Kanye West With Justin Bieber and Raekwon, "Runaway Love (Remix);" Kanye West With Rick Ross, Jay-Z...

Kanye West With Justin Bieber and Raekwon, “Runaway Love (Remix);” Kanye West With Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver, “Monster”

The busy, busy Kanye West took a pretty simple approach to his much-hyped bringing together of teeny-bopper Justin Bieber and the Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon: he basically recorded Rae and himself rapping over the grimy finger-snap beat from the 1993’s “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” (funny that, when Rae was so careful to write lyrics appropriate for his 16-year-old co-star), and laid clips of Bieber’s vocal track overtop for the chorus. But in the way that shows how simple is so often best, it sounds pretty great. It definitely has the feel of the mid-’90s heyday of hip-hop/R&B; mashups. You could almost imagine hearing it between Method Man and Mary J. Blige’s “All I Need” and Mariah’s “Fantasy” remix with O.D.B. at the Tunnel. And at least from the first few listens, I prefer it to this other Kanye track that came out over the weekend, “Monster,” featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver.