Cruel Summer might be the worst thing in Kanye West’s discography thus far, but it’s a success as mainstream rap cabal compilation albums go, and it beats the tar out of Young Money’s We Are Young Money and both of Maybach Music Group’s Self Made compilations
With UTQC, it's clear that Ellison wasn't intent simply building upon what he'd achieved with Cosmogramma. No, he dialed things back to zero, bringing with him what he'd learned and built from that period, instead. Ellison has turned to the sounds of pop, soul, fusion, and psychedelia from the 1960s and '70s for inspiration and re-contextualized them within a framework that has little to do with beat music anymore.