Quote :

"Graduation is by far the weakest."

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

9/7/2007 12:18:12 PM

LR is definitely the best, without fucking question.

9/7/2007 12:20:00 PM

^I disagree. College Dropout was a classic compared to LR, which was a really good-to-great album.

9/7/2007 12:44:52 PM

^^^good argument, i guess you got me.

yeah college dropout>LR>Graduation=Freshman Adjustment mixtape

[Edited on September 7, 2007 at 12:56 PM. Reason : fjds]

9/7/2007 12:46:32 PM

i've heard it stated that after the initial success of CD, late registration was the album kanye HAD to make, while the follow on of graduation was the album he COULD make because he wanted to...and i think that's a pretty accurate description. both are solid in their own ways, LR more commercially, but graduation in a more artistic/creative sense

9/7/2007 1:18:23 PM

I might just be a corporate slut then. I'm ok with that.

9/7/2007 1:28:38 PM

Quote :

"both are solid in their own ways, LR more commercially, but graduation in a more artistic/creative sense"

I'll agree with that.

9/7/2007 1:57:05 PM

if you turn up drunk and hot girls real loud, it isn't as bad

anyway

i just like the fact that i can listen straight through, as opposed to late registration where i can't listen to "gold digger" or "bring me down" and for the most part, "heard em say"

"workout plan" was the only song on college dropout to get skipped right over

9/7/2007 3:27:51 PM

I love heard em say. even with the stupid fucking lyrics

9/7/2007 3:36:44 PM

anyone got the download link??


the leak on page 2 has expired

need a new one

9/7/2007 3:37:21 PM

ok well


I dont really like this one, I liked LR but this one is a 4/10.

Drunk and hot girls, flashing lights, big brother and Everything I am are my favorites


the more i hear Kanye's stuff though the more i like it, so that may happen here.

but right now it aint that great.

9/9/2007 10:44:37 PM

You gave it a 4/10 and have "Drunk Hot Girls" (the weakest song on the album) among your favorites?

::scratches head::

9/10/2007 9:11:26 AM

Quote :

"It is without the pretentious ambition that gets internets rap critics going nuts. It is marked by the sort of self-indulgence that fuels the haters who loath his personality. And it bears the self-conscious and at-times-stilted rhyming so commonly cited by detractors of his rapping. Yet, for all that it lacks and all that it offers, "Last Call" remains the most important song Kanye West has ever made. The closing of College Dropout is quintessential Kanye: inviting music, infectious rhythm, seductive creativity, refreshing honesty, disarming vulnerability, amusing humor, fleeting lyrical wit, grating lyrical clumsiness. "Last Call" is Kanye West. "Last Call" is also a frame for Graduation because Mr. West is back to making earnest hip-hop following the empty media-star grandeur and pop dalliance of Late Registration. Though Registration and its varied, reaching sound had its limited few moments, most notably "We Major," it too often felt forced and hollow. The rhymes may have been introspective (and even that felt contrived to some extent), but the production and collaborations were so painstakingly different merely for the sake of being so that the entire album ultimately felt like an unfortunate manifestation of ego. It was the kind of album that a person makes when he's convinced himself that all of his ideas are revolutionary and no one will say otherwise. It was like a home-run hitter coming up to bat and swinging too hard because he'd decided ahead of time that he was putting one out: the attempt may have been spectacular at times, but the strikeout was what ultimately endured. Late Registration was Kanye at his worst. "Last Call" was a memory, no longer an identity. It seemed as though Kanye was going to continue down that path when "Can't Tell Me Nothing" first dropped. There was something too easy about its professed conflict; I felt manipulated (and disappointed) listening to an ambling beat accompanied by a trite personality conflict. (Although, nothing will surpass T.I.'s bullshit internal struggle any time soon.) But heading into Memorial Day, Kanye dropped his Graduate mixtape, an energetic and exceedingly listenable cocktail that gave "Can't Tell Me Nothing" a musical context and its subject matter some depth. Kanye spoke about his ascension, his relationship with the media. He flashed his sense of humor and his understanding of his place. The beats were different--more electric, less soulful--but the progression was engaging, not annoying. It didn't feel like he'd deliberately concocted something that he wanted hailed as new and innovative. It sounded like he'd done what interested him. The authenticity was back. The sense that you're hearing a genuine effort is among Graduation's greatest strengths. There may be moments that make you want to roll your eyes--such as the hackneyed lesbian fixation of "Stronger," the premise of "Drunk and Hot Girls" (which, I have to say, makes me chuckle), or the disposable collaboration with Most Overrated Rapper Alive Lil' Wayne (there I go again...)--but they are foibles outweighed by the openness of "Everything I Am," the bluntness of "Big Brother," and even the breezy reminiscence of "Champion." Kanye is many things, among them corny and willing to submit to the superficial, but that he is open about it, at times rattling off his excesses with tongue-in-cheek awareness, makes him real. Paired with his direct lyrics and bruising cadence (his lines might be smooth but his flow can still be somewhat awkward), Kanye's performance on Graduation is a return to the personable microphone persona he affected on Dropout. It again sounds like a friend is doing his thing; a star has not deigned to grace you with his presence. The fellow from "Last Call" who put together Ikea furniture while boasting to A&R's that they had to sign him is in effect. While its inviting emotional tone is a relief easy to dwell upon, Graduation's music shouldn't be overlooked. As has been suggested, the album is synthesizer-heavy, and though it isn't bothersome, it is immediately noticeable. Unlike so much repetitive, monotonous synth-driven rap music notably emanating from the South, though, Kanye's foray into electronic noise is marked by a musician's curiosity and intricacy. This isn't Dream Theater; the musicianship is not the main event. But the smart drum and synthesizer arrangement of "Flashing Lights" and the rich collage of sound that gives "Big Brother" additional resonance are two examples of a producer and his collaborators forging a new sound without sacrificing quality, hip-hop fundamentals, or a listener's attention. More impressive, Kanye blends so many elements: the chipmunk soul of "Glory" next to the lonely minimalism of "Everything I Am," two beats reminiscent of Kanye's older work ("Izzo" and "Guess Who's Back," respectively) but at the same time new; the synth-pop party joint "Good Life," one of my five favorite beats of the year, and the winding electronic hip-hop of "Stronger." It's a creative record that starts strongly, lulls a bit in the middle, and then finishes impressively, all the while making a listener excitedly wonder what is next. Graduation has recaptured the promise that made Kanye a hit in 2003, when the old- and new-school heads could agree that he was offering an auspicious new take on the genre's staples. Kanye is also an improved rapper. He can rhyme in more ways, he can put together more complicated rhymes, he can use his jokes and wordplay to advance his narratives--he is capable. That said, he's not great, either. "I Wonder," though musically interesting, is lazy rapping, especially when he has to fill otherwise dead syllables with curses, a true crutch. Similarly, he can still sound silly at times, making references that are only smart for a moment and ultimately too obvious or immature. He's not even the best rapping producer--that would be Black Milk. Oddly, Kanye's pedestrian rhyming skills--and we'll use "pedestrian" relative to the top-tier MCs, for he can obviously rap better than the average person--reinforce some of his identity. I don't think he'd be as interesting a figure and musician were he Nas in the booth. His finite rhyming skills render him a gifted peer, a guy with a great ear who is always sort of messing around. That--like the hedonistic fantasies which play out as though he were writing episodes of Entourage and like his willingness to admit to things like being too shy to approach Jay-Z initially--makes Kanye a rapper it's hard to hate. He isn't a vainglorious drug dealer or some bizarro ghetto superhero. He's pretty much a regular person who watched too much TV and lived vicariously through too much celebrity gossip for too long. He'd be different were his rhyming style evolved or his technique better. The return of the good Kanye fittingly ends with the ambivalent cataloguing of his relationship with Jay-Z on "Big Brother." Simultaneously Jay's adoring fan, amicable peer, and conflicted rival, Kanye walks us through their complicated relationship using the tell-all style that made "Last Call" such a significant song. Though not the same epic and without the same innate advantage of nostalgia, "Brother" again captures what makes Kanye West different. No other rapper can be as direct, as assured, and as humbled at once. Kanye wields a distinct hip-hop humanity that is on full display, and it is nice to have that back."

9/11/2007 7:49:05 AM

good album, my buddy had a leaked copy for about two weeks so I'm already over it. But it definitly is catchy. I think its stronger than the last, maybe that one just got overplayed too..I dont know.

9/11/2007 8:18:16 AM

i like 50 cent cause he's just like me

while kanye is checkin out her outfit

9/11/2007 8:38:28 AM

Cause Kanye's gotta stay fly.

50 doesn't have to worry about outfits and shit cause he walks around topless.

9/11/2007 8:58:58 AM

nah mainly cause he's starin down b's ass

9/11/2007 9:06:21 AM

I'm really not feeling this album much either.


I like the daft punk background of his single "Stronger"




but that's really about it.

9/11/2007 9:15:40 AM

Quote :

"i like 50 cent cause he's just like me while kanye is checkin out her outfit"

50 doesn't have to work with Beyonce's boyfriend.

9/11/2007 9:36:31 AM

fuck it, i think i like it. especially "flashlight", "stronger", and "the glory". but i have to skip "can't tell me nothin'" and "drunk and hot girls".

9/11/2007 11:59:22 AM

^^ jay is on the i get money remix

they've both come a long way since the "I'm about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cent" and the "Be a gentleman" beef from the 90s

9/11/2007 12:21:43 PM

Is that official? The one I heard had Luda on it (he goes after TI on it)...and it was just more proof that rappers need to stop inviting Luda to guest on their remixes.

The man's a beast.

9/11/2007 2:35:45 PM

yea the luda is just a freestyle over his beat mixtapes mash together

the billion dollar remix is with jay and diddy

9/11/2007 3:02:13 PM

ok a few days later i am up to a 6/10

it grows on you thats for sure just like all of Kanyes stuff has done with me in the past.

Quote :

"You gave it a 4/10 and have "Drunk Hot Girls" (the weakest song on the album) among your favorites? "

i just think its funny, its got some truth humor...other than that not much going on with it.

9/11/2007 3:08:55 PM

hahaha 50 is like "man I'd like to run up in that shit for a minute" and Kanye is all like "wow I really care what she has to say"

9/11/2007 3:13:50 PM

y'all look at the white hand on 50 tryna get him to divert his attention from her ass

LOZL

9/11/2007 3:15:27 PM

i cant stand 50 or Kanye ... I refuse to listen to any of it
dont even care if im missing out

Kanye is so whiny that he should register for a TWW username

[Edited on September 11, 2007 at 5:20 PM. Reason : sdf]

9/11/2007 5:20:24 PM

I don't understand the appeal of 50¢, beyond the bumping-club-beats.

9/11/2007 5:28:29 PM

Quote :

"i like 50 cent cause he's just like me while kanye is checkin out her outfit "

I'd offer Beyonce some respect in that situation also, so I guess I'm more like Kanye.

I would holler at her after the show though.

9/11/2007 5:32:17 PM

Quote :

"I don't understand the appeal of 50¢, beyond the bumping-club-beats."

Oddly enough, that's probably when he's at his worst.

Say what you will about 50's last two CDs, but the man is funny as shit.

9/11/2007 6:32:01 PM

Quote :

"I'd offer Beyonce some respect in that situation also, so I guess I'm more like Kanye."

fag

9/11/2007 7:16:49 PM

damn i dont usually watch 106&park but that was a dope show, Kanye did big brother live, and then as the track faded the horns for "Encore" came on and Jay-Z came out.

9/11/2007 7:23:05 PM

Quote :

"fag"

lol, you called me a fag.

YOU KISS DUDES!!!!!

9/11/2007 8:44:08 PM

^^^I don't think there's anything gay about showing the ladies some respect.

There is something suspicious about appearing shirtless at every possible opportunity.

If y'all can't tell, I'm crazy for Kanye!

9/11/2007 9:40:06 PM

Quote :

"Kanye is so whiny that he should register for a TWW username"

9/11/2007 9:50:20 PM

i mainly enjoy this new kanye album

although this track with mos def . . . belongs in J_Hova's "seriously" thread

man what has happened to Mos Def


[Edited on September 11, 2007 at 10:13 PM. Reason : []]

9/11/2007 10:05:23 PM

^^^ 50 did look pretty homo on his GQ cover.

9/12/2007 12:35:41 AM

After giving both several listens (while simultaneously closing a 400K deal ((I'm talented as fuck)) )


I have to say 50 wins

9/12/2007 4:57:15 PM

Kanye West has the lead over 50 after the first day

Kanye - 437,000 copies
50 Cent - 310,000 copies

9/12/2007 8:14:12 PM

as it should, it's the better album.

9/12/2007 9:12:05 PM

Doesn't sound like Kanye even tried on this last one.

9/13/2007 12:27:21 AM

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/mixtape/id.214/title.kanye-west-andre-3000-youre-all-welcome

9/13/2007 1:18:55 AM

9/14/2007 2:04:30 PM

whoever said "curtis" is a better cd is probably the dumbest person on TWW

"the good life" is gonna be huge in like a week or two. the song/video are so hot

9/15/2007 11:43:51 PM

I like this album better than Kanye's last one.

"Flashing Lights" sounds kind of like music you'd hear in an RPG (minus the words of course).

9/15/2007 11:49:42 PM

i think this is better than curtis

barely

i think they both suck honestly...this year has been such a let down

9/16/2007 1:07:12 AM

Why is the first verse on track 3 "Man Down" on Curtis censored?

9/16/2007 3:22:58 AM

I figured someone would be nutting themselves over the shoutout to Snakes on a Plane in "Good Life".

9/18/2007 2:53:06 PM

I just finally downloaded Kanye wests' cd.
Call me homo, but the song homecoming makes my vag wet
4/5 stars.
He's had better shit, but this def worth me burning it to a cd and throwing it in my JAG

9/18/2007 9:45:20 PM

can somebody send me the album?

9/18/2007 10:37:43 PM