Phantom_rydaz

Kanye West - Graduation Review

Chicago hero's third time ain't a charm.

by Spence D.

September 12, 2007 - You gotta give just a little bit of it up for Kanye West regardless of your feelings about his music. The man has risen up from behind the boards to become a bona fide pop icon rivaling his peers 50 Cent and Diddy in terms of flash, cash and global recognition. One also can't overlook how he created his own signature sound in terms of lush, mock orchestrations that are balanced out with sped-up Motown samples. When he was lacing up tracks for Jay-Z and others this sound was unique. It still held its own and stood apart from the rest of the rap production pack when he dropped his solo debut, The College Dropout, in 2004. It began to run a little thin on the 2005 follow-up, Late Registration, though. Now, almost four years down the line, West continues with the lush extrapolation on his third solo outing. And yes, those annoying sped up vocals are still bouncing around, as well.



From the get-go Graduation is a confusing affair, sounding an awful lot like studio outtakes from West's two previous outings hastily tossed together to create what pretends to be an album. Not only that, but lyrically speaking West's stature begins to come up short, relying too much on a strange mixture of contradictory bragging rights and awkward attempts at social sarcasm (at least one hopes he's striving for social satire because if he isn't then his lyrics aren't much better than the narrow scoped guns/bitches/money themes of his gangsta brethren).

The kick off track, "Good Morning," melds wafting Beach Boys' styled vocal harmonies over subversive bass bumps, cow bell clanks that mimic the steady beat of a metronome, and a steady synth drone. When some spaghetti western inspired ambiance enters the mix it truly reaches the level of subdued progressiveness. If anything this track signals West's move into a much more electronic state of mind. In many ways it almost brings to mind the orchestral pop machinations of PM Dawn, the long forgotten (mostly for being "soft") left-of-center rap duo from the mid-'80s.

The heavy electronic emphasis is quickly kicked to the curb on "Champion" which lifts the ever popular Steely Dan "Kid Charlamagne", chopping up Donald Fagen's recognizable voice amidst bass drums and hand claps. The song takes the mainstream ********* of rap theatrics to a new level turning the once gritty sounds of the street into suburban aimed pop confection. West's infatuation with white-bread electronic music continues on "Stronger" which unabashedly utilizes a chunk of Daft Punk. Points for experimentation, but alas it's really doesn't add up in the end. It will no doubt be quite popular in the clubs.

After just three tracks it's apparent that crossing over seems to be the modus operandi of the day. This naturally allows for all kinds of metaphors in reference to the title. Is it a graduation from the streets to the mainstream? Or is it a graduation from the often confining parameters of rap as a whole? West has never shied away from the pop end of the genre, so it's unclear, other than the sounds you'll hear throughout the album are definitely more accessible to the general populace than anything he laid down on either The College Dropout or Late Registration.

By the time we get to "I Wonder" the pop stylings are cranking out full-throttle. This should come as no surprise given the fashion conscious/preppy stance West takes (akin in many ways to his peers Diddy and Pharrell), but still there's a very fine line between going pop and selling out (refer to De La Soul's Bahloone Mindstate if you're unclear on the subject). "Good Life" continues to mine the same territory; the high-pitched vocals are incessant, the bass kick is static, the chorus is dripping with déj¿ vu melodic reference (harkening back to "We Don't Care"). It's good time rhymes for the Abercrombie & Fitch crew (if West had been making joints 15 years ago you can bet it would have been for the Benetton bunch).

West's position on "Can't Tell Me Nothing" is strange. It's hard to tell if he's being serious or clowning on the stereotypical rap attitude. The song exposes the ongoing contradiction that is West, the very thing that ultimately makes him intriguing (to a degree). Throughout the track he makes pointed statements about those who focus on fortune and fame, yet it feels hypocritical since he's deep in the game of doing the same. All at once the track appears to chastise the shallowness of the medium, yet it's delivered by a man who has made a livelihood out of the very same shallow exploits. At the same time it also comes off like West having a conversation with himself, his two sides debating the status of his life. If the latter is the real thrust of the song, then it becomes a bit more interesting. But at the same time it also fails to reveal anything new under the sun.



The album's first truly smoking track is manifested in the form of "Barry Bonds," which features Lil Wayne. The beat is turgid and misty; a low rumbling bass that drives and swerves with lazy aggressiveness. Lyrically, however, West continues to profile something ridiculous, talking about how he sports the flyest pink polos and how he's "doing pretty good as far as geniuses go." (West must have forgotten that real geniuses don't need to remind folks that they are, but more to the point, West has forgotten the most important adage of hip-hop: real bad boys move in silence.). He also has the gall to infer that he's one of the Top 5 MCs. Despite the revealing, empty boasting of the lyrics (how many times can we hear West tell us how fresh he is? It's as if he's giving Diddy a run for his money) having the gruff voiced Wayne on the track is a head cracking coup, though. The disparity in their styles is what really makes the track bona fide.

Mos Def drops in on the slow and languid "Drunk And Hot Girls." The title alone is enough to make this a mandatory burner, but the smoldering groove is what really will twist your melon. It's a slow burning electro fever dream. As with "Can't Tell Me Nothing" it's one of the tracks that begin to make you question the true nature of the album. Is West taking the piss? If he is, then this track reeks of Frank Zappa-styled social commentary and snide sarcasm, which in and of itself is damn near brilliant.

The guest shots round out with Dwele on the orchestrally lush "Flashing Lights." The staccato strings and rich synth that swirls relentlessly makes for a stellar sonic experience. Meanwhile, West admits "Common passed on this beat; I made it into a jam…" on "Everything I Am." At first listen there seems to be good reason why Common walked on by. What really stands out is the minimalism, which puts the focus on West's lyrical prowess (or lack thereof). Let's face it, few are going to claim that West is a proficient wordsmith. His flow is often awkward and devoid of lyricism. What this means is that having a stripped down beat such as this really exposes West's delivery flaws. On second listen, however, the track begins to worm its way under your skin and the loose, somewhat clumsy marriage of West's flow and the bare bones production make for an intriguing dichotomy. It doesn't hurt that it also features "scratches by DJ Premiere" (it should be noted that West misspells Primo's name on the liner notes).

High-pitched annoyance reigns supreme on "The Glory," which sounds like it's re-hashing several other moments of West's musical past all at once. There's no doubt that the kick drum boom is infectious on a base level, but it's the same steady boom-boom-boom beat that he's pumped out before (rewind to "Champion" and you'll see what we mean). This is one of those tracks that's annoyingly infectious. Of course it's also boasting plenty of West's braggadocio where he admits that he does it all "for the glory." He paints a picture of living the high life and indulging in all the excess befitting a world wide pop star. There's just a slight glimmer that West is meant for the song to be interpreted as social commentary on the vapid, material lifestyle of the rich and famous. Yet he goes so over-the-top telling us how bold and brash he is that it borders on the ridiculous. As with many of the lyrics on the album it's tough to say exactly where West is coming from. The fact that you can't tell if he's serious or not leaves you scratching your head. Yet the little voice inside your head keeps whispering that he's being serious. One thing for sure, the use of such epithets as "Guido" certainly ain't progressive or enlightened.

Things conclude with "Homecoming" which features Coldplay's Chris Martin (who, it is interesting to note, is not credited on the back cover as are T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Mos Def, Dwele, and DJ Premiere) and "Big Brother," two ultimately forgettable and somewhat generic West jams that feel more like filler than anything else.

On the whole Graduation is a confusing affair, both musically and lyrically. From a sonic standpoint it's as if West is paying tribute to the original electro-rap movement of the early '80s, when Afrika Bambaata and others found their muse in the sterilized technochronic sounds of German artists like Kraftwerk. But whereas those early stages of the genre went for a clashing, abrasive, and pervasive clamor, West goes for a smoother, cleaner sheen, removing the grit and grime in favor of polish and sheen.

Lyrically, West seems caught at the crossroads of contradiction. On the one hand he's reveling in his excess and high societal fashion sense. On the other hand he's railing out against such rap clichés, chastising his peers for the very things he's taking advantage of (money, women, fine food, and nice clothes). Much of this confusion is due to West's static delivery. He doesn't really have a handle on sarcasm and irony like some other MCs do; a good MC is able to let you know when he's being serious and when he's playing devil's advocate. West rarely makes such distinctions.

Graduation ultimately suffers from lack of focus. It doesn't play out like an album, certainly not in the way that The College Dropout or even, to a certain extent, that Late Registration did. Granted, many of the tracks reveal hidden layers of nuance after repeated listens, but by and by this isn't a truly cohesive musical experience, but rather a start and stop inclined rag-tag collection of typical West diatribe and symphonic simplicity. The real problem here is that West doesn't seem to be pushing his craft forward, but rather is settling into a comfortable pattern, constantly reminding us of his past successes and keen fashion sense. In this way he's no better than the gangstas who continue to proliferate the bling/ho/guns thematics.

Definitely Download:
1. "Barry Bonds"
2. "Drunk And Hot Girls"
3. "Flashing Lights"
4. "Everything I Am"

IGN's Ratings for Graduation
out of 10 click here for ratings guide
7.0 OVERALL


source:

cOdEoFtHaStReEtZ

7.0? NiGga dEy cRaZy

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$/B aInT nO oPtIoN iTz A rUl3

TheRealBigPimpin

only 7? wtf that album deserves more then a C

Retired.

well what do you expect from a bunch of gaming nerds

lmaestro2.0

ign is shit anyways.

deank

that was sucha bad reivew....how they gonna say barry bonds is the first smoking track??? when track number 2 is the best song on the album!!!

YoungP06

i like the whole cd. I can listen to each track oh it.

dutchmasta420

i liked graduation after i listened to it a few times .. it grew on me

Drink

To be honest I don't really like Graduation all that much, it's alright, but it's better than a 7. IGN can't really rate anything and hardly games too, so they just suck at life.

Phantom_rydaz

haha^^ yea they only review soundtracks and they r better reviews than 50 and kanye

R1pTheJacka

wtf definitely download drunk and hot girls is that a joke?

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R1pTheJacka

and wow, "high pitched annoyance" on the glory beat? that beat is fire

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The Maestro

i like this review

S to the T

yeah, it's a fair review

MIke Morrison 18

i think 7 for some of the lyrics the beats are like a 4 and good life is the only 9 or 10

arosa1313

i think this is better then curtis