Kanye West’s “Mercy” vs. “Runaway” – Vote for the Best Song

When it comes to hip-hop in 2016, Kanye West has been dominating the conversation. Whether it’s a new album, a surprise studio collaboration, teaming up with a major brand or using Twitter as a sounding board, he continuously makes headlines for every move he makes.

Last month, Yeezy dropped his seventh solo LP, The Life of Pablo, after four title changes, edited tracklists and a seemingly endless amount of collaborators. While his road to debuting the project was quite the journey of triumphs and tribulations, the music is what matters most. To get to this point, the Chi-town MC has blessed fans with solid, standout material ranging from mixtape cuts, album singles and Grammy-winning efforts over the years.

With so many songs in this rap powerhouse’s catalog, XXL is highlighting some of the best and pitting them against each other to find out which one reigns supreme according to you, the fans. We started out with 32 tracks, selected from his seven albums, to compete. Round one in the bracket competition has ended and now we're on to round two. "Mercy" and "Runaway" are up next.

It’s all about crew love on “Mercy.” Featuring guest verses from Big Sean, 2 Chainz and Pusha T, the G.O.O.D Music cut off the group’s compilation album Cruel Summer, made a splash in 2012, added to rap’s lexicon and had everyone ad libbing all summer.

As one of the lead singles off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, “Runaway” served as a personal vent session for Kanye. “She find pictures in my email / I sent this bitch a picture of my dick / I don’t know what it is with females / but I’m not too good with that shit,” he raps. And to top it off, these closet-cleaning lines were aided by the clean, crisp piano riff, a standout beat in ‘Ye’s career thus far.

Now it’s time to vote. Think hard and place your vote in the poll below for your favorite song: Kanye’s “Mercy” or “Runaway.” This round ends on March 18 so make your vote count. You can vote once per hour until the poll closes.

Every Kanye West Album Ranked