“What you now hearing is putting fear in all the older ones…”
Forget that G.O.O.D. Fridays has started becoming “G.O.O.D. Saturdays.” We nearly got a G.O.O.D. Sunday due to series creator Kanye West having to wait on one final verse to complete this week’s project. We probably won’t find out which emcee was running late. But if we’re going to guess based on quality, there’s a good chance it was J. Cole who was putting the finishing touches on his show-stealing rhyme.
Even several months deep into G.O.O.D. Friday, Kanye is still coming up with ways to make the series fresh. The production is a familiar sample of Steel Pulse’s “Blues Dance Raid,” which is the basis for Cam’Ron’s Purple Haze joint “Bubble Music.” It’s definitely an interesting choice considering Cam’s forgettable diss to him last month. It’s nothing intricate, but as you’ll hear it’s the perfect palette for emcees to boast about themselves.
Pusha T leads off with a good verse mixing contrasting spectrums of the black experience, ranging for the Civil Rights Movement to the infamous Shower Posse. His verse and Cyhi’s form a loose link that continues that those themes (“Where we looking for trouble?/ Maybe if we weren’t black than we wouldn’t have struggled…”).
Big Sean, who usually stay in laid back mode, breaks that expectation by starting off his verse with a rapid-fire, double-time flow. He doesn’t sound of character in the style, but only uses it to serve as an introduction. From there, it’s straight braggadocio on female conquests and his growing status in the industry (“Does he sound like ‘Ye, Jay or Drizzy Drake?/ Meanwhile I’m chilling with all these niggas counting all this money you aint…”). Sean doesn’t have that “authentic asshole” appeal that always adds to Kanye’s shit talking, but he’ll still make you grin with a few of his pointed punchlines (“Greet me with a middle finger when you see me/ It’s cool ’cause I can’t see you from this side of the TV, motherfucker!”).
The beat refrain usually signals ‘Ye’s last verse. Instead, it’s a precursor to a J. Cole assault. The Roc Nation young gun is in battle mode, and you get the sense that it’s not just due to the excellent exposure that comes with G.O.O.D. Friday. He’s looking to put his peers on notice. Lines like “This the rap Moses/ Better yet/ Mary and Joseph’s son,” let you know Cole is not just happy being amongst the talented. He wants and demands recognition as one of the best. Kanye knows a monster verse when he hears one, and Cole is the only one who gets the beat dropped to add further poignancy to his closing bars (“…ironic you’ve been sleeping on the one you’ve been dreaming ’bout”).
Funnily enough, Kanye has a verse quietly placed in the middle of the song. It’s not sub par, but clearly this track is for the young guns to shine. It’s a development that’ll be great to hear pushed forward in future G.O.O.D. Fridays.
The G.O.OD. Music fam is a very young team, but their chemistry is unmistakable. Is Kanye poised to have his very own Roc-A-Fella? That remains to be seen. For now, he’s on the right track.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 