As the first of my 'IMPROMPTU REVIEW's, I am taking the oppurtunity to review Kanye West's 'The College Dropout. Now, one thing you must understand about Kanye is, I love him. His music came to prominence in around 2004, when I was merely an extremely bodacious, cavalier 10 year old, learning the ways of music. For this reason, upon my initial listening to this album after finding it for a mere £1.50 in a bargain bucket (I know) my view was impaired by Nostalgia's big rose-tinted spectacles.
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| The spectacles in question. Rosey. |
The album itself almost acts as a justification for Ye's life choices, and in trademark Ye style, sticks two fingers up at run-of-the-mill academics, manifested within the character 'Lil' Jimmy', the ultimate parody of the over-achieving little nit from school that everyone loves to hate. The first three tracks (Intro, We Don't Care, and Graduation Day) also introduce the 'Headteacher' character, a deplorable, shallow caricature of the politically conscious headteacher, and most probably a reflection of one of West's former superiors. This character is extremely reminiscent of Beavis and Butthead's headteacher, especially with the trademark reversions to profanity (''What in the fuck was that KAAAAAAANYE!''). These angry, anti-establishment raps are swiftly replaced by tracks that reallly, in my opinion, show the class of West's production ability. He utilises hard hitting beats, often perfectly in tandem with samples, even at one point sampling Chaka Khan's 'Through The Fire'. I am a massive fan of this technique, whether it be the absorbing thrash style utilised by Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad, or the old school, more relaxed style implemented by Wu Tang Clan and Mos Def. West, by using a range of such techniques, really shows his scope as a producer, and is complemented superbly by his lax, lyrically competent rapping.
In conjunction with all this, perhaps my favourite aspect of this album is the numerous collaborations, from Syleena Johnson to Ludacris. In true Rocafella style, each brings their own to the table, with the most impressive being Twista's lightning rap in Slow Jamz, a song which to me is the epitome of the '04 sound.
All in all this is a superb, multi dimensional album that even non-rap fans can enjoy, a true 10/10. This is mirrored by its record 7 MOBO nominations, surprising considering it os Kanye's first album.
I know that this being my first actual blog I'm probably setting the benchmark pretty high but this is an album that I have wanted to write about since I relapsed. Sorry.
In conjunction with all this, perhaps my favourite aspect of this album is the numerous collaborations, from Syleena Johnson to Ludacris. In true Rocafella style, each brings their own to the table, with the most impressive being Twista's lightning rap in Slow Jamz, a song which to me is the epitome of the '04 sound.
All in all this is a superb, multi dimensional album that even non-rap fans can enjoy, a true 10/10. This is mirrored by its record 7 MOBO nominations, surprising considering it os Kanye's first album.
I know that this being my first actual blog I'm probably setting the benchmark pretty high but this is an album that I have wanted to write about since I relapsed. Sorry.
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