Kanye West promised new music every “G.O.O.D. Friday” and so far he has not broken that promise. On Friday August 27 Kanye released “Monster” and it features an all-star cast including Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Justin Vernon of indie folk band Bon Iver. All in all the track is tight, but you want to know who really kills it? Nicki Minaj, that’s who. She raps, “You could be the king, but watch the queen conquer.” She’s quick and has tons of spunk. Female rappers that go hard like this aren’t in abundance these days; I’m excited to see what she’s going to do next. In fact, all of a sudden I’m anticipating her debut album to drop. (Its expected release date is November 23, one week after Kanye’s yet-to-be-titled album hits stores.) Kanye made sure to mention how much he appreciated Nicki’s contribution to the track. He tweeted, “MONSTER… can we just talk about Nicki’s verse???????!!!!!!!!! I toooooooooooooooold yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallll!!!!!!!!!!!!” Preview and download “Monster” below.
Download: Kanye West – “Monster” (Featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj)
[audio: Kanye West – Monster.mp3]Speaking of Twitter… Nearly three hours before he posted the download link for “Monster” he shared this exciting news: “Me and jay bout to drop a 5 song album called ‘Watch the Throne'”. I guess we can consider this upcoming 5 track EP a mini-prequel to his studio album. Along with the download link he tweeted, “[This is] the second song off of me and Jay album!” It would not be too drastic to think that the first song off the EP is the “Power” remix since that song does feature Jay-Z, but ‘Ye left this up in the air for now.
Fast forward to today and now there’s another new song from Camp Kanye. Yeah I know, it’s not Friday just yet, so I guess we can consider this next song a special bonus. About two weeks ago Kanye tweeted that he was listening to Justin Bieber’s “Runaway Love” song from My World 2.0. The Bieb responded with gratitude. Next Kanye blurted out this: “Maybe we can do something together. Me, You and Raekwon.” Bieber’s reply? “Me, u, and the chef 2gether on a song = EPIC. haha.” Yeah, this collaboration actually happened. Kanye West, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, and teen sensation Justin Bieber (who happens to be signed to Def Jam Records with Kanye) are featured on a remix of “Runaway Love”. After listening to the track it appears that The Bieb might not have had a hand in making the mix. Basically Kanye laid Beiber’s vocals on top of the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” (1993) beat. The remix includes one rather short verse from Kanye and two surprisingly explicative-free verses from Raekwon. And you want to know what? The song catchy, what with Bieber’s young Michael Jackson-esque sound, the Chef’s old school rhymes, and ‘Ye’s producing. It’s a nice treat for fans of so many different generations. Feel free to preview and download the track below.
Download: Kanye West – “Runaway Love” (Featuring Justin Bieber & Raekwon)
[audio: Kanye West – Runaway Love (Featuring Justin Bieber & Raekwon).mp3]