Kanye West and G.O.O.D. Music Drop "Mercy"
(Photo: G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Records)
It's certainly a G.O.O.D. Friday for Kanye West fans. After waiting patiently for over a year since his instant classic My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy dropped in last 2010, Yeezy-ites are all the sudden rolling in an embarrassment of riches, musically speaking, with two new songs in less than 48 hours.
Just a day after his Hit-Boy-produced "Theraflu" dropped unexpectedly and took over the Internet, 'Ye is back with a new single, "Mercy" — and he brought along some talented backup for good, or G.O.O.D., measure. The song also features 2 Chainz, G.O.O.D. Music artists Big Sean and Pusha T, and is the first official single from the highly anticipated G.O.O.D. Music compilation.
The 808-laden track features a lo-fi dancehall sample and builds up from a slow Southern lean to a pulsing techno bridge, over which Kanye is in usual over-the-top, bragadocious form:
Threw suicides on that private jet,
You know what that means, I'm fly to death
I step in the Def Jam building like I'm the s--t
Tell them give me $50 million or I'm going to quit
Most rappers taste level ain't even at my waste level,
Turn up the bass level till it's at your face level
Kanye and co. had done a remarkable job keeping the song under wraps in the age of Internet leaks. Even the song's producer, newcomer Lifted, hadn't heard it yet. Asked what his favorite verse on the song was in an interview with Bootleg Kev that appeared soon after the song dropped, Lifted said, "That's a tough one. I've got to sit on it. I'm just hearing it like you're hearing it."
The song premiered almost simultaneously last night on the rival NYC radio shows of Hot 97's Funkmaster and Power 105's DJ Clue, complete with boastful rants from both, of course (the second time they've gone at each on-air recently). A few minutes before midnight, "Mercy" appeared at both KanyeWest.com, where you can stream it for free, and iTunes, where you can buy it and personally finance Kanye's suicide-door habit. Happy Easter, Yeezy.