Late Registration
Kanye West
In Depth
Review
Opening Opinion: 9.25
I was very very excited to
buy this album when it first came out. I’m pretty sure everyone was wondering
could Kanye hit a home run again. And the answer is a resounding yes; even
though his lyrics aren’t improved from College Dropout. The beats are also different.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but this album has a glossier sound than
his debut album.
The album starts off
with that teacher(yeah the faculty guy from CD) telling Kanye to wake up in his
class. Then there’s 3 great songs, Heard Em Say featuring Adam Levine(who was
pretty popular at the time). It’s a really nice laid back song. Then there’s
the explosive Touch the Sky which has Lupe Fiasco on it. Ah I had never heard
of the Chai Town rapper before that song. Gold Digger is an anthem type song.
Jamie Foxx is on the hook and the beat is very original.
After that there’s a
Broke Phi Broke skit, which is the first of 4 on the album. Its pretty funny.
Drive Slow features Paul Wall and Consequence. The song is real laid back with a
dope beat. Kanye goes first, and the other two rappers cannot steal the spotlight.
Next is My Way Home, which lets Common rap by himself. This verse is really
good opposed to the bars he had on College Dropout. The song isn’t all that
great though.
The next song, Crack
Music, has Game on the hook. He doesn’t add much to the song really. Kanye
spits about how Blacks were oppressed and he talks about rap being…crack music,
that real black music. Roses is a very personal song for Ye’. He talks about
his Grandmother’s passing. I love the chorus.
Brandy joins Ye’ on
Bring Me Down. It’s a pretty good song. The beat is nothing special as far as
Kanye’s beats go. Kanye takes jabs at unnamed rappers a lot in this song. The
next song, Addiction, is simple but its one of my favorites. “Why everything
that spose to be bad make me feel so good…” The song is about Addictions to
money and women mostly. This song continues to add to the glossy polished sound
of the album.
Broke Phi Broke skit #2
is pretty funny. “Aint got no money, Aint got no clothes, Aint got no cars,
Cant get no hoes!” In an interesting move, Kanye puts the remix to his lead
single Diamonds right here after the
skit. Jay-z is on the song, and in the words of Ye’ he kills the track. For the
first time on the album a rapper steals the spotlight from Kanye. That isn’t too
surprising considering Jay is a top 5 rapper all time. The song is about
Rocafella records being around “Forever”. The song is really really dope.
We Major is a long song,
but its really good. The lyrics are dope, the beat is glossy as hell, and oh
yeah Nas, yes Nas is on it too. After that is a BPB skit, it’s a nice set up
for the next song, Hey Mama. Kanye’s ode to his mother(R.I.P.) is one of rap’s
best songs about a mother kinda like Pac’s Dear Mama. The song is good, but it’s
sample is a little corny. Celebration is a song I don’t listen to that much,
but its hot. The beat is about as glossy as you can get. The song is really
catchy.
The BFB skit returns for
the last time here. This one is hilarious as Ye’ is busted for “Eating
everyday, and making beats on the side”. Kanye cannot explain his new shoes
lol. Gone is a great song. It features Cam’ron and Consequence. It’s a great
end to the album as Ye’s spits the last bars. The bonus tracks are Diamonds and
Late. Both are great songs.
2nd Opinoin: 9.5/10
While its not quite as great as its predecessor, Late Registration is a win for Kanye. He avoids the sophomore slump easily.
While its not quite as great as its predecessor, Late Registration is a win for Kanye. He avoids the sophomore slump easily.
