Graduation
Kanye West
In Depth
Review
Opening Opinion: 9.5
My hype for
this album was very high. It’s kind of a hard feeling to describe. I had heard
enough singles form the album to know that it was dope. However what wasn’t apparent
to me is this going to be his best album, or not. Graduation certainly lives up
to that hype….and it’s my favorite rap album ever.
The first 3
songs are all pretty different. “Champion” has a great sample, and Kanye shows
improved lyrical ability on this song, as well as the whole album. “Good
Morning”, the first track is a great opener. It’s laid back, but incredibly
effective. There’s a Jay-z quote at the end of it. Stronger samples the Daft
Punk song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. The song isn’t that great
lyrically, but the way it flows together just oozes creativity. I love the
chorus also.
“I Wonder”
is a really cool track. Kanye raps slowly over a very elegant beat. The sampled
chorus just works wonders here. The song is an interesting one to say the
least. “Good Life” is a great feal-good kind of track. For one it samples MJ’s “P.Y.T.(Pretty
Young Thing)” song. Kanye’s lyrics are great here. AH did I mention he is
joined by T-Pain here. Yes it seems that just about every Kanye album features
who ever is hot at the time he makes his album. You know what? There’s nothing
wrong with that. T-Pain does a great job here.
“Can’t Tell
Me Nothing” is the album’s best track. The beat is low and kind of a backdrop,
but there’s 2 samples in this song. A lady singin out stuff(still not sure what
she’s saying) and Young Jeezy sayin, “Yea” and “hahah”. I was a little
skeptical about this song at first, but it quickly grew on me. Kanye’s lyrics
hit hard, and everything blends together quite well.
“Barry Bonds” features Lil Wayne(see whoever was hot around the time). Anyways Kanye goes first and sets the bar high, but Weezy does a pretty good job on this track. The beat just sounds like a typical Kanye beat. “Drunk N Hot Girls” isn’t a great song, but its not terrible either. The beat is hot. Did I mention it features a singing Mos Def. The song runs a lil too long, but is fairly catchy.
The next song
is “Flashing Lights”. An extremely dope song. The beat is awesome. Kanye spits
about a woman, “She in the mirror dancing so sleezy….” The chorus seals the
deal as this is one of the best songs on the album. “Feelin Like Katrina with
No F.E.M.A. , Like Martin with no Gina”, raps West. “Everything I Am” is the
most laid back song here, and its well placed on the album. Kanye gets very
introspective on it. “Here we go again, Common passed on this beat, I made it
to a jam”. The song is really good even though sometimes it’s too laid back for
its own good.
“The Glory”
is a high energy song. Kanye spits over a standard beat with a very well used
sample. His lyrics are impeccable here. “Its easy, the hood love to listen to Weezy
and Jeezy, and oh yea Yeezy”. “The Glory” is a very celebratory song.
“Hoemcoming” is Kanye’s ode to Chai City..aka Chicago. It’s
an interesting song. Chris Martin does a great job on the chorus. The beat is
perfect for the song.
“Big
Brother” is Kanye’s ode to Jay-z. It’s a terrific telling of how Kanye was
first very nervous of meeting Jay, and then how Jay helped him grow as an
artist. The lyricism on this song is no joke. This is also the only song on the
album that Kanye did not produce. It has kinda of a cinematic/royalty feel to
it. “My big Brother, was Big’s Brother…..”
2nd Opinion: 9.5
Kanye’s 3rd
album is just as good as his 2nd album. It has its flaws, but its strengths
far out weight those flaws.
