
• Common – primary artist
• D'Banj – primary artist
• Mike Dean – additional production, keyboards, mixing
• DJ Khaled – primary artist
• DJ Pharris – vocals
• The-Dream – primary artist
• James Fauntleroy II – vocals
• Mannie Fresh – producer
• Ghostface Killah – primary artist
• Noah Goldstein – engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, vocals
• Hit-Boy – producer
• Hudson Mohawke – musician, producer
• Jadakiss – primary artist
• Jay-Z – primary artist
• Doug Joswick – package production
• R. Kelly – engineer, primary artist
• Kid Cudi – primary artist
• Anthony Kilhoffer – additional production, engineer, keyboards, mastering, mixing, musician, producer, sound effects
• Rob Kinelski – engineer
• John Legend – background vocals, primary artist

• Ken Lewis – additional production, engineer
• Andrea Martin – vocals
• Mase – primary artist
• Ian Mereness – engineer
• Fabien Montique – photography
• Julian Nixon – producer
• Oakwud – producer
• Keith Parry – mixing assistant
• Richard Parry – assistant
• Joe Perez – graphic design
• Che Pope – A&R, executive producer, programming
• Cyhi da Prynce – primary artist
• Pusha T – primary artist
• Raekwon – primary artist
• Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds – A&R
• Montez Roberts – engineer
• Todd Russell – art producer
• Bart Schoudel – engineer
• Travi$ Scott – primary artist, producer
• Nael Shehade – engineer
• Rob Suchecki – assistant
• Bill Sullivan – engineer
• Teyana Taylor – primary artist
• Scott Townsend – art producer
• Twilite Tone – additional production, producer
• Anna Ugarte – assistant
• Andrew "Pop" Wansel – producer
• Kanye West – additional production, creative director, executive producer, primary artist, producer
• Kristen Yiengst – art producer
• Young Chop – producer
• Malik Yusef – primary artist
• Izvor Zivkovic – management

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	7
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)	61
Canadian Albums Chart	4
Danish Albums Chart	12
Dutch Albums Chart	69
French Albums Chart	30
Swiss Compilations Chart	10
UK Compilation Chart	2
US Billboard 200	2
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	1
US Top Rap Albums	1

Release history

List of release date, showing country, and record label

Region	Date	Label
Ireland	September 14, 2012	GOOD Music, Def Jam
New Zealand
Denmark
United Kingdom	September 17, 2012
United States	September 18, 2012