An artist within Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music camp has told The Huffington Post that there will be no "Cruel Winter" compilation album.
Malik Yusef, a Grammy-winning songwriter and spoken-word artist who appears on "Cruel Summer," adds that the term is instead being used to describe "a DONDA movement of art, including music and fashion." (DONDA is West's all-purpose design and innovation firm, named after his late mother.)
The new information comes on the heels of label signee Common's assertion that G.O.O.D. Music's rappers, singers and producers are working on their solo material. "'Cruel Winter' is this frantic pace of getting our collective powers moving," Yusef said. "It's a spiritual thing."
"We all have 2013 offerings and initiatives coming," he added. Yusef has been working on music, Common starred in "LUV" and rumors of a solo West album have been percolating for some time now.
In a video interview with VIBE (available below), Common says he's unsure if Kanye West is planning "Cruel Winter" at all. The "I Used to Love H.E.R." rapper repeated his doubts in an interview with Vulture, sounding even more convinced there was no compilation in the works: "Oh, yeah, nah, nah. I don't think that's happening. It was more of a rumor -- cat's been creating, but everybody's been doing their solo album. So that's what that is."
On Wednesday, "N----s in Paris" producer Hit-Boy also confirmed that an album was not on the immediate horizon.
"Cruel Winter" would have been a follow-up to 2012's "Cruel Summer," a compilation album that produced a string of mega-hit singles (including "Mercy," "Cold" and "New God Flow"), but was met with a lukewarm critical reception upon release.
In previous tweets, interviews and Instagram photos, Yusef, Q-Tip and Big Sean had all hinted that there was a "Cruel Winter" album in the works.
