My Gut Reaction: Kanye West - Graduation (September 11, 2007)

While I'm in the process of trying to retool this blog (think of it as a 'Hip Hop Isn't Dead 2.0', if you will, and you should), I'm going to try new things with these posts to keep the attention of my readers, and ultimately, myself. What follows will not be a true write-up like what you normally love; it is, literally, my gut reactions as I listen to a brand new hip-hop or hip-hop related album; there will be no recommendations to purchase or download anything at the end, because those will be reserved for full-on write-ups, and based on my recent blogging output, Graduation should get the full HHID treatment in about, oh, let's just say forty years.

I won't bother to run through the Kanye West biography this time out (I'll save that for whenever The College Dropout is reviewed, thanks), but I will say that I ultimately picked this one up at a Best Buy on Tuesday, after a doomed quest to find that Baby Elephant CD (but I have a line on it, and will have it by end of the day tomorrow), and it was the last one on the shelves. It also cost me only five bucks (thanks, Reward Zone!), so it's not like I can really complain if this sucks. But at least I can tell myself that I contributed to the embarrassment (if not the impending retirement) of Curtis Jackson, Esq.

1. GOOD MORNING
I didn't really hear anything memorable here.

2. CHAMPION
I'm a little bit confused about the liner notes for this one. "Additional lyrics added by Kanye West"? Did he not write his own verses? This song isn't catchy enough for me to figure out that conundrum, though.

3. STRONGER
It's good, already a proven banger of the clubs, but I know this song will annoy the hell out of me in about a month or so. It definitely doesn't do the original Daft Punk song any favors, but for some reason, this song actually reminds me more of Ladytron than Timbaland, the supposed influence. Speaking of Timbo, they say he re-programmed the drums for the album version, but I can't tell the difference.

4. I WONDER
I really like the vocal sample that doubles as the chorus. Kanye's rhymes are awkwardly paced, but I found myself liking this one.

5. GOOD LIFE (FEAT T-PAIN & JOHN LEGEND)
I don't see the big deal about this song. It sounds weak, and T-Pain is on it; what more can I say? I know they will play the shit out of this on the radio (as it's the third single and all), but I'd rather pull out Thriller and hear "P.Y.T." on a loop. Although I do like how Kanye swipes some Curtis lyrics from "In Da Club"; that was pretty amusing.

6. CAN'T TELL ME NOTHING
When I first heard this track on the Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape, it took me three or four listens to appreciate it. I still like it; kind of a minimalist take on a big ego Kanye song. However, I just realized how much I don't like the remix with Young Jeezy, but that's simply because I prefer the company of Middle-Aged Jeezy; that's my boy right there!

7. BARRY BONDS (FEAT LIL WAYNE)
Lots of bloggers wonder how strong the paint Kanye huffed had to be to even remotely consider putting Lil Wayne, also known as "the worst and yet most overexposed rapper out right now" (I actually prefer the lyrical couplets of Curtis Jackson than this punk no-talent), on Graduation, but people forget that Kanye himself actually has very questionable taste in rap music. Paul Wall appeared on his last album, Late Registration, people! Paul Wall! And look two songs up and what do you see? Theodore Johann Paine (brother of Alvin and Simon Payne)! So it's not a stretch. However, I agree with the masses in blogland; Wayne sucks terribly on this song, and for some reason, I can't even understand a fucking word coming out of his heavily grilled mouth. But that may be my short attention span kicking in.

8. DRUNK AND HOT GIRLS (FEAT MOS DEF)
I guess I fall into the minority here, but I didn't find anything objectionable about "Drunk And Hot Girls", although I have no clue why Mos Def agreed to appear on this. It's not bad; it's not a classic song or anything, but I like hearing Kanye rap "Da da da da da/that's how the fuck you sound" (it sounds better in context). But then again, I also liked "Addiction" off of Late Registration; pretty sure I'm the only guy in the world that didn't find anything wrong with that song, either.

9. FLASHING LIGHTS (FEAT DWELE)
So far, my favorite song. Loving this.

10. EVERYTHING I AM (SCRATCHES BY DJ PREMIER)
Color me unimpressed. Primo's scratches are not very inspired; in fact, they sound downright lazy. (Try to revoke my Hip Hop pass, and I'll cut you.) The beat sounds like Kanye tried his hardest to make a Gangstarr record, but realized that he left his dirtiest drums over on Common's last album. Now, if Primo had produced the whole freakin' song, well, we would be having a different discussion, wouldn't we?

11. THE GLORY
Kanye gave this beat to Common, and then took it back? Might have been a good call; this doesn't sound too bad.

12. HOMECOMING (FEAT CHRIS MARTIN OF COLDPLAY)
This is probably the only album I own that features two different guys named Chris Martin (the other being Primo). Not only is the Coldplay singer a nonfactor here, 'Ye really should have stuck with the original version on all of his earlier mixtapes, or at least, he should have added his lyrics to that Common song off of Late Registration that ends abruptly before West rhymes; the beats sound exactly the same anyway.

13. BIG BROTHER
This reminded me of The Game's song off of The Doctor's Advocate, where he gets drunk in the booth and starts crying about how much he's disappointed the honorable (and for some reason, newly buff) Dr. Dre. Except Kanye's not drunk when he rhymes about Shawn Carter; at least, not that we know of.

THE LAST WORD: All of these people on these hip hop forums declaring Graduation a classic are full of shit. It's not that this is a bad album; in fact, upon first listen, it sounds intriguing, and I'll probably revisit it often through the rest of 2007. It's just that the word "classic" is tossed around so often, and there really is no way that anything can be considered a classic unless some time has passed.

I have some other new things planned for the blog; hopefully those will see the light of day soon. If you enjoy these new columns, or hate them with a passion, please leave some comments; positive or negative, it's good to read some other opinions. (Hint!)

-Max

(Before you ask, no, I will not review Curtis. Life is short, my dear two readers.)