Artist: Kanye West

The only review that matters by Rajveer Kathwadia

No intro, no nonsense, no bullsh*t. Just a straight up, in depth, track by track analysis of Kanye West’s third album; Graduation

1. Good Morning. All good albums need a memorable opener and Kanye realises he has to do away with his fake Bernie Mac if he wants the project to be taken seriously, which is definitely a good look if we’re treated to music like this. A simple combination of drums and keys provides the backdrop for West to continue his academic theme by making the analogy between his music and school, comparing the album to a dissertation and professing that ‘you graduate when you make it up out of the streets.’ The celestial ‘ooooohhs’ on the hooks create the atmosphere whilst ‘Ye delivers the album’s standout line (“I’m like the fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary.”) whilst also noting the futuristic theme for the disc when he states that others are “scared of the future whilst I step in the Delorean.” Big intro. 5/5

2. Champion. Kon dons his arrogance anorak on the feel good theme tune to his childhood. Between applauding his materialistic lifestyle and claiming that he is ‘the kids’ musical saviour now that Lauryn Hill’s heart is no longer in rhyming, the Louis Vuitton Don compares him and his dad to Will Smith and his son in The Pursuit Of Happyness. Aside from a Caribbean chant and a great Steely Dan sample, the plain Jane, three key melody gets a bit repetitive but the Chicago spitter’s ability to rhyme the words ‘live’ and ‘serious’ is a lot. 3/5

3. Stronger. Y’all already know the deal with this Daft Punk sampling, quote ignorant, electrical orgasm of a track. Made all the more listenable by the addition of drums by Timbaland and random scattering of new synth sounds. 4.5/5

4. I Wonder . Probably my favourite track on the album. A beautiful (and ridiculously addictive) sample joins an immense sonic orchestra for what is an immaculate piece of music. Unfortunately Kanye the rapper doesn’t match the quality of Kanye the producer as he uses some disjointed flow, and misses the chance to really get deep and instead talks about getting ‘uhrhoused’ by the contents of the blouse, of a lady in the house without a spouse. Right! 4.5/5

5. Good Life. The next single is again, an attempted feel good riddim, but the boy bandesque ‘throw your hands in the air’ hook is hip hop cliché at best. This is all made worse by the fact that T-Pain is can be heard pretending to sing as he phlegms through his vocoder. Michael Jackson will also be turning in his grave (erm) at the lacklustre sampling of the classic that is P.Y.T.. In it’s favour, the track does have an amazing accompanying video and Kanye almost redeems himself by spitting “keep it coming with the bottles, cos she feels booze like she bombed at the Apollo.” Well it’s better that the rest of the lyrics anyway. 2/5

6. Can’t Tell Me Nothing. The other previously available single sees West rhyming his random thoughts and contradictions over a dramatic backdrop that includes more haunting chants. As on Good Morning these chants aren’t from a sample and are instead sung by Australian singer Connie Mitchell. Clever guys. 4.5/5

7. Barry Bonds. With an old school, boom bap beat supplied by Nottz, all Kanye has to do is worry about the lyrics here, but the best he can muster is, “Top 5 MCs you gotta rewind me, I’m high up on the list you can get behind me, but my head so big you can’t sit behind me,” as he encourages you to, “bounce so hard ‘till your knees hit your forehead.” So it’s down to Lil’ Wayne (who I’m not a big fan of) to save the day as he spits, “My teeth in my ice so white like Shady, ice in my teeth so refrigerated. I’m so f*cking ‘Good’ like I’m sleeping with ‘Megan’… I’m still Cole like Keyshia’s family.” Alright they’re not the best lyrics either, but the beat is serious. Again props to Nottz. 3.5/5

8. Drunk & Hot Girls. OK this track is weird. Sort of like how Playa Hater was on Life After Death. Dunno if it’s mean to be serious but it definitely isn’t good. Singing at a snail’s pace, Ye laments about chicks who’ve had ‘a little sippy sippy,’ alongside Mos Def on what could have been a lighter, humorous outing but instead it’s a slow monotonous death march. Props do have be given for the lines, “Stop talking ‘bout your boyfriend since he isn’t me,” and “Don’t tell me you sing, ‘bout to get a deal, you drunky hot girl. Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, that’s how the f*ck you sound you drunky hot girl” 2/5

9. Flashing Lights. Kanye does his best Neptunes impression with a combination of synths and sharp drums on the beat, as he dodges the paparazzi on the search for his lost love. Dwele shines on the hook and West’s second verse is subtlety genius: “Feelin’ like Katrina with no F.E.M.A…. Like a flight with no visa… hey Mona Lisa come home. you know you can't ‘Rome’ without ‘Caesar’. 3.5/5

10. Everything I Am. Another perfect song as Kanye matches up a simple piano loop, with drums, singing and a sample as well as scratching from the legend that is DJ Premier on a beat that Common apparently passed on. Foolish man. Lyrically ‘Ye talks about the haters who doubt his hip hop credentials, “People talk so much sh*t about me in barbershops they forget to get their hair cut… They want gun talk, or I don’t wear enoughy baggy clothes, Reeboks or Adidoze.” But Kon comes back strong as he asserts that he ‘played a big role in Chicago like Queen Latifah,” and “Just last year Chicago had over 600 caskets, man, killing’s some wack sh*t. Oh I forgot except when n’s is rapping.” Ooooh the sarcasm, I love it. 5/5

11. The Glory. I know that Danny slewed this track in his review, but what can I say, he is a wasteman. Another track that Common was insane to pass up on. The Glory is the feel good anthem that Champion and Good life tried to be. Concocted out of a glorious sample laced with keys, strings and singing, ‘Ye is in full peacock mode as he brags, “While y’all were in limbo, I raised the bar up,” and “Cameras flash so much I gotta do that Yayo dance.” But the standout boast goes to; “With my ego, I can stand there in a Speedo and be looked at like a f*cking hero!” 4/5

12. Homecoming.Kanye salutes Chicago in this piano driven number as he very cleverly uses the analogy of a chick to talk about his home city. Chris Martin from Coldplay appears on the hook and on the outro (where he makes some weird yodelling sound) but I think anyone who has heard the original version of this song with John Legend and the oh-so-soulful beat will wish that it was here in it’s place. This is a good song none the less. 3.5/5

13. Big Brother. The infamous dedication to Jay-Z, it’s not complete ‘suckage’ as some have suggested. As well as detailing Jigga’s role as ‘Ye’s big brother over this, West also mentions his grievances with Hov such as being told that he could ‘buy two tickets’ for Jay’s legendary Madison Square Garden gig, and the fact that they both have Chris Martin on hooks; “I told Jay I did a song with Coldplay. Next thing I know he got a song with Coldplay.” But mainly Kanye heralds S.Carter as an “idol in my eyes, a god in the game,” over the Toomp produced electric symphony. 3/5

14. Good Night. A bonus track on the UK version of the disc, this deserved to be on the album in it’s own right. Mos Def lends a fake Jamaican voice to the intro and outro as well as singing on the hook, whilst Kanye gets introspective and philosophical on this nice, calm closer for the album. One major downside is that West lets some unknown named Al Be Back spit some dire nonsense on the second verse but apart from that it’s all good. 4/5

While he's definitely improved as a spitter, it’s his musicality where Kanye’s talent is truly measured. With an almost mechanical formula for making hits, what the album is missing is the soul that featured on College Dropout to truly mark this out as a hip hop classic. West once more proves why he is the most exciting artist in the game. 4/5

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