KanyeWest.comIt’s been two years since Kanye West’s runaway success “Late Registration”; and ever since then, the cognoscenti have awaited a new product. There has been much ado about West’s showdown with fellow rap titan 50 Cent, who releases his third album, “Curtis,” today, making it the Super Bowl of rap.
Rap bloggers and illuminati had dreamt up many different track-listings for a third album since then, begging West to release songs like “Bittersweet,” a powerful collaboration with John Mayer , which is now an iTunes bonus track for “Graduation.”
It will be interesting to see who sells more; however, it will be irrelevant. Both 50 Cent and Kanye’s CDs will probably be the best of the year as far as rap goes, and most rap fans will just get both at some point. While 50 Cent is a formidable opponent with several hot singles on the charts, Kanye’s nearly obsessive devotion to his art and his combination of bravado and vulnerability (the latter of which 50 Cent lacks), make his work survive more listens and stands the test of time better than 50’s.
“Graduation” is on par with West’s two other juggernaut CDs, yet it contains some of his best and worst songs. Most listeners have astronomical expectations for the disc, which makes Kanye’s job much harder than your average rapper’s.
There are some disappointing moments on this CD, but there are also some pleasant surprises. Lyrically, Kanye is as clever and introspective as ever, if not more. While few tracks could be as instantly infectious as “Gold Digger” or as intricate as “Drive Slow,” this is a disc that improves after a few listens.
Some will pick up the CD and be immediately confused. The cover art is just weird, showing his familiar mascot, the teddy bear, this time launched high above the world. This continues the theme for West recently, his sense of conquering the music industry and his rivals. Kanye has, in recent months, seemed extremely sensitive about media criticism and the epidemic of so-called “haters,” a feeling that is reflected in Graduation’s cranked intensity. Few people expected that someone who made five beats a day for three summers could get any more intense, but it’s apparent that West is more determined than ever to silence critics. This is his attempt at erasing all doubt to his pre-eminence in both hip-hop and pop realms.
Many were also surprised by Graduation’s two singles, “Can’t Tell Me Nothin'” and “Stronger,” both of which exemplify completely new ground for him. The former is a slow, gloomy organ-based track addressed specifically to his detractors in a style influenced by the slow flows of Southern rappers, particularly of the Atlanta stock. “Stronger” is his most adventurous song to date, switching between a driving dance-disco beat familiar to the techno-club scene and a more typically West ultra-syncopated rap beat. Somehow, the man makes it work, and it is perhaps the most complex backing track of any rap single of his career or any, experimenting with flanging, synth-happy breakdowns, elliptical song patterns, and alternating backbeats. It’s amazing that people can dance to it, but they can.
Other stand-out tracks include the up-coming single, “The Good Life,” which features the pitch-corrector and computer-loving T-Pain in an energetic sing-along. It may be Kanye West’s catchiest song and it feels like you’re in a stadium when you hear it. Another of note is “Barry Bonds,” with guest Lil’ Wayne. The beat reminds the listener of the previous West track “Drive Slow,” another of West’s greatest achievements.
“Drunk and Hot Girls” bemoans the difficulty of getting drunk girls to bed (without getting puked on) and with resisting them. “We go through too much bulls*** just to mess with these drunk and hot girls,” he realizes. Most will agree. This track demonstrates West’s unique ability to create a mood: the song is practically a dirge, its tune something out of a funeral; you can feel his frustration listening to it.
But it’s overshadowed by the one that follows it, “Flashing Lights,” which may be the best song Kanye has ever released, powered by a Nate Dogg-like hook and even more synthesizers than “Stronger.”
The version of “Homecoming” is a major disappointment, because the mix tape version of it is much better. Chris Martin, the falsetto-happy kind of pop singer than Yeezy seems to prefer, sings a different hook, apparently of his own creation. The beat sounds like a sped-up Coldplay song, which doesn’t fit. The original version with John Legend is undoubtedly superior, but the masses will have to exchange Legend’s soulfulness for Martin’s laid-back crooning..
“Big Brother” explores the Louis Vuitton Don’s mixed emotions toward Jay-Z, something that 50 Cent never would have the courage to do. Here ‘Ye is unashamed to show his emotions to the world, his love for another man, in an industry that prides itself on hyper-masculinity and constant reminders of toughness. It seems that at least once every CD Kanye has an emotional song, (see “Family Business” or “Hey Mama”).One can’t help but wonder what Jay-Z thinks about so much man-on-man love on this record.
This ultimately leads us to the true significance of “Graduation.” Rap’s image now consists of spinning rims, simple and repetitive dance songs, glorified promiscuity and dissipation, and behind all of this, narcissism. West rises above all of these things on “Graduation,” posturing himself again as the thinking man’s MC, as emotionally conflicted and complicated, as cleverly funny at times and bitingly serious at others.
West graduates from typical rap tropes and mainstream juvenilia, from the low standards and IQ’s of the pop charts, and while not the best rapper alive shows himself to be the maker of simply the best rap songs out there. Consequently it doesn’t matter if 50 Cent outsells him and is more popular, Kanye is an artist in the truest sense of the word, and he has survived taking another gamble with “Graduation.”
Steven Stafford can be reached at [email protected].
