They say that Flavor Flav is the greatest “hype” man in the business, and that may be so. Certainly if Flav is Numero Uno, then Kanye West is nipping at his heels. On the dawn of his third major studio release, and the finale of his college series, West shows all his colors in a catchy, yet boastful album.
Starting out as a producer for acts on Jay-Z’s Roc-a-Fella records, West soon rose to the top of the rap game in 2004 with the release of College Dropout. With hits like “Jesus Walks” and “Through the Wire,” he became widely known for his intelligent rhymes and the desire to make it big. A year later, Late Registration dropped to critical acclaim and West became a household name and big time baller. Now, on the cusp of solidifying his place in music history, West is faced with the struggle of his career—stay true to the sound or sell out to the bling-bling hip-hop that’s so prevalent. With his reputation for social consciousness and a history of writing smart rap songs, Graduation should blow our minds, right?
The intro to the album, “Good Morning,” featuring Jay-Z, begins like most Kanye West tracks do— a choir and a soulful woman singing in falsetto as Kanye interrupts with his signature slow rhymes. With lyrics like “I’m like a fly Malcolm X / Buy any jeans necessary,” and “But you graduate when you make it up outta the streets / From the moments of pain / Look how far we done came / Haters sayin’ ya changed,” you start to get the feeling that Graduation may be more about feeding West’s ego than making statements. However, there are plenty more songs on the album with the air of being self-deprecating. “Good Life,” “Barry Bonds,” and “Flashing Lights” seem to highlight his ascending financial situation. “Good Life” starts by blasting out “Throw your hands up” paired with T-Pain’s signature twangy “Ay.” Rapping about Ferraris, popping champagne on a plane, and luxury cities, a good beat can’t save this song from coming across as anything more than a blatant ego-trip. In “Barry Bonds,” Kanye, plain and simple, compares himself to the number one homerun hitter in Major League Baseball. As for the song itself, the sound is reminiscent of West’s “Drive Slow (Homie),” off of Late Registration. “Flashing Lights” is yet another song glamorizing Kanye’s bank account. Thanks man, we get the point.
By spitting his rhymes in a casual slow manner behind beats that make all the girls want to shake their booty, Kanye’s jams are easily enjoyed by everyone. Does it matter that his ego is the size of a football field, as long as the songs still sound good? Does the rest of the album justify his claim of being in the “history books?”
Though some of the songs flaunt his own image, the rest of the album comes across as hip-hop classics. Tracks like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Everything I Am” are the return to West’s intelligent rapping that put him on the scene. Both seem like a mental check on his ever-growing love for himself and even offer up excuses for his ever-inflating ego. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” is the essential Graduation track. Blaring through the speakers with a soulful “Oh” and West’s urgent flow, the song brings you back to the honesty that you expect from the artist himself. “Had a dream I could buy my way to heaven / When I awoke I spent that on a necklace / I told God I’d be back in a second / Man, it’s so hard not to act reckless” and “My mama couldn’t get through to me / The drama, people suing me / I’m on TV talking like it’s just you and me,” are just two examples of West acknowledging his own flaws. On “Everything I Am,” Kanye responds to the critics and talks about the state of rap in general. “The streets is flarin’ up / Cause they want gun-talk, or I don’t wear enough / Baggy clothes, Reeboks, or A-di-dos,” flows with a piano in the background, juxtaposed with turn-table scratching.
Teaming up with Mos Def for “Drunk and Hot Girls,” and Chris Martin of Coldplay for “Homecoming,” he allowed for new sounds to diversify his repertoire. Though “Homecoming” is the perfect example of jam sessions gone horribly wrong, the track is definitely better than when Jay-Z and Martin collaborated for “Beach Chair” on Kingdom Come. Kanye West’s first single, “Stronger,” is also a bold track sampling Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” and it’s the ultimate dance anthem on the album.
It’s hard to believe that College Dropout came out only three years ago because Kanye West has turned into the rapper of our generation. With a style all his own and an ego the size of Times Square, West not only knows his importance, he flaunts it. Whether Graduation lives up to its name or not, I’ll let him walk, but certainly not with honors.
