Kanye West Sticks To "Champions" For 'Cruel Winter' Single, Drops on iTunes
G.O.O.D. Music set to give the winter some.
When Kanye West resurrected G.O.O.D. Friday at the top of the month for a little teaser off G.O.O.D. Music’s upcoming Cruel Winter album, the all-star posse cut featuring names like 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Gucci Mane, to name a few, was still untitled.
In fact, when West debuted the synth-driven track, which is a sonic amalgamation of trap and arena-rock, on Big Boy in the Morning, he revealed it would undergo more mixing before an official release. Now that the pandemonium has simmered, the super-collab, which also rounds up guest spots from Travis Scott, Desiigner, Quavo (of Migos) and Yo Gotti, has been granted an official title and release, hitting iTunes last night (June 12) as “Champions.”
Per the usual stripped-and-bare G.O.O.D. Music aesthetic (courtesy of DONDA), the artwork for the record is empty. “Champions” features production from Lex Luger, A-Trak, Mike Dean and Kanye West, along with Derek Watkins, Charlie Heat and Noah Goldstein.
The last time G.O.O.D. Music formed like Voltron for an album, 2012’s Cruel Summer not only introduced the world to ‘Ye’s last-minute album pump fakes (The album was briefly removed from iTunes for eleventh-hour mixing), but also produced RIAA-certified multi-platinum smashes in “Mercy” (3x platinum) and “Clique” (2x platinum). Can the champions do it all over again?
With the single now on iTunes, see what Yo Gotti had to say about hopping on the posse cut below.