Rainydawg Album Review
Graduation
Kanye West
What’s left to do when your debut album was a breakthrough classic and your sophomore album avoids the slump to receive even more praise? Well, you graduate to the next level of course. But it wasn’t as easy as passing classes and grabbing the diploma for Kanye West. He seemed to want more on this album than the previous two. And even with a shorter track list of 13 (the first two had 21 with a handful of skits respectively), Graduation packs a piercing punch.
With a hollowing welcome, “Good Morning” gives us the tantalizing new sounds that Kanye West has honed as of late. This intro-song is definitely a sign that Kanye has found a more complex direction to pursue, lyrically and production-wise.
The boastful accolades from Kanye didn’t go anywhere on tracks like “Champion” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” The latter being his first single, it didn’t do well commercially but was a success as a street single and proved to be a menacing slap-in-the-face towards critics and haters alike.
Kanye’s sampling of Daft Punk’s synthpop-sound for his second single “Stronger” provides a more “futuristic” amplitude to his crateful of soul records. This same structural sound is seamlessly apparent in a few other tracks such as “Flashing Lights,” a string-swaying melody featuring Dwele on the vocals. In it Kanye paints a troubling picture of the girl that still haunts. Also on “I Wonder,” Mr. West pronounces his intimate thoughts through a synth-based beat, piano added for a more subtle approach.
If there was one signature detail Graduation couldn’t exist without, it would be that chipmunk sound we’ve grown to love. Kanye brings it back for us on “The Glory.” Lyrically, this is his strongest track to grace the album, with countless comparisons and witty lines only Ye’ would thrive on. On the other side of the spectrum, “Drunk and Hot Girls” is much more playful, but the lyrics are lacking in true substance.
Taking a more mature stance, “Big Brother” is a give and take track with Kanye honoring God Mc himself, Jay-z. Starting from the past of when he was just a producer to the present day rapper, Ye’ explains the ups and downs he’s had with Jigga, and the respect that has built up over time for his big brother. Co-produced by DJ Toomp, it has a distinctly strong bass line. This is evident in the two other tracks Toomp worked on, including the future (I’m throwing this out there) smash single “Good Life.”
Please let these numbers sink in: 957,000 to 691,000. Hip-hop and its lackluster have found its new spokesman. Fading away is the reinforced emphasis on sex, drugs, and violence. As cliché as it sounds, Kanye just brought the G.O.O.D. music. And the people responded.