Way too good

More so than any artist I’ve heard, Kanye West makes a habit of constantly changing. He’s gone from his debut’s sped-up soul samples to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s” progressive rock and indie influences.

“Mercy,” the first single off his label G.O.O.D. Music’s compilation album, implies a new sonic direction for Mr. West. The record, like a lot of what we’ve heard from West lately, features the heavy percussive baseline and repetitive hooks typical of the Dirty South.

West, who is joined on the track by Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz, is not satisfied with staying still, so the beat gets some extra bells and whistles like a Patois bridge. Each of the verses, though, is exactly what you might expect from their respective rappers: Sean makes some sexual puns, Pusha T spits a ferocious coke verse, West thumps out a drugged-out, high-class verse and 2 Chainz shouts a trap verse straight out of Atlanta.

Sean’s verse is forgettable in the wake of the three great verses to follow. The highlight of the song is when Ye strips the beat down to its muggy core and raps in cadence with it.

Yeezus have mercy.

By Luke Morgan