Kanye West
Graduation
3.8/5

Who It’s For: Tape compilers and DJs, everyone else will buy it for “Stronger”
Sounds Like: Lots of synth pads, a few soul samples, and that same Chi-town voice.

It’s almost hard to believe that when The College Dropout was released the world collectively gasped that a 21st Century artist, no less a rapper, could straddle those impossible arenas of ‘integrity’ and ‘commercial success.’ The lyrical vision, those samples, the superstar cameos! Only the awful realisation of the millstone hung around his neck could dampen the joy – Mr. West had to be that good. Every single time.

Two albums later and his ‘education trilogy’ is at an end, and like The Matrix it’s making a little less sense as time goes on. Hope that recent work with Common would have rubbed off was misplaced, and whilst Kanye still comes across as his own biggest fan (lead single “Stronger” - great sample, suspect rhymes) at least he’s capable of pulling together samples and beats like few others. Graduation has the decency to at least sound different from the prequels, and in a good way too - the synth pads are sounding fresh and whilst some of the soul sampling is getting a little predictable it’s still effective.

Still, there’s too many ‘shits’ (bad), he’s cut almost all the squeaky-voiced intros (good), and no intrusive skits (almost unheard of), and whilst the club bangers (“Champion” and “Good Life”) and sober songs (“Good Morning” and “Everything I Am”) sit gorgeously against each other, it’s the vision that you’ll be missing when you make it through. Sadly, the best you can say is that Graduation is an excellent ordinary hip hop album, which is so much less than we ought to be saying about this extra-ordinary talent.

Track Listing:

1. Good Morning
2. Champion
3. Stronger
4. I Wonder
5. Good Life
6. Can’t Tell Me Nothing
7. Barry Bonds
8. Drunk And Hot Girls
9. Flashing Lights
10. Everything I Am
11. The Glory
12. Homecoming
13. Big Brother

- Kid Lupin