They Say I Talk with so Much Emphasis

Leave it to Kanye West to somehow come out with the most disappointing album of the year as well as the best rap album of the year. The disappointment was bound to happen considering his first album was not only the best rap album of this decade but holds up to the classics of the old school era. Then followed up that disk with one that pushed the limits of hip-hop, bringing in Jon Brion to co-produce, and came close to being as good as the debut.

The biggest disappointments on Graduation are when tries to follow the template of past jams. Drunk and Hot Girls, featuring Mos Def, have the same tongue in cheek lyrics that made Get ‘Em High and Golddigger fun, but the ultra slow beat just takes all the fun of this song not to mentioned I lived through many of the events in the song that bring up some bad memories. And one of the highlights of the previous two albums is when Kanye shows his sensitive side like on Family Business and Hey Mama but his man crush for Jay-Z on Big Brother, that closes out the album is a little creepy.

Plus for a guy who never shies away from controversial subjects, like why he suggested it was Reagan who introduced crack into the ghetto and of course his George Bush comment, it is a little disappointing he doesn’t take a stance on Big Head Barry on Barry Bonds (skip the forgettable Lil’ Wayne verse) even though he mentions, “My head’s so big you can’t sit behind me” yet no mentions of Barry’s oversized dome. That’s not to say Mr. West avoids all controversial statement saying in album opener Good Morning, “I’m like a fly Malcolm X, buy any jeans necessary.”

And yes, the album actually starts off with a song, not Bernie Mac who opened the previous two albums. In fact Kanye eliminated one of the biggest rap clichés with no skits on the whole album. And in a time when all the other rappers that get radio play are still trying to recreate a mix of Dre, Biggie and Pac or creating beats so simplistic so they make good ringtones even if the song as a whole suffers, continues to push music further.

Kanye has no problems with paying the sample rates just to get a snippet of Elton John’s Someone Saved My Life Tonight that even someone with the best musical ear wouldn’t recognize on Good Morning. Or making Chuck D’s “Here We Go Again,” scratched up by DJ Premier, part of the slow jam Everything I Am. Really, can you imagine Can’t Tell Me Nothing being as good without the “yeah’s eh’s and ha-ha’s from the Young Jeezy song? It is this attention to detail that has been lacking in hip-hop since they started enforcing sample payments.

But skits are replaced by newer rap cliché with T-Pain, who shows up on every song that doesn’t already have Akon on it. Thankfully the annoying voice box enhanced singer is only relegated to repeating the line from School Spirit during the club ready Good Life. Unfortunately a guest spot from the dude from Coldplay doesn’t work at all and just sounds out of place singing about “fireworks on Lake Michigan” on Homecoming.

If you are looking for some old school Kanye, The Glory would have fit well in the first album with its sped up soul sample playing thought the song and quirky lines like, “Two years the Dwayne Wayne became the Dwayne Wade. I’m like Gnarls Barkley meets Charles Barkley.” He even gives veiled me a shout out saying, “I'm on a world tour with Common my man.” (Okay he may have just been referencing A Tribe Called Quest who I stole the line from).

But on the rest of Graduation tries to push things further. All summer long it seemed like every other week a new Kanye West track leaked to the internet but that may have been a good game plan because songs like Stronger and Can’t Tell Me Nothing take a while for them to get burned into your conscience. Hopefully some of the disappointing tracks will start to grow on me in time too.

Song to Download - Can’t Tell Me Nothing

Graduation gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.