Kanye West
The College Dropout
2004
My favorite rap album of the decade and the most well-produced record I have ever heard, Kanye West’s The College Dropout is a testament to years of dedication and hard work. After growing up in my birth city of Chicago, West got his big break when he met Jay-Z and was asked to help produce Jigga’s hip hop classic, The Blueprint. West’s work on the record garnered him an incredible amount of respect, leading to some of the biggest hip hop and R&B artists requesting his services. In fact, EIGHT of the albums on my countdown West has had a hand in producing! Combine this with his gigantic solo career, and one could make a very convincing argument that no person has had a greater impact on pop music this decade than Kanye.
With The College Dropout, West took every image, every stereotype, and every assumption of what a black rapper should look and sound like and buried it away in his funny-looking backpack. The songs address subjects such as working at the Gap, making fun of weight-watching women, and praising Jesus – not exactly the most gangster album pumping through your speakers. Even West admits he’s a softie, though he uses this image to sometimes make fun of general hip hop trends: “First nigga with a Benz and a backpack / Ice chain, Cardi lens, and a knapsack / Always said if I rap I’d say something significant / But now I’m rapping ‘bout money, hoes, and rims again.”
Although I will admit that this is easily Kanye’s strongest album lyrically, what makes it my second favorite hip hop album of all-time (just behind Biggie’s Ready to Die) is its conceptual cohesion. A common knock on rap albums is their use of skits, but West uses each of his to brilliantly emphasize his theme of college being unnecessary: “These guys are making money all these ways, and I’m spending mine to be smart. You know why, buddy? ‘Cause when I die, you know what’s going to keep me warm? That’s right - those degrees!” A flawless debut. -P.W.
Right off the bat I have to say that I prefer Late Registration. But, The College Dropout is an excellent album from the now seemingly universally hated producer and MC. After several high profile guest appearances and being able to produce tracks for several big names (such as his friend Jay-Z), West burst onto the hip-hop scene with an amazing debut highlighted by his not-so-surprising ability as a producer. However, it was his lyricism that was unforseen. “Never Let Me Down” is still one of my favorite rap songs of all time. Late Registration was a phenomenal follow-up. I was so excited to see him complete his trilogy of records with Graduation, only to be disappointed by more than a few missteps. He was perfectly capable of recovering from Graduation, but instead decided fall further down that slippery slope. Regardless of where his career goes from here, The College Dropout will always remain as part of our modern hip hop canon. - Ryan
While I'll still mention the excessive length and the occasionally eye-rolling skit, this record is a lot of fun to listen to. Sure, Kanye isn't an especially skilled emcee, but his consistently engaging production and his varied songwriting gives the album a smooth flow and a beautiful cohesion. An excellent album that only furthers my disbelief that "808 and Heartbreak" was made by the same man. I suppose celebrity like that does do its damage. - Steve
What do you think, readers? Has anyone had more of an impact on mainstream music this decade than Kanye West? If so, who would you nominate? I'm very interested!
ReplyDeleteSteve--Did you not like 808s?
ReplyDeletePhil,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that Kanye West's "College Dropout" made it to number two on your list. Despite being in the headlines for what he has to say from his Katrina/Bush comment to his crazy antics on stage, the man can write and rap song. Just as long as he isn't using autotunes like he was on "808 and Heartbreak" and trying to sing ballads.
There's a reason why the AP picked this album as one of its top album of the decade. Rap has always been about West Coast vs East Coast ever since the days of N.W.A., Tupac, Biggie, Puffy, P-Diddy, Diddy or whatever he calls himself these days.
Even though Nellie beat him to the punch of representing the Midwest with being from the "Lou"/ St. Louis, his music didn't have quite the impact of Kanye telling it like it is from Chi-town.
The skits featured on this album reflects what every college student and grad are reflecting about in whether or not they will amount to anything with that paper.
From his first hitsong in which he sampled a track with "Through the Wire" talking about surviving his accident that left his jaw wired up to singing about how Blacks are still being oppressed in "ALl Falls Down." He would find commericial success with "Jesus Walks," and who could not forget the relationship that he would continue to have with Deft Punks in "The Workout Song" and on "Graduation" with "Stronger."
But my favorite track has on this album has to be "Two Words" featuring collaboration with Mos Def who would contribute to his other albums and the last track "Last Call" in which he tells his life story and detailing his struggling rap career before making it big.
One last note: Phil, Steve and Ryan way to go in counting down the top albums of this decade. I'm sure this next decade will have some music for you to reflect upon by the time 2019 comes around.
- Andy C.
-Andy C.