I just told you that you were already familiar with his story, but I'll tell it anyways. Kanye West is a Chicago based artist that was mostly known for his skills on the boards, but no one ever thought they would hear him rhyming over his beats. Some of my reviews may have suggested I have a disliking towards Kanye, but that's not the case. In fact, you could make a damn good argument that he's one of the top ten producers of all time. Outside of my hip hop listening, Soul and R&B is a favorite of mine, which is exactly why I've gravitated towards Ye's work. (If that last sentence came as a shocker, surprise! There might even be a top non-hip-hop albums at the end of the year) He followed the normal road of an aspiring artist, but somehow fell into the hands of Roc-A-Fella Records.
If you think about it, every huge artist in today's mainstream has a so called prodigy. After Jay Z realized that Memphis Bleek was terrible, he knew it was time to find a young cat for him to roll with. I really don't want to overestimate Jigga's ability to find talents, so I'll say this was a matter of complete chance. Most likely, this was all the work of the manager at Roc-A-Fella, but regardless, everything worked out delightfully and Kanye became the next big thing. Everyone, including you, was head over heals in the Kanye-mania.
You might be interested in his big car accident, but I don't have all that much to say about it. Yeah, it happened and he made a song out of it. All covered? Good. As a blogger, I'm not really supposed to show my bias towards an artist, but that ship sailed a long as time ago. It might not be the reaction you expected, but I'm actually biased in favor of The College Dropout. Since I grew up during the Kanye era, this is one of the first albums I remember seeing around stores. The giant teddy bear looked cool enough and I've ended up purchasing every Ye album since. So all you Kanye fans who were expecting a bad review, you can breathe easy for now. Remember, though, I still have to listen to the album again. I'm not going to front, it's been a long ass time since I've heard this. Who knows, this may be one of those great albums that sounds like shit.
Lets hope not...
1. Intro
I don't know If I ever found these to be amusing, but this is not in the least bit entertaining. That's coming from someone who sits through hundreds of these things a week. I'm pretty sure this is one of those albums that contains twenty-five skits, making it seem much longer than it actually is. Decent marketing scheme, but I'm not falling for this trickery. I am partial to short albums, so at least that's realistic.
2. We Don't Care
I don't know why but I've always had it in my mind that the second song on all of Kanye's albums suck. Listening to this again, I think I know where I made this observation. The beat is technically sound for Kanye, but I wasn't entertained. For Kanye, his tales about selling drugs seem sincere, but it's not like I don't hear this shit everyday. I'm not saying this is a terrible song, but it would have served a better purpose if it was sequenced somewhere in the middle of the album. I'll stop, though. Kanye and his buddies obviously don't give a fuck, as indicated by the title.
3. Graduation Day (Feat. John Legend)
Many people forget that John Legend was part of the original G.O.O.D. music crew. He may be overlooked now, but he's been there since the beginning. Anyways, this is just a glorified skit, which doesn't sit well with me. If you're going to bombard me with your attempts at being funny, at least give me a fair warning.
4. All Falls Down (Feat. Syleena Johnson)
This is an album version of another original song. In a rare case, I actually enjoyed this one a lot more. The original featured vocals from Lauryn Hill, who I'm normally a fan of, but Syleena Johnson's redone vocals sound much better. If you get a chance, check out the damn video. I think you'll be happy with what you find. This song doesn't really give the album very much momentum, but it keeps it from going off the deep end. This may be foreshadowing, but I don't think this album is as good as I remember it. That's depressing.
5. I'll Fly Away
Stupid skits...
One of the more popular songs on the album and I must say it holds up a hell of a lot better than I thought it would. I actually really like this shit. I don't like GLC or any rapper of similar type, but he's pretty God damn awesome here. He sounds optimistic as hell, which was quite refreshing. Too many sad topics takes a toll on a guy, you know. Kanye was nice too, but I'm still not a fan of Consequence. Oh well, this is just what the album needed.
If you can recall, this is a single that had been built up since Kanye's mixtape days. When it finally dropped, it lived up to it's self created hype. It went on to win a Grammy, which is surprising. Good things never win Grammys and this is blatantly religious. The lyrics are fairly deep, but the crazy beat is what makes the song. I tend to disagree on these things, but when people say this is one of his greatest songs, well they aren't fucking around.
This is the song most people were anticipating whenever the tracklist came out. That's only because Kanye invited his employer onto a track. Jigga is great until the last few bars, but this starts off the long and painful process of Kanye getting murdered every time he rhymes with Hov. Its no "Diamonds From Sierra Leone", but we can all agree on who had the better performance. Also, there was an original version of this song somewhere, but it's not worth checking out. The only reason I mention it is because of how obvious it was when the beat overpowers the lyrics.
Now here's the song I've been waiting on. The star studded guest list doesn't disappoint and this song is fucking incredible. Talib's introduction is funny as hell, but Kanye is an absolute mobster in this one. Common has the worst verse, but that's to be expected. I'm a fan, but this was during a pretty bad part of his career. Just pray we never hear anything like Electric Circus again. It's far from a song ruiner, though. The best song on the album so far.
These things just keep on getting worse.
What the hell is this. He was on such a roll, then this joke of a song happened. I know it was a single, but I don't know what type of person would be convinced to buy an album after hearing this. If there's a redeeming quality, the video might have been funny. I haven't seen it in ages and I might be confusing it with something else. Either way, avoid this one at all costs.
I'm not sure why Kanye was allowed to do this, but it's here. "Slow Jamz" was originally a Twista song that helped him break into the mainstream. I'm assuming everything worked out well with the two Chicago artists so I'm not worried. Kanye's appearance improves the song, while Jamie Foxx and Aisha Tyler stick with the same roles. That being said, it's not like this song was ever that good in the first place.
Another song that appeared on previous mixtapes, but this time it's Ludacris performing the hook, which is incredibly weak. The only reason this song happened is because of the two's success with "Stand Up". Ironically, Kanye would end up getting sued over the same damn song. Funny how these things work out.
Can we at least make these things funny? I'd be fine with skits if they actually served a purpose but this is getting out of control.
To this day I'm still shocked this made the final cut. The album version is censored to the point that it's inaudible. There's no unreal cursing that calls for the censoring. Instead, there was an issue with the Aretha Franklin sample. I've never understood why in the world an artist would have a problem with being sampled. Its basically the highest form of praise in rap. If you're a huge Kanye fan, you can probably find this on the internet but it's not worth it. The songs not very good in the first place.
I've heared this album so many damn times, but it's getting difficult not to throw my headphones at this point.
What?!!?!? Two skits in a fucking row, this is just nonsense.
This song is alright, but it gave me no reason to ever listen to it again. Another one of the five singles, this never caught my attention the way Kanye would have liked. The video looks like it was shot in Kanye's backyard, while it sounds like was produced by Puff Daddy. Juxtaposition can be funny, but it doesn't work here. Lastly, it was good hearing from Mos Def. Now all we need to do is get him on Cruel Winter.
I've always been impressed as hell at how well Kanye articulates his words with his mouth wired shut. This was released as the first single and I'm sure you know he recorded it after his car accident. The song doesn't hold up as well as I thought, but I still love it. The beat shows what Kanye was all about in the mid 2000's, while his rapping is also pretty good. Another case where I would recommend watching the video. I can be bipolar with Kanye, but I'll admit the man makes some of the best damn video. Sorry, that doesn't include "Black Skinhead".
Cheesy as hell, but this song is still enjoyable. It's become somewhat of a tradition for Kanye to throw in one of these songs, but that's a good thing. Surprisingly, it's one of the things he does best. All the up tempo beats and tension is brought down for a short little song for his family. Remember that you didn't already know everything about his family at this point either.
Whenever I see a closing track that's twelve minutes long, it's almost a gaurantee there will be some type of hidden bonus track. Thats not the case here. Kanye recycles a couple verses from his mixtapes, but that shouldn't be a problem since most of you all have never heard those songs. Our host runs through whats been going on in this life during his rise to fame. If you care about Kanye, this song will be enjoyable as hell. Thankful I fall under that category, which means I enjoyed this song quite a bit. Mostly, it was cool as hell when he flat out admitted to stealing the drums from Dr. Dre's "Xxplosive". Not the best song on the album, but a good way to close the show
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but The College Dropout may not be as good as you remember. Hell, I don't know if it really deserves a three and a half star rating. This disc could have been excellent, but Kanye committed errors all over the damn place. The best songs on here are great and essential to all hip hop fans, but a lot of them don't hold up at all. Skits and filler fuck up most of the album, but most of those are rookie mistakes. Kanye's debut is nowhere near where critics would like to think, but it's a good place to start. That being said, I still recommend you hear this. Through all the bullshit is five incredible songs that still rank among Kanye's best work, and for that, The College Dropout essential listening.