Kanye West - Graduation
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Artist:
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Album:
Mog Rating: *8.5 out of 10 Stars*
*The Good:* Those annoying "Broke Phi Broke" skits are gone. Lyrically, Kanye has never been better. "Big Brother" was a big risk that paid off. Overall the album is very adventurous.*The Bad:* No more fake Bernie Mac. "Barry Bonds" is a lackluster effort from both Kanye and Weezy. *The Ugly:* He ruined "Home", the original version was fine as is, John Legend fit the track much better than Chris Martin.
Kanye West has has done such a good job of running around professing his greatness over the last four years, that we've actually come to expect it. College Dropout put the world on notice, and Late Registration upped the ante in hip hop. Needless to say, expectations for Graduation are through the roof, and Kanye probably wouldn't have it any other way. Not only will the music be held under a microscope, the sales of the album will be as well. The competition between Kanye and 50 Cent has spread like wildfire fueling debates between their two very different legions of fans. Of course it's a great marketing strategy, but it's also great in the sense that hip hop can have a big rivalry without someone getting shot or hospitalized. At this point, we've all been beaten over the head with hype and anticipation, so lets get straight to the music.Unlike most other albums that load the best tracks at the beginning of the disc, Kanye's modus operandi has been quite the opposite. It usually takes a few tracks to get into the meat of the offering and Graduation is no different. 'Good Morning' and 'Champion' are good tracks, but nothing overly memorable.
Good Life featuring T-Pain is the most blatant attempt at radio play on the album. I WANTED to hate this song, I really did. I'm not much of a T-Pain fan, but this track is just so damned catchy you can't deny it for long. I bet you're reading this shaking your head thinking the same won't happen to you, it will. All your base belong to T-Pain and his vocoder. Can't Tell Me Nothin is one of the only hood anthems Kanye included on Graduation, but he makes sure his lone shot is a good one. This song is deceptively catchy and while it may lack the outright attention grabbing sound or vsiuals of Stronger, I think over time it may end up being the most memorable of the two. It appeals to the average joe and it's easy to sing along to. It's also just another example of the polarization between someone like Kanye and 50 Cent. While Fitty is bragging on his 400 million dollar fortune in "I Get Money", Kanye has the working mans chant. I don't know if anyone else but me has been catching themselves humming "laaa la la laaaa wait til I get my money right" to themselves over the last two months.
Drunk And Hot Girls is sort of an odd track, I'm still not quite sure what to think of it. When i first read the name of the song I imagined something along the lines of "The New Workout Plan" but it's kind of like Kanye's version of "What These Bitches Want":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xadpmrfl6B8 by DMX. Mos Def also appears on the song, unfortunately it's not Mos Def he lyricist, its Mos Def the crooner (translation = bad). The original version of Homecoming leaked in 2003 before his album College Dropout hit the streets. It featured West's signature soul sample along with vocals from John Legend, the final product was excellent. For some reason it was never included on the album, and remained an unreleased Kanye West gem ... untill now. The new version of the song is different to say the least, John Legend and the soul sample are gone and replaced with Chris Martin of Coldplay along with a new verse. I'm incredibly disappointed with how the track was changed, almost every modification turned out to be for the worst. *"Check out the original version of Homecoming here":http://www.zshare.net/audio/348427098af8ae/*
The last third of this album isn't as strong as the middle, but it doesn't fall off too much. "Everything I Am" and "The Glory" are servicable tracks, but they are quickly forgotten amid the gems that surround them. Flashing Lights is awesome, all the elements that make up this track are in perfect harmony. At times Kanye's music is so ambitious that certain bits seem out of place, but for three minutes and fifty seven seconds, Flashing Lights strikes gold. Dwele adds the icing on the cake with the chorus, it's just a great song.
To close out the album, we have Big Brother. There is one word that describes this track perfectly.... SWEET. I don't mean sweet as in "cool!!", or sweet as in possibly homosexual (although alot of hip hop fans beg to differ), but sweet as in emotionally touching. Big Brother is basically a track idolizing Jay-Z. Hip hop has always been extra macho, masculine, bravado filled music, and for a rapper to make a song idolizing another man who isn't god or their father is a no-no. It's been incredibly interesting listening to everyones opinion on this song in the hip hop community, the initial reactions were always somewhere along the lines of, "Yo, thats kinda gay". Personally I think it's easily one of the best cuts on the album, and required a good amount of guts to record. Even the most popular of rappers aren't exempt to the rampant homophobia in hip hop, just ask Lil' Wayne. Kanye says it best, "If you admire somebody you should go 'head and tell 'em, people never get the flowers while they can still smell em". If you remember the closing track on his debut album "Last Call", this song is similar in the aspect that he chronicles his path from nobody to superstardom, while professing his appreciation for Jay-Z.
At the end of the day, Graduation fails to deliver with the potency of College Dropout and Graduation, but it's still a great album. The effort Kanye is putting into making timeless music is commendable, in today's hip hop too much emphasis is put on making the flavor of the month instead of making music that will be seen as great 40 years from now. Kanye is striving for the latter and it really shows in work. Underneath all the outbursts of conceit, and loud mouthed rants in the media, is someone who is really serious about his craft. The strides he makes on Graduation to bridge the gap between stuntin' and self reflection are great. This third album is just a continuation of the mission 'Ye has been on for years, and although the the classic hip hop edge may have been dilluted a bit, the fruits of this experimentation prove to be worthwhile.
*The Good:* Those annoying "Broke Phi Broke" skits are gone. Lyrically, Kanye has never been better. "Big Brother" was a big risk that paid off. Overall the album is very adventurous.*The Bad:* No more fake Bernie Mac. "Barry Bonds" is a lackluster effort from both Kanye and Weezy. *The Ugly:* He ruined "Home", the original version was fine as is, John Legend fit the track much better than Chris Martin.
Kanye West has has done such a good job of running around professing his greatness over the last four years, that we've actually come to expect it. College Dropout put the world on notice, and Late Registration upped the ante in hip hop. Needless to say, expectations for Graduation are through the roof, and Kanye probably wouldn't have it any other way. Not only will the music be held under a microscope, the sales of the album will be as well. The competition between Kanye and 50 Cent has spread like wildfire fueling debates between their two very different legions of fans. Of course it's a great marketing strategy, but it's also great in the sense that hip hop can have a big rivalry without someone getting shot or hospitalized. At this point, we've all been beaten over the head with hype and anticipation, so lets get straight to the music.Unlike most other albums that load the best tracks at the beginning of the disc, Kanye's modus operandi has been quite the opposite. It usually takes a few tracks to get into the meat of the offering and Graduation is no different. 'Good Morning' and 'Champion' are good tracks, but nothing overly memorable.
Good Life featuring T-Pain is the most blatant attempt at radio play on the album. I WANTED to hate this song, I really did. I'm not much of a T-Pain fan, but this track is just so damned catchy you can't deny it for long. I bet you're reading this shaking your head thinking the same won't happen to you, it will. All your base belong to T-Pain and his vocoder. Can't Tell Me Nothin is one of the only hood anthems Kanye included on Graduation, but he makes sure his lone shot is a good one. This song is deceptively catchy and while it may lack the outright attention grabbing sound or vsiuals of Stronger, I think over time it may end up being the most memorable of the two. It appeals to the average joe and it's easy to sing along to. It's also just another example of the polarization between someone like Kanye and 50 Cent. While Fitty is bragging on his 400 million dollar fortune in "I Get Money", Kanye has the working mans chant. I don't know if anyone else but me has been catching themselves humming "laaa la la laaaa wait til I get my money right" to themselves over the last two months.
Drunk And Hot Girls is sort of an odd track, I'm still not quite sure what to think of it. When i first read the name of the song I imagined something along the lines of "The New Workout Plan" but it's kind of like Kanye's version of "What These Bitches Want":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xadpmrfl6B8 by DMX. Mos Def also appears on the song, unfortunately it's not Mos Def he lyricist, its Mos Def the crooner (translation = bad). The original version of Homecoming leaked in 2003 before his album College Dropout hit the streets. It featured West's signature soul sample along with vocals from John Legend, the final product was excellent. For some reason it was never included on the album, and remained an unreleased Kanye West gem ... untill now. The new version of the song is different to say the least, John Legend and the soul sample are gone and replaced with Chris Martin of Coldplay along with a new verse. I'm incredibly disappointed with how the track was changed, almost every modification turned out to be for the worst. *"Check out the original version of Homecoming here":http://www.zshare.net/audio/348427098af8ae/*
The last third of this album isn't as strong as the middle, but it doesn't fall off too much. "Everything I Am" and "The Glory" are servicable tracks, but they are quickly forgotten amid the gems that surround them. Flashing Lights is awesome, all the elements that make up this track are in perfect harmony. At times Kanye's music is so ambitious that certain bits seem out of place, but for three minutes and fifty seven seconds, Flashing Lights strikes gold. Dwele adds the icing on the cake with the chorus, it's just a great song.
To close out the album, we have Big Brother. There is one word that describes this track perfectly.... SWEET. I don't mean sweet as in "cool!!", or sweet as in possibly homosexual (although alot of hip hop fans beg to differ), but sweet as in emotionally touching. Big Brother is basically a track idolizing Jay-Z. Hip hop has always been extra macho, masculine, bravado filled music, and for a rapper to make a song idolizing another man who isn't god or their father is a no-no. It's been incredibly interesting listening to everyones opinion on this song in the hip hop community, the initial reactions were always somewhere along the lines of, "Yo, thats kinda gay". Personally I think it's easily one of the best cuts on the album, and required a good amount of guts to record. Even the most popular of rappers aren't exempt to the rampant homophobia in hip hop, just ask Lil' Wayne. Kanye says it best, "If you admire somebody you should go 'head and tell 'em, people never get the flowers while they can still smell em". If you remember the closing track on his debut album "Last Call", this song is similar in the aspect that he chronicles his path from nobody to superstardom, while professing his appreciation for Jay-Z.
At the end of the day, Graduation fails to deliver with the potency of College Dropout and Graduation, but it's still a great album. The effort Kanye is putting into making timeless music is commendable, in today's hip hop too much emphasis is put on making the flavor of the month instead of making music that will be seen as great 40 years from now. Kanye is striving for the latter and it really shows in work. Underneath all the outbursts of conceit, and loud mouthed rants in the media, is someone who is really serious about his craft. The strides he makes on Graduation to bridge the gap between stuntin' and self reflection are great. This third album is just a continuation of the mission 'Ye has been on for years, and although the the classic hip hop edge may have been dilluted a bit, the fruits of this experimentation prove to be worthwhile.
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