Graduation

[Mashed Potatoes]

Ridiculous production from top to bottom. Kanye gets on my nerves a lot, and most rappers kill Kanye's beats better than Kanye himself. However I can't be a hater. I applaud his willingness to expand the boundaries of rap and sample any and every genre of music. I also applaud not bloating the track list. There's no filler here.

Need some more time to digest the lyrics before I rate the album though. Also I'm in love with the album cover.
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/album-art/kanye-wests-graduation-cover-for-real.html

[ledzepp8]

I've liked what I've heard from it so far, except for the god awful "Barry Bonds".

[66-70-83-??]

Ridiculous production from top to bottom. Kanye gets on my nerves a lot, and most rappers kill Kanye's beats better than Kanye himself. However I can't be a hater. I applaud his willingness to expand the boundaries of rap and sample any and every genre of music. I also applaud not bloating the track list. There's no filler here.

Need some more time to digest the lyrics before I rate the album though. Also I'm in love with the album cover.
http://www.stereogum.com/archives/album-art/kanye-wests-graduation-cover-for-real.html

My generation just can't use "rap" in the same sentence as "music". :o

[Mashed Potatoes]

My generation just can't use "rap" in the same sentence as "music". :o

Well that's a problem with your generation and not rap...and I disagree. Even my father now enjoys a couple of rap songs. If he can, anyone can. The keys are

A) Exposing one to real rap, not just the crap on MTV and the radio.
B) Closing the culture/language gap. Most older people, especially older white people simply can't even understand what rappers are saying. Besides immersing oneself in a different culture (not feasible), the only solution is patience and persistence. The more you listen the more you understand.

As of now country music makes me want to jump out of a moving vehicle. I'll bet if someone gave me some songs with intelligent lyrics and I gave those tracks a real chance, listening to them more than once, my aversion would lessen. This probably won't happen and I hate country, but I won't go as far to say that it isn't music.

How do you define music and what do you think rap is lacking that prevents inclusion into this category?

[Lt Melmo]

I agree that he's getting more and more... eccentric(sampling Steely Dan!?) but I've liked every song I've heard(except Barry Bonds, like everyone...)

If you've got the chance to hear Flashing Lights, listen to it. I love it.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Can I ask how people have heard the CD already? Can anyone hook a brotha up?

This is my most anticipated album release since Kingdom Come last November.

[Lt Melmo]

This (http://hypem.com/search/kanye/1/) is how I hear it. Limited choice but I don't feel like using P2P or torrents or anything like that.

[66-70-83-??]

Well that's a problem with your generation and not rap...and I disagree. Even my father now enjoys a couple of rap songs. If he can, anyone can. The keys are

A) Exposing one to real rap, not just the crap on MTV and the radio.
B) Closing the culture/language gap. Most older people, especially older white people simply can't even understand what rappers are saying. Besides immersing oneself in a different culture (not feasible), the only solution is patience and persistence. The more you listen the more you understand.

As of now country music makes me want to jump out of a moving vehicle. I'll bet if someone gave me some songs with intelligent lyrics and I gave those tracks a real chance, listening to them more than once, my aversion would lessen. This probably won't happen and I hate country, but I won't go as far to say that it isn't music.

How do you define music and what do you think rap is lacking that prevents inclusion into this category?

Rap just isn't my cup of tea and with all the things on my plate now, I don't have the time to acquire a taste for it.

The original comment was a joke, anyway.

[Lt Melmo]

So, I just learned that the lyrics from "Homecoming" are the same as "Home," a track that was cut from College Dropout. Which pisses me off... Homecoming is the only new song I've heard that trumps the trend of Kanye's lyrics deteriorating with every release, or so I thought. That's disappointing. I really liked most of Kanye's writing on College Dropout, though he did always tend to surround himself with guests who are much better.

[Mashed Potatoes]

Rap just isn't my cup of tea and with all the things on my plate now, I don't have the time to acquire a taste for it.

The original comment was a joke, anyway.

Sorry, I'm hypersensitive when people criticize rap. I don't mind saying it's not your cup of tea, just that it's not music.


So, I just learned that the lyrics from "Homecoming" are the same as "Home," a track that was cut from College Dropout. Which pisses me off... Homecoming is the only new song I've heard that trumps the trend of Kanye's lyrics deteriorating with every release, or so I thought. That's disappointing. I really liked most of Kanye's writing on College Dropout, though he did always tend to surround himself with guests who are much better.

Download Home, the sample is so soulful and the pace fits better with the verse. Homecoming is more radio friendly though so it was a smart business decision.

Completely agree with your post. He's following the Jay-Z trend of rapping slower, with longer pauses in between words, as if to focus on his "swagger" more than anything else. Not that Kanye was ever the rapper Jay-Z was in his day, but this is just getting difficult to listen to.

BTW, drunk and hot girls is a terrible track, worse than Barry Bonds.

[Lt Melmo]

Trust me, I've been listening to Home dozens of times a day since I first heard it, as well as Patti LaBelle's You'll Never Walk Alone. The great thing about sampling is it always leads you to other good songs.

[YardBirds13]

Just listenened through the whole thing, and I don't get the hating on "Barry Bonds". I loved it.

Drunk and Hot Girls, while sorta funny, is definitely the worst song on the album.

Champion, Homecoming, Good Life, and Big Brother are probably my favorites (not counting the two singles, both of which I also liked)

[Pedro Cerrano]

Great record.

Better than "Late Registration" not as good as "College Dropout."

[Mackus]

Has everyone seen the alternate video for Can't Tell Me Nothing starring Zach Galifianakis yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpwgYsYWwdc
Hilarious. Kanye hired him to do this, too, which is awesome.

[Lucky Jim]

That's the video with Will Oldham, too - as farmers, right? I mean, what hip hop star would sign up Bonny Prince Billy for his video besides Kanye?

Surreal. Like, literally.

Kanye is - for now - pretty fearless. Which makes him worth watching...

[rolliefingers]

That's the video with Will Oldham, too - as farmers, right? I mean, what hip hop star would sign up Bonny Prince Billy for his video besides Kanye?

Surreal. Like, literally.

Kanye is - for now - pretty fearless. Which makes him worth watching...

That's a pretty brilliant video. I haven't heard the album, but I really admire his willingness to try anything and everything. That's a spirit sorely lacking in mainstream rap today.

[Avsfan]

I hate this, and 50's album equally....


Then again, I've never been a fan of Kanye....but seriously, he's all about making anthems and hitting as many people as possible...rather than putting out quality stuff. I think it's pretty ironic he chose Chris Martin to be on a track...cause Coldplay is the quintessential "biggest band in the world sound"

[rolliefingers]

I hate this, and 50's album equally....


Then again, I've never been a fan of Kanye....but seriously, he's all about making anthems and hitting as many people as possible...rather than putting out quality stuff. I think it's pretty ironic he chose Chris Martin to be on a track...cause Coldplay is the quintessential "biggest band in the world sound"

So is 50. Kanye has a ton more musical talent, though.

[Avsfan]

So is 50. Kanye has a ton more musical talent, though.

50 isn't a ***** though...big difference ;)

[rolliefingers]

50 isn't a ***** though...big difference ;)

I need to know which expletive you were using there, in order to properly refute it. I assure you that any 5-letter expletive you can imagine, applies to 50 more than Kanye. :)

[MPK76]

I just picked up Kanye's new disc. I actually like it, and this is coming from someone who is not a big fan of rap. I need to listen to it a couple more times, but as of right now, "Barry Bonds" and "Drunk and Hot Girls" are my least favorite, but they aren't terrible.

[MCL1021]

I like the Barry Bonds track, simply for the fact that Lil' Wayne is on it. Just because I have to hear just what he is going to say next whenever he shows up on someone's song.

I also like Can't Tell Me Nothing, Flashing Lights and Everything I Am...the rest is OK