2008 Woodie Awards
"Graduation" makes honors with critics
Patrick DePippo '09
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: Entertainment
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The Louis Vuitton Don is back: harder, better, faster, stronger.
Last Tuesday, Kanye West, the Chicago hip-hop artist, released his third album, "Graduation," to an eager fan base. He can proudly hold his head high while walking across the stage, knowing he aced the public examination.
"Graduation" aimed to remedy the problems of West's first two albums, "College Dropout" and "Late Registration." The new album is tighter, running a solid 51 minutes. To the relief of many, this is the first album free of any irksome skits, just track after track without interruption.
The beats are wonderfully imaginative, with melodic instrumentation, powerful synth work, and phenomenal sampling. West's drum kit, a device that holds thousands of recorded snare, cymbal, and drum samples, works seamlessly with the bass line. Piano chords complement the strings section and synth (or synthesizer) production. The use of samples from Elton John to Michael Jackson shows that West continues to push the envelope of conventional hip-hop, re-inventing the genre entirely.
He has finally reached equilibrium between music and lyrics. Listeners don't feel as though they are being bludgeoned by the instrumentals as they did with older tracks like "Gold Digger." Each track's tempo and intensity match the song perfectly, without overpowering the beats or inaudibly mumbling under them.
The vocals are forceful and brass with flashes of soulful verses, yet the lyrics are sub-par compared to previous work. The political and controversial West appears to have subdued by his success, with commercial-sounding tracks like "Good Life" filled with contrived content about sex, drugs, and money.
"Have you ever popped champagne on a plane/ While gettin' some brain/ Whipped it out, she said 'I never seen snakes on a plane.'"
However, West gets back to his basics, touching on social issues on tracks like "Drunk and Hot Girls," a re-examination of gold diggers and groupies, and the very opinionated "Flashing Lights." The record also contains numerous tracks for West to feed his ego, especially "The Glory."
Last Tuesday, Kanye West, the Chicago hip-hop artist, released his third album, "Graduation," to an eager fan base. He can proudly hold his head high while walking across the stage, knowing he aced the public examination.
"Graduation" aimed to remedy the problems of West's first two albums, "College Dropout" and "Late Registration." The new album is tighter, running a solid 51 minutes. To the relief of many, this is the first album free of any irksome skits, just track after track without interruption.
The beats are wonderfully imaginative, with melodic instrumentation, powerful synth work, and phenomenal sampling. West's drum kit, a device that holds thousands of recorded snare, cymbal, and drum samples, works seamlessly with the bass line. Piano chords complement the strings section and synth (or synthesizer) production. The use of samples from Elton John to Michael Jackson shows that West continues to push the envelope of conventional hip-hop, re-inventing the genre entirely.
He has finally reached equilibrium between music and lyrics. Listeners don't feel as though they are being bludgeoned by the instrumentals as they did with older tracks like "Gold Digger." Each track's tempo and intensity match the song perfectly, without overpowering the beats or inaudibly mumbling under them.
The vocals are forceful and brass with flashes of soulful verses, yet the lyrics are sub-par compared to previous work. The political and controversial West appears to have subdued by his success, with commercial-sounding tracks like "Good Life" filled with contrived content about sex, drugs, and money.
"Have you ever popped champagne on a plane/ While gettin' some brain/ Whipped it out, she said 'I never seen snakes on a plane.'"
However, West gets back to his basics, touching on social issues on tracks like "Drunk and Hot Girls," a re-examination of gold diggers and groupies, and the very opinionated "Flashing Lights." The record also contains numerous tracks for West to feed his ego, especially "The Glory."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Barbara Curran
posted 10/01/07 @ 6:12 PM EST
Great review of a very controversial artist. Well researched and well written. Looking forward to more articles by this talented reporter.
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