Kanye West
Reviewed on this page:
The College Dropout - Late Registration - Graduation
Chicago's Kanye (rhymes with Gagné) West first attracted notice as a producer for
Jay-Z and others, and he did have a novel schtick, at least at first, mixing sped-up soul vocal samples with ultramodern beats. His debut album has lyrics to match, and it may be the best record of 2004. But West soon ran out of production tricks and fresh things to say, and as a result he's spending more time bragging about himself now that he has less and less to brag about. (DBW)
West productions reviewed on this site:
 The College Dropout (2004)
This debut album sounds great, chock full of arresting incongruities like warbling multi-tracked violin by Miri Ben-Ari (the tongue-in-cheek dance track "New Work Out Plan") and sped-up vocal samples (Marvin Gaye's "Distant Lover" on the retail workers' lament "Spaceship"; Michael Bolton, of all people, on "Never Let Me Down"). There's also a welcome reliance on church-influenced backing vocals (the single "Jesus Walks"), and just enough guitar and keyboard tracks to keep the mix full but not overly busy.
But what's really remarkable is West's lyrical content, making devastating use of irony to make his points about education ("School Spirit"), materialism (the gorgeous single "All Falls Down," hook sung by Syleena Johnson) and urban poverty ("We Don't Care," with a sly children's
chorus). His low-key delivery isn't impressive, but fits the material: you find yourself thinking about the lyrics instead of being bowled over by the presentation.
And some of the interludes are as good as the full songs ("Graduation Day," the vicious "School Spirit Skits").
Halfway through the first spin, I thought I was listening to a five-star record.
It loses steam after that, with a pointless makeout tune ("Slow Jams"), a party track that tries to be self-satirizing but ends up lamebrained ("Breathe In Breathe Out" featuring Ludacris), and an endless closing monologue explaining how West wound up on Rockafella ("Last Call").
But it still blows away anything else I heard in 2004.
(DBW)
 Late Registration (2005)
As you'd expect after the success and attendant hype of West's debut, his sophomore effort is cluttered with contrived superstar cameos (Maroon 5's Adam Levine croons the hook of "Heard 'Em Say"; the drab single "Gold Digger" features Jamie Foxx imitating Ray Charles; Common raps on "My Way Home").
Less explicably, his use of samples is sometimes blatant and obvious ("Touch The Sky" is an untransformed loop of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up"; "Gone" leans too heavily on Otis Redding's "It's Too Late"), and his lyrics aren't nearly as compelling, scattering references - the diamond and drug trades, for example - without exploring them.
But West still has a lot of tricks up his sleeve: "Crack Music" blends a hypnotic march beat and somber strings; "Roses" is a simple, moving celebration of family;
and as overwrought and tacky as the Shirley Bassey-goes-techno "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" is, I have to admit it's fun.
Jon Brion co-produced most of the record and arranged strings ("Bring Me Down" featuring Brandy); other co-producers include Just Blaze and Warryn Campbell (the painfully long "We Major").
(DBW)
 Graduation (2007)
So crashingly, consistently unimaginative and dull I almost wonder if West has been replaced by a pod person.
He doesn't have any new arranging gimmicks, so when he isn't retreading sped-up vocals or rapping over piano
ballads ("I Wonder"), he's just looping keyboards like every other hip hop producer ("Can't Tell Me Nothing").
Some of the samples are initially unexpected (Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" on "Champion"; Mountain's "Long Red" on "Barry Bonds")
but they're all run into the ground.
The best hook on the whole disc is a descending vocoder sample from French jokesters Daft Punk ("Stronger"); "Good Life," a decent party track based on a
"P.Y.T." sample, is the only cut I'd be happy to hear again.
There aren't as many self-conscious "hey look I got a rock dude on my album" moments this time, just Coldplay's Chris Martin on "Homecoming,"
but the guests he does use are no better, a procession of here-today, gone-tomorrows: T-Pain, Young Jeezy, etc.
The core problem, though, is that West himself no longer has anything to say: in place of the lacerating social commentary and bracing vulnerability, there's just
one paean after another to his record sales, talent and general wonderfulness ("Everything I Am"; "The Glory").
The way things are going, I'm starting to hope he doesn't continue on to Grad School.
(DBW)
Wilson can't tell me nothing.
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