14 Summers Later and Still Hot

Recently, I was reminded of this album by another with the same title and was inspired to go back to it. It’s been YEARS since I last heard Cruel Summer from Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music, and I was excited to jump back into it. That early 2010s era was crazy for the label and one that was deeply woven into my life at the time. Does it still hold up almost 15 years later? Let’s talk about it!

“To the World” with Teyana Taylor, Kanye West & R. Kelly has always been good, but it’s always been a song I never loved—especially with the heat that’s right behind it on the tracklist. “Clique” and “Mercy” following “To the World” are two incredible songs. Both were huge at the time and still hold up well after the hundreds of plays I put into them. Between the two, I’d say I prefer “Mercy” just a bit. As much as I love Pusha T, I’ve never been huge on “New God Flow.” I think that beat just isn’t hard enough. I’ve always liked Pusha most on the darkest production possible. It’s a good song, just one I’ve never been as high on as even I’d expect for myself. “The Morning” is a song that’s completely slipped my memory even though it’s one I loved. But the second it started with Andrea Martin, everything rushed back to me. A standout for sure!

“Cold” is a song that took a while to grow on me back in the day when it first released, but it’s a song I ended up liking and still do. I’ve never loved the second half of the album as much as the first half, and revisiting it gave me more appreciation for some songs, but it still doesn’t hit like the first half does. “Sin City” and “The One” specifically are the two main songs that I enjoy more now than I did all those years ago. But I’m still not big on “Higher,” “Creepers,” and “Bliss.” Ending on “Don’t Like” is absolutely iconic, though. I do love the version with the longer Pusha T verse, but regardless, it’s one of the heavyweights of Cruel Summer and one of my favorite Kanye verses. Shoutout to Bump J, Derrick Rose, L.E.P. Bogus Boys, J Boogie, King Louie, and of course Chief Keef himself, whose verse follows Kanye’s.

This is a very good album, and one that’s even grown on me a bit more since it first released. There are some songs I’m less into, but also multiple timeless tracks. Like I said, this was an amazing time in hip-hop with the G.O.O.D. Music camp, and I’m happy to take time to return to it lately between this and the G.O.O.D. Friday ranking I recently did.

Standout Tracks: Clique, Mercy, The Morning, Don’t Like

Album Rating: 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑(8/10)