The 50 Best Kanye West Songs Ever

47. Cold

Release Date: April 17, 2012

Album: Cruel Summer

Writer(s): Kanye West, Chauncey Hollis, James Todd Smith, Marion Williams

Producer(s): Hit-Boy

Notable Lyric:

“And I’ll admit, I had fell in love with Kim

Around the same time she had fell in love with him

Well that’s cool, baby girl, do ya thang

Lucky I ain’t had Jay drop him from the team”

A few songs on this list were released on Cruel Summer, the collaborative album made by combining and interchanging different artists under the GOOD Music label. 

In all, the album was an uneven effort, a series of peaks and valleys that, taken together, amounted roughly to a foothill.

“Cold” does its part — with DJ Khaled’s help — to improve the record. That said, it’s also one of the most frigid tracks in Kanye’s collection.

In one memorable section, Kanye reflects on how, when he first fell in love with Kim Kardashian, she was in love with her now ex-husband, Kris Humphries. The NBA star, per Kanye’s thinly veiled threat, should feel fortunate that Kanye didn’t lobby Jay-Z to drop him from the Brooklyn Nets.

It’s an oddly provocative rhyme from Kanye, and it does as much to belittle Humphries as it does to betray Kanye’s own insecurities about Kim and love in general.

The rest of the track is filled with the usual manic boasting and wordplay, but that one section sticks out enough that it makes sense this didn’t end up on one of his actual solo albums.

Next: 46. New God Flow