I know what you’re thinking: Yeezy overload. but it’s a slow Friday and Kanye West’s weekly series have stopped for the time being, and presumably won’t commence a. ever again or b. after the holidays. His entourage has mentioned that they’re done for a while, as the promotional run for MBDTF continues.

Whether you like it or not, G.O.O.D. Friday definitely changed the landscape of how free music is given out. The internet paused (no, not like that) every Friday until the track dropped and nearly every blog I read would post or talk about the song. Granted, most of the time it was a post-hangover Saturday afternoon, but that’s neither here nor there. There were many hits, some misses and some in betweens – and this is my personal top 5. For the record, I’ve excluded the three tracks that made the album (“Devil in a New Dress,” “Monster” and “So Appalled.”)

Warning: Some of the cover art for the tracks are NSFW, so proceed with caution.

-grizzly

5. “Christian Dior Denim Flow” featuring Pusha T, Lloyd Banks, Ryan Leslie, Kid Cudi and John Legend (Produced by Kanye West)

Why: Let’s get this off right away: Every song chosen for this list is largely in part to the production — just so I don’t have to mention it every time. CDDF had my favorite hook from all of the tracks, Legend is the man. Sufficient (Ryan Leslie) to excellent (Pusha T) guest verses, along with a Yeezy verse that managed to namecheck every Dior Model. And the guitar solo!

4. “Power” remix f. Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz (Produced by Kanye West and Swizz Beatz)

Why: They managed to take one of the corniest songs (see: Snap!’s “The Power”) and flip it to one of Kanye’s most entertaining verses of the year. Hov’s verse got the job done, but all of the focus was on the cypher-like production. Not to mention, this is the jam that started off this whole series.

3. “Don’t Look Down” featuring Mos Def, Big Sean and Lupe Fiasco (Produced by Swizz Beatz)

Why: The reasons for including this song do NOT include Kanye’s verse, which is easily his weakest from all of the GF efforts. Two words: Big Sean. The man hopped on this song with a great vengeance and furious anger (“drinking all I can so I can turn to fire when I hug you”) and made a case for himself as to why he’s on the label in the first place. Oh, and Mos Def’s hook and Lupe on the track too? Sold.

2. “Looking For Trouble” featuring Pusha T, Cyhi the Prynce, Big Sean and J. Cole (Produced by Kanye West)

Why: Pick any artist that Ye decided to feature on this song and understand that it’s one of their, if not their best verse of the year. Big Sean gets his second best verse in, while Cyhi finally proves his worth. The GF series was the biggest stepping stone for Pusha T, who managed to become the best emcee on Kanye’s entire label over the course of one summer. Oh and J. Cole wrote his showstopper in an hour and a half.

1. “The Joy” featuring Jay-Z, Pete Rock, Kid Cudi and Curtis Mayfield (Produced by Pete Rock)

Why: You remember Slum Village’s “Selfish,” right? Kanye West said he was “the new version of Pete Rock,” and this song kinda brings all of that together. Jay-Z channels the vintage HOV from the 98/Hard Knock Life days and finally hops on a Pete Rock track and manages to put out one of his personal best in ages. Two fantastic Kanye verses, ad-libs from Pete, a smooth bridge from Cudi and an extended sample/interpolation of Curtis Mayfield’s “The Makings of You.” How is this not the best one?

Notes:

1. “Lord Lord Lord,” a less popular choice, was definitely in the running but was disqualified because Swizz Beatz’ verse is one of the most awful things I’ve ever heard. Charlie Wilson styled on that one. “Chain Heavy” was my shit, too.
2. “Devil in a New Dress” is the only album track that would’ve made this list, had I included album cuts.
3. My least favorite song was “Runaway Love,” but that’s too easy. “G.O.O.D. Friday” definitely takes the cake for worst song otherwise.
4. Pink Impact font overload.
5. You can download all of the G.O.O.D. Friday tracks here.
6. I’m gonna be really pissed when the songs start up, especially if any of the subsequent tracks are better than any of these. That’s a huge possibility considering three of these five tracks were released within the last month of the series.