After two years of fans patiently waiting, Kanye West is finally back to his old ways. On Jan. 8, West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, tweeted out to the world that G.O.O.D. Fridays are making a comeback.
The intention of G.O.O.D. Fridays is to release free music every Friday, typically before releasing a large project. Senior Kerim Idris is one of many who are excited for the return.
“I feel ‘G.O.O.D.’ that Kanye is releasing music,” Idris said. “It blesses my ears.”
G.O.O.D. Fridays first made their debut back in 2010, before West’s fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. West dropped a new song every Friday, from August to December of that year.
The tracks featured some of the biggest names in hip-hop including Jay-Z, Mos Def, Kid Cudi and the current president of the G.O.O.D. Music record label, Pusha T.
To start off G.O.O.D. Fridays and the new year, West released “Facts,” produced by Metro Boomin. The track was a celebration of the Adidas Yeezy Boost line, and West’s hatred towards his previous endorser, Nike.
The next week, West released a track called “Real Friends / No More Parties in LA (Snippet)” on his official Soundcloud page. “Real Friends” is a Kanye West-produced song and received tremendous feedback from listeners.
“I really like the track,” Idris said. “It reminded me of the old Kanye.”
“No More Parties in LA,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, was previewed at the end of “Real Friends,” which will have his followers provoked for more. The track was deleted off his Soundcloud page three times due to West not being satisfied with the sound quality.
That’s not all that West released Friday. The MC also announced via Twitter that his long-awaited seventh studio album, SWISH, will be released on Feb. 11, 2016. It has been three years since he has last released an album and fans have been desperate for an update.
West hasn’t said much about SWISH, which was previously named So Help Me God in 2015. There are a couple of tracks West released in 2015 that were rumored to be on it, including “Only One,” “All Day” and “Wolves”,” but the rest remains unknown.
West has also been getting a lot of support from his family and friends. Khloe Kardashian has stated that she’s listened to the entire record. She has also said that there are so many songs that he can’t figure out which songs to put on the album, which may be the reason for the return of G.O.O.D. Fridays.
“They’re all genuinely terrific songs,” Kardashian said.
However, some fans of West’s previous works, known to many rap fans as “Old Kanye” (referring to his music before his album 808s & Heartbreak), aren’t excited for the new album.
“I’m a fan of his older stuff,” freshman Cameron Foti said. Regarding SWISH, he said he wasn’t sure if he is going to listen to it.
West has been criticized for the new direction that his music has gone in during the past few years, especially with the album Yeezus. However, the “Real Friends” is giving hope to fans of his older music.