Premature Evaluation: Kanye West - Graduation
It's back to school time, but Graduation's in the air (okay, stop the groaning, we'll stop the puns). You know hip-hop non-listeners haven't paid this much attention to a rapper since, well, Kanye himself dissed George W. during that Hurricane Katrina telethon. As we've mentioned, 'Ye knows how to pick his collaborators, especially when he's on a quest to be cool.
At this point we all know what Mr. West has done to court your inner hipster, but still, big ups for presaging Daft Punk as this year's hipster dance kings. We're just surprised he didn't hire Haruki Murakami (or, wait … Dave Eggers?) to write liner notes complimenting the purple-y Takashi Murakami graphic design. And, dude, where's the duet with Karen O (or, better yet, the Knife)?
Thing is, though, now that we have this baker's dozen o' new Kanye in front of us, the hipster brown-nosing feels less important. Like, now that we're used to the Daft Punking, what's with some of "Stronger"'s lyrics? "You can be my black Kate Moss tonight"? Does that make Kanye the black Pete Doherty? Kanye, you're inviting us to be your over-the-hill/looks-fading/cokehead girlfriend? Wonder if he's just glancing at NME.com every day and not really reading the stories (still, a laugh out loud for rhyming "would do anything for a blonde dyke" with "Klondike" … don't think they teach that shit in NME.)
Granted, we've had only a handful of full listens, but Graduation seems weaker than Late Registration -- "Diamonds" and "Gold Digger" are hard to top (even though Jamie Foxx is still hard to take). But that's the past. The present? How's about the future? "Good Morning" should be a sturdy graduation-day theme for years to come (and it name checks Rosie Perez). Lil Wayne, not spinning his best, still slices 'n' dices his way around Kanye on "Barry Bonds." The graduate handles himself better with Mos Def on "Drunk And Hot Girls," though despite the nice piano bridge and singing chorus, the rest of the song's pretty tunelessly frat-y (thought you were out of school, dude?). "I Wonder" feels half-cooked with its choppy, echo-staccato flow. Nice sample on that one, but, what else is new?
We do like that "Good Life" samples "P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)" and features T. Pain because we can easily make bad jokes like P.Y.T-Pain. (The robotic bootie shaker's one of the album's standouts) "Champion"'s another personal favorite. It's a tad awkward to cycle that vocal bit ("their eyes ... their eyes ... their eyes") but leave it to Kanye to sample Donald Fagen instead of "Kid Charlmeagne"'s thousand funky instrumental licks. And yet, he makes it work.
Not that 'Ye's always so innovative (last musician on earth to borrow "Move On Up") but it's sort of endearing how he embraces such bland, uncool pop singers (John Mayer, Adam Levine, Chris Martin) and yacht rock. And speaking of uncool pop singers: "Homecoming," his tune with Martin, does indeed sound like a bouncy, pre-Stranger Billy Joel outtake. Key word being outtake ... that's not a hit Piano Man jam! So, Kayne, was placing the non-hep next to Daft, Bjorn, and friends a multitasking ploy to also make hip-hop accessible to soccer moms/VH1? If we knew a soccer mom we'd ask her what she felt.
For all the inevitable chatter of spotty rhymes, gotta admit the man can tell an arresting story. Graduation's parting shot comes with a knock at West's hero, getting into his up-and-down relationship with Jay-Z. Throughout he's showing Jigga respect, but he isn't scared to air his gripes at being left behind ("Only thing I wanna know is why I get looked over"). Plus, it comes packed with a practical lesson for you aspiring producers out there: Tell Jay you have a song with Coldplay, next thing you know he'll have a song with Coldplay! Forget Beyoncé -- Chris Martin is the new hip hop trophy.
The T-Pain/Timbaland/Lil Wayne cameos make it 2007-appropriate. But it's not like 50 is gonna sample Can ("Drunk And Hot Girls") and Laura Nyro ("The Glory"). Well, we assume ... we haven't listened to Curtis yet. In fact, let's put our cards on the table: We had one night to listen to this thing, so all you downloaders who spend the Labor Day weekend with Kanye and 50 Cent please do the contrast/compare for us. It sucks to have homework over the holiday, but judging from the excellent critical chops you've been displaying re: Random Spirit Lover we know you're more than up for the task.
Graduation is out on the greatest day in music 9/11 on Island Def Jam.
Posted at 5:00 PM in Premature Evaluation
Tags: 50 Cent | Coldplay | Daft Punk | Kanye West | Steely Dan
I like that he widens his pallet out to include all kinds of strange collaborations. Most hip-hop acts only "feat." other hip-hop stars and the sum total usually sounds like the parking lot after the topless bar has closed for the evening.
Is the album great? Well, no. It's good and it will turn lots of heads, but one hopes Kanye's school-themed trilogy doesn't go 4-peat. He needs to move on and move out. This is a closing statement to an idea and anything afterward, based on the same premise, will be strictly running on fumes.
Early prediction: it'll sink "Curtis"s battleship. Not that it'll make a damned bit of a difference...
DwD
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the album is great. kills "late registration".
and "flashing lights" is the def. an early favorite...
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Well Dw,
It has been said in the past that there is a forth part to this series called "Good Ass Job", so that is supposed to be the end of the school theme. But I doubt that seriously...
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I think you're being way too harsh here. There's certainly a lack of single-oomph, but I don't think it'll stop him from printing money.
He's certainly lacking in lyrical power, but that's just because he doesn't have much left to say. Much like when Eminem's "I'm crazy and I hate all the women in my life" shtick ran out about album-three, Kanye's self-concious player has kinda run out of tricks. Luckily, that character was interesting enough in the first place.
But we're not here for his lyrical genius, cause that he aint. The production is much more complex and intricate and I really do think there are more good songs than in Late Registration. God bless the advent of the expensive synth in commercial hip hop.
The stinkers are the stinkers but I think it's still worth my money.
Score one for Kanye, this one's shit hot.
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To be honest, it doesn't seem like he tried very hard. On the last two, he made very clear his quest to make it to the top, and here he's made it to the top and is content to tell everybody how great he is.
The problem is that Kanye, like Jay, is enjoying the good life so much that he doesn't really need to come out and blow everybody away... he's content to fuck around, and thus the "did he really sample that?" songs that are abundant on this record. There's nothing as infectious as 'Touch the Sky' or 'Gold Digger', but everything is pretty solid and listen-able.
I kept wishing for a great hook in every song, only to find none- Can't Tell Me Nothing's got an almost-great chorus and Everything I Am is a really heartfelt tune.
So this one, in my mind, doesn't come close to matching Late Registrations highs, but it never hits that albums lows (and there are quite a few), although coming dangerously close with the disappointing Mos cut "Drunk and Hot Girls".
I think this album shows that Kanye really isn't a killer emcee, and he can really benefit from having back-up. He lets himself be the star of this one, and it doesn't always work out because the beats are slow and the rhymes aren't usually free flowing. Still, it's a decent album and I'm only picking out its flaws because West undoubtedly didn't give a whole-hearted effort, and who can blame him? He's got lots of money, as he makes clear.
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Kanye West doesn't care about black people.
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I agree with Miseducation about being too harsh but I believe that has to do with the quick listen. To me, this is Kanye's "please everybody" album (ie. Daft Punk sample, Lil' Wayne verse, broke anthem for the streets, T-Pain hook). He covers all the bases and I must say, he does it pretty well. I think this album will divide fans and you'll have different groups of people swearing that 1 or 2 completely different songs are the absolute shit (add 'em all up and they'd probably cover a good 8-10 songs total):
Good Life is going to destroy the charts considering Stronger is #3 on the Hot 100 and it's a relatively uneventful single. T-Pain has like 4 top 10 hits right now so rest assured that thing will be a jam.
Can't Tell Me Nothing is already a big street and urban radio song.
And I think you guys are sleeping heavily on The Glory, which is seriously one of the best hip-hop songs I've ever heard. It's got a ton of laugh-out-loud lines and the time-shifting between the beat/sample is pretty awesome.
Bottom line... I think this is his biggest attempt to please everyone yet and will divide fans accordingly. You may not like everything but considering how wide his fan base is, it's not a bad move.
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Oh and did you guys mean that Lil' Wayne out-rapped Kanye or that he pulled off a decent verse?
Cause Kanye absolutely murdered him on this song.
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Frankly, nothing good ever came from an ass job.
dwD
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stick to arcade fire stereogum
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But Kanye is obviously gonna sample Arcade Fire next.
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He should sample "The Smiths", really...I'm waiting that.
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The quote unquote Smiths. If that is their REAL name.
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While I agree Diamonds was a highlight of Late Registration, I think the other highlight was Touch the Sky- not Gold Digger (albeit Digger was more of a mainstream hit). Also, call it weak, but from what I've heard from Graduation, it will maintain the same across-the-board appeal that Registration enjoyed.
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yeah, it's not bad, but their's nothing great about the album. I swear wikipedia told me he sampled thom yorke on a song, but this was a lie. wouldn't be the first time stupid wikipedia editors got me all hyped up on something. flashing light is pretty amazing though.
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The overall tone of the album is darker than his previous albums. And there are times that the songs don't feel sequenced right. I appreciate his keeping those cliched skits off the album, but it would almost be better if there were some just to bridge the gap between some of the tracks. Not a major thing as I think the album is good. I've listened to it in its entirety 7 or 8 times and, while it doesn't grab me the way College Dropout or certainly Late Registration did (maybe he should've called in for more help from Jon Brion), it is still good.
Early standouts - "Good Morning," "Stronger," "Barry Bonds," and "The Glory"
*Kanye sampled Thom Yorke with Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell for his mixtape that came out a couple of months ago. The song is "Us Placers" under the moniker CRS. Supposedly, the three mcs/producers are going to put an album out together.
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honestly, who cares about this, devendra banhart's new release needs more attention. at least he's more sincere with his music. kanye is just an attention whore with not much talent.
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devendra banhart? *yawn* You know stereogum is all about pop culture anyway. If you couldn't tell by all the constant Britney love then ya blind.
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Why is Devendra is more sincere, because he plays an acoustic guitar? I like Dev Ban just fine, but he's got a hell of a lot of affectation to him and he's a total attention whore, he's just not on the level of Kanye. I'd wager that what you see from Kanye the artist is closer to what he's really like than what you see from Devendra. Granted, I'd also wager that normal people don't give a shit about stuff like that, so...
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fkw
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Oh I just noticed THIS: "Homecoming" is part lyrical homage to Common's classic "I Used To Love H.E.R." -- what with that extended metaphor about meeting and falling in love with a girl (for 'Ye it's "Wendy," like "Windy City"), both tracks having that reveal at the end (Com's last line: "Cause who Im talkin bout yall is hip-hop" / Kan's last line: "If you don't know by now I'm talkin' bout Chi town").
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlBiKGJiPOM
So make that at least TWO tracks with sweet lines (dig "Big Brother"). Still confuzzled about how Chris Martin became this coveted prize, though. When did that happen?
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Graduation continues Kanye's glory!
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Yeah, get ready to hear "Good Life" on pop radio for months. It's gonna blow up.
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Kanye West definitely made the same "blond dyke/Klondike" joke on the hidden track at the end of "Late Registration." Seems he's even started sampling himself.
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This album is awful, boring, self-important and unimportant.
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What Devin said, I didn't remember that recycled rhyme when I first heard "Stronger." But once I heard it on the LR track it definitely left a bitter taste in my mouth and cheapened "Stronger" for me immensely.
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flashing lights is teh shit!
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seriously, gum, i could't care less about Kanye's plot for coolness. stop reading your own blog and review the damn music.
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Kanye pretty much the most overhyped person in music. Why does he get so much credit for being innovative for sampling other peoples music?? Isnt that a bit contradictive??? Plus his lyrics are usually awful. Listen to "Diamonds", he talks about winning on grammy night, not too much about the Sierra Leone. I give him credit for talking up his own hype because every one seems to buy it. The truly great artists of our time usually just let the music do the talking. Kanye seems to have to do the talking for his music.
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BA
Maybe you should listen to the song before you slam Kanye's lyrics.
Its hard to take your opinion seriously when it is so ill-informed.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7f7hQmuIHA8
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wow stereogum, you just exposed a very glaring need for a writer with an ear for hip hop. this album is easily hip hop album of the year, and quite possibly kanyes ticket to best album. It is a tour de force without a weak track. hats off to mr. west apparently he really did know something we didn't.
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Is anyone remembering that "gone" was the best song outside of diamonds on late registration?
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I am. But I would venture to put it above Diamonds...
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50's album will crush this boring waste of ratio.
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John mayer is bland AND uncool? he's been turning out tasty riff-sandwiches for years now! chris martin on the other hand...
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"Drunk and Hot Girls" is one of the worst songs I've heard this year...fucking horrible.
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Seconded omg. I was hoping for another Mos Def collab on the same level as 'Two Words'. No such luck.
And although Stereogum may need someone who knows a little more about hip-hop, that fact is not demonstrated by their slamming of Graduation. It's as disappointing as they say.
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Graduation will be hip hop album of the year, if it can somehow snake its way through 8 Diagrams.
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Don't don't don't believe the hype.
The sooner Kayne disappears, and he will, the better.
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I'll second (third?) "Gone" as being the best track on LR.
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Don't don't don't believe the hype.
The sooner Kayne disappears, and he will, the better.
Posted by: hk at September 2, 2007 10:28 PM
Man, you're a fucking cunt. I don't think the guy whose gotten consecutive hip hop album of the year Grammy awards, or repeat rolling stone album of the year awards is hype. He's the best producer alive, he's got clever rhymes, and excellent creative beats in addition to well picked samples. Wishing his disappearance from the earth is just a mean move man.
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LOL. Sorry to offend your golfing buddy there Yeezy.
Britney Spears has won Grammy awards too you know, and I never said I wish his disappearance from the earth, just the music industry. I don't think I'm wrong for thinking that, and I know I'm not alone.
By the way when you make statements like "The best producer alive" - do you really expect me to take your opinion seriously?
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way to take a great daft punk song and shit all over it with "i am the greatest" ... and name dropping celebs and fashon labels. Poor lyrics.. not good. not good at all.
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"Stronger" shows what Kanye is great at - making a track that sounds super epic and deep, only to have stupid lines like that klondike lyric make you go "wha-? I thought he was talking about something important".
But that song is chock full of hooks, my favorite being the "I need you right now!" Even though I have no idea what he means, or even if he means it, it works, just like all great (pop) music.
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I hate 90% of rap music, but this album is very good.
I like the last two tracks especially. The duet with Chris Martin is much better than the one with Jay Z on his album.
9/10 stars from a non rap fan.
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Actually, this is a great album. Just about as good as Late Registration; it's a grower.
Off the bat, "Stronger" stands out, so does "Homecoming" (even if I hate Coldplay, I can't deny this song), and "Good Morning".
After a few more listens, I'm sure more will sink in.
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Sucks. Much weaker than his other offerings. About as bland and boring as his appearance on "Entourage."
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I'd like to add that the cover is revolting, and I usually love Murakami's work.
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Sorry, but what does "I'd do anything for a blonde dyke" mean? I'm guessing he has a fetish for watching lesbians make out, but ... Rhymes are not clever if they don't make sense.
Also, why did he have to go and mess with the daft punk song. That whole song depends upon the build up. Why.
But he DOES have those cool glasses.
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I haven't heard "Graduation" yet, but calling it the "Hip Hop Album Of The Year" isn't really saying much.
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at least go out and buy it to put 50 out of his misery.
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Is it just me, or does every prematurely evaluated album on this site get an 86 percent rating?
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hrm? an 86 percent rating on what - metacritic?
yep there's some great songs on this one.
Champion, Flashing Lights, The Glory - shit!
we're gonna be hearing this one all year and probably all next year - tons of singles
As for 'Drunk and Hot Girls' - it gets pretty grating, and the lyrics are pretty mundane BUT i find it hilarious (and pretty fucking awesome) when the Can sample kicks in. especially because most of Damo Suzuki's lyrics were an invented language (am i right here?!) and Kanye just randomly picked out a phrase that SOUNDED like 'drunk and hot girls'
makes me wonder if he picks his own samples out..
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The 86 is just part of the graphic. It has no significance. Rating albums is so Pitchfork...
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This album grows on you slow but then leaves you pretty quick. Good, but not great.
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what would jesus do for a blonde dyke?
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the best track on late registration is "gone"
this new one is a very, very good record
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firstly, if you appreciate music, you like this album and each one he's put out.
if you're looking for something that is on an earth shattering level as his comment of the president not caring about black people, you're slightly outta luck. have a seat and vibe out to whatever gets you going, and try writing something on that level. there's a reason kanye is kanye and not us.
however, top to bottom you can just zone out to the album -- which was his intentions for the album. his style of sampling other beats is not contradictory to his innovative style because who else does this? or rather, kanye makes whats been made better.
my only knock on the album is barry bonds -- it just seems like a track of arrogance rather then a display of what is suppose to be true lyricism.. but its give and take with the personalities..
thats why we're attracted to him and his music -- his personality.. think about your friends, who are they? are they the outgoing personalities that we are attracted to?
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Kanye West seems to be one of the more non-mainstream rappers, NOT necessarily better. I've heard Can't Tell Me Nothing, Stronger, Big Brother, Champion, and Goodlife so far, and they all seem good to me...
I'll just have to go out and get the album myself...
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