Kanye drops new single 'Champions,' teases 'Cruel Winter' album
Update (06/13): Champions is officially available to stream, via Spotify and Apple Music. Listen below:
Cruel Winter is coming.
Last week, Kanye West premiered the first single from his long-awaited sequel to Cruel Summer, the 2012 compilation album from GOOD Music's artists.
And if Champions (which Kanye premiered without a title, while the radio hosts suggested names like Champions or Round and Round) is any indication, Cruel Winter's roster is stacked. Featuring the all-star lineup of 2 Chainz, Desiigner, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti Big Sean, Quavo from Migos, Juicy J and a fresh-out-of-prison Gucci Mane, the track is one of the best things we've heard from Kanye in recent memory.
Kanye took over Big Boy's 92.3 in L.A. to release the song, teasing a longer version "with 12 or 15 minutes, featuring everybody," and discussing the infamous Taylor Swift reference on Famous. "I told her we was gonna say that," he said. "I didn’t just tell her, I asked her how she felt about it."
He also teased Cruel Winter, which has a "solid 7-8" songs he knows are making the album, as well as a forthcoming tour. "We about to drop this crew Winter, we're going on tour," he said, before briefly mentioning further projects he can't talk about yet.
Listen here:
Ye also opened up about fatherhood, his Adidas collaboration and the future of his career. "I'm extremely protective [of North]. When I left Nike for Adidas I did it for my daughter ... there was an opportunity to make a better life for my daughter. I don't want to have to be doing Gold Digger when I'm 50, I want to be joking."
"I know I got rich people problems — they're the only problems I want to have."
Listeners also got some classic Kanye bravado. "Real Friends is the best rap song in years, in my personal opinion, for what I love in rap," he said. "This is some Michael Jackson levels, I gotta step back — I gotta pitch myself sometimes."
"Think about when Drake and Justin Bieber lost at the Grammys for Best New Artist, they said, 'Where's Kanye when we need him?' The game needs me!"
Kanye's headlining Governors Ball performance may have been rained out last week, but during his surprise set at Summer Jam later that evening, he joined several of his GOOD Music labelmates to do a portion of Champions. Hopefully, fans won't have to wait much longer to hear more Cruel Winter material live.