CRYSTAL TAYLOR
Staff Writer
Kanye West exploded onto the scene in the mid 2000s with “Jesus Walks.” Overcoming a broken home and the decision to drop out of school, West has received six Grammy’s (as well as many other awards) and has gained immense commercial success.
His new CD, “Graduation,” was released on Sept. 11 to much media hype. Expecting that this album wouldn’t do as well as his last two releases, West did everything he could to play it up — including making sure that everyone heard about the conflict between he and 50 Cent, who vowed to retire from the music industry if “Graduation” outsold his own new release.
Although the oath was a joke, it definitely increased the hype surrounding West’s album.
West’s third release, “Graduation” follows the heels of “The College Dropout” and “Late Registration,” earlier albums that catapulted West into celebrity status. Although undeniably a West release, “Graduation” delineates from the path the past two releases carved.
West moves from the soul-sampling of the previous releases to a more Euro-synth style. “Graduation” opens strongly with “Good Morning,” followed by “Champion.” “Good Morning” samples Elton John’s song, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” while “Champion” uses cuts from Steely Dan’s song, “Kid Charlemagne.” However, while John’s samples are barely recognizable and serve to compliment the rest of the music, West overdoes one lyric of Steely Dan’s, making the repetitiveness sound like the product of a thoroughly scratched CD.
Following the same vein, West collaborated with Coldplay’s Chris Martin on the track “Homecoming,” a complete turn away from West’s previous work. It rides on Martin’s piano, utilizing a simple drum line and ambiguous background noise to make the sound seem fuller than it actually is.
The juxtaposition of Martin’s airier voice with West’s richer sound balances out the clashing of rap against the piano, as well. The new style on the album is innovative, and each track holds a unique musical brilliance.
“Stronger” is the track that people can’t seem to get out of their heads, due to its poppy hook. Wisely chosen as the second single, it puts a hip-hop spin on Daft Punk’s track, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” The mix of urban beats with electrohouse gives birth to an eargasmic melody that is meant to be grooved to.
What’s frustrating, though, is the lack of recognition West gives to Daft Punk, since their song is what makes this track. Many of West’s fans, who have never been exposed to Daft Punk, are still unfamiliar with the band.
“Graduation” loses momentum in the middle of the CD with tracks “Barry Bonds” and “Drunk and Hot Girls.” Lil Wayne’s ragged vocals take away from “Barry Bonds,” annoying instead of intriguing the listener.
Both tracks fall short of the precedent set by the previous songs. It starts to pick up again with “Flashing Lights,” which has a synth-pop background reminiscent of Europe’s disco days. West’s vocals are drab and unemotional, but by “Everything I Am,” the album is back on track.
West has built a reputation for being full of himself, and “Graduation” does nothing to convince otherwise. His boastful nature can frustrate at times, such as in “Stronger” when he exclaims, “You should be honored by my lateness/that I would even show up to this fake s***.”
These moments of suffocating self-indulgence completely drown out the apologies he makes on “Everything I Am,” which recognizes his self-boasting habits and enlarged head. “Graduation” is mostly concerned with West and barely ventures into more universal topics.
Anyone looking for a new sound to groove to will be pleased with West’s new release, but those looking for lyrical substance will be disappointed. Three albums into his career, it seems that he just can’t step away from the moments that got him where he is today.
But at least he can be sure that he will outsell 50 Cent.
09-20-2007
