Kanye West - The College Dropout Video Anthology (Bonus CD) (March 22, 2005)

In February 2004, Roc-A-Fella / Def Jam Records released The College Dropout, the debut album from producer-slash-rapper Kanye West. Although he was riding a wave of success generated from his first single, “Through the Wire”, hip hop heads had extremely low expectations for this effort, especially since the only other time most of us had ever heard West actually rap was during an uncredited cameo on Jay-Z’s “The Bounce”. We know how this story ended: the underestimated Kanye West ended up on top, moving tons of units, surprising critics, and ultimately becoming one of the biggest names in our chosen genre, one whose every album release is treated as a blockbuster event, for better or for worse (*cough* ye *cough*).

As The College Dropout kept surpassing sales projections, Def Jam continued to throw money toward promoting it, resulting in multiple singles and videos being released for the project (including three just for the Grammy-winning breakout “Jesus Walks”). So it makes sense that, as an alternative avenue from which to collect revenue, the label pressed and released a DVD compiling all of those videos, cleverly called The College Dropout Video Anthology, one year later.

But I don’t care about the videos (right now). What I’m looking at today is the bonus disc of additional songs that Roc-A-Fella threw in to entice the consumer.

Hilariously, the bonus disc from The College Dropout Video Anthology features seven songs, which falls right in line with how he wanted his G.O.O.D. Music projects to look this past summer. The additional songs stem from the College Dropout recording sessions, after-market remixes of popular album tracks, or, in one instance, a mixtape favorite being granted a new life. This compilation consists of tracks that weren’t exactly readily available in the United States, but could be located online with a little bit of effort: however, if you are reading this post in Japan, you’re likely aware that all seven of these songs were a part of a deluxe version of The College Dropout that was exclusive to your country.

Unlike that Group Home debacle, though, it’s probable that the members of Kanye’s Japanese fanbase were actually excited to have these extra tracks, and it’s entirely possible that their reaction to these exclusives may have indirectly caused the paths of our host and Japanese artist Takashi Murakami to cross, eventually leading to the artwork for Graduation and Kids See Ghosts. Okay, I have no idea if that last statement is anywhere near accurate: it’s a reach on my part, and I think you two can tell that this month is wearing me down.

So here’s a write-up for a Kanye West compilation featuring niche songs that only diehard fans will give two fucks about. Enjoy!

1. WE DON’T CARE (REPRISE) (FEAT. KEYSHIA COLE)

Kanye himself doesn’t make an appearance on “We Don’t Care (Reprise)”, an outro of sorts to The College Dropout’s “We Don’t Care”, which was once called “Drug Dealing” according to this here track. After some confusing voicemails, the chorus of the original song plays in the background, as a woman (purporting to be ‘Ye’s cousin Kim, but may as well be guest star Keyshia Cole, as I can’t imagine why she would have received a feature credit for singing along with the rest of the participants on the hook behind the scenes) extrapolates on the societal issues our host touched on during “We Don’t Care”, providing more detail from the point of view of a social worker who has witnessed firsthand how people feel forced to do whatever they can to literally just get by. It wouldn’t have fit on The College Dropout – the overall tone of that project would have been thrown off, and besides, ‘Ye’s debut album was already really goddamn long. But as a follow-up, it’s okay, and it weirdly functions as a rap album intro even though it’s a reprise, so there’s that.

2. JESUS WALKS (REMIX) (FEAT. COMMON & MA$E)

‘Ye takes no shortcuts when stacking the official remix to the most talked-about track from The College Dropout, “Jesus Walks”, recruiting fellow Chicago native Common and what is the most appropriate feature this side of Reverend Run, Pastor Ma$e, to wax poetically about how their beliefs guide them through their respective lives and careers. (Not sure why Kanye didn’t look in-house to bring in Rhymefest, who wrote the original song, to also make a cameo, but he still receives a writing credit here, so.) Our host’s verse lacks the energy and focus he carried on the album version: as this was obviously released after “Jesus Walks” surprisingly blew the fuck up, he may have let his success complicate things just a bit. But he still sounds okay, and he definitely doesn’t spit like this anymore. Lonnie turns in another typically well-intended, if a bit dull, performance, which is just what he does (don’t @ me, you know I’m right). But “Jesus Walks (Remix)” seems to exists just for Ma$e, who chants in the background during the hook and provides a verse that proves that Puff Daddy isn’t/wasn’t the only producer out there that can help the man sound good. It’s weird to hear him bitch about what’s popular on the radio when he was what was popular on the radio a scant few years prior to this, but he’s trying (and failing) to make a point about payola, and that’s just how the music industry works anyway. (In no way am I claiming that it’s right, but you and I both know it still happens today.) But otherwise he sounds pretty good, and he even throws in a bit of a sermon toward the end. I imagine Kanye was loving every single minute of the production of this remix. So why doesn’t he just offer to produce a seven-song “album” for Mason Betha now? He’s not doing anything these days, right?

3. IT’S ALRIGHT (FEAT. MA$E & JOHN LEGEND)

Apparently “It’s Alright” was supposed to double as a remix of sorts to Ma$e’s comeback single, “Welcome Back”, but all this song has in common with its alleged predecessor is the presence of Pastor Ma$e himself, as they share no DNA otherwise. With John Legend crooning in the background during the overlong chorus (which he also did on “Jesus Walks (Remix)”, albeit not enough to receive a feature credit), Kanye and Ma$e each take a verse over one of those bouncy, soulful numbers that ‘Ye liked to give away as mixtape exclusives back in the day, but while this is a fun enough listen, there isn’t a lot to grasp on to here. ‘Ye references giving the money he made from this track to his mother, which just made me sad given how that whole Donda’s House disaster turned out (although Kanye actually going back to Chicago toward the end of this past summer eased my mind the tiniest bit), but at least he sounds animated and alive on “It’s Alright”: I’m pretty sure he wasn’t thinking about killing anyone just to add some shock value to a meh song back then. Ma$e is okay, but is completely wrong when he claims that, “when I drop the track it feel like Biggie back,” because, nope, that ain’t it. But Yeezy got to appear on two different songs with one of his rhyming heroes, which must have been awesome for him. No wonder he sounds so excited here.

4. THE NEW WORKOUT PLAN (REMIX) (FEAT. TWISTA, LUKE, & FONZWORTH BENTLEY)

A Lil Jon remix, recorded at the time he had something to do with every third song playing on hip hop and R&B radio stations (an unverified estimate), was reserved for… a bonus disc that isn’t readily available anywhere in the world. (Pretend YouTube doesn’t exist for that last sentence to logically work.) If that sounds counterintuitive, well, you’re right, it fucking is, but after listening to “The New Workout Plan (Remix)” again for the first time in probably thirteen years, I understand completely why Roc-A-Fella / Def Jam would have buried this track: it sucks. Full disclosure: I’m not a fan of the original either, so I never felt this was a necessary inclusion in Kanye’s back catalog, but I suppose ‘Ye saw an opportunity to record with Twista, Lil’ Jon, and Luther Campbell, and he took it, as I likely would, let’s be real, and I’m not even a rapper. Jon’s beat sounds like an imitation of his own work, one conjured up to play in the background during high school basketball highlight reels during your local news programs, and our host uses his verse to address the misogyny prevalent during the album take, dismiss the misogyny prevalent during the album take, and then admit that he uses his own workout advice, which somehow makes all of this palatable? Nah, son. Twista is introduced in a pretty clever way, as our host reuses one of his older bars to do so, but while he sounds okay-ish, it isn’t anything special. Also, Puff Daddy’s former umbrella-wielding assistant Fonzworth Bentley spits a verse, presumably twirling said umbrella in the booth while doing so, and his presence on here is just… weird. Regardless of Bentley’s actual musical background, it’s really just a “what the fuck?” moment, but not one that will drive you to actually want to listen to this shit. I think we may owe Japan an apology for letting them have this one.

5. HEAVY HITTERS (FEAT. GLC)

A mixtape staple that actually found itself tacked on to the Japanese special edition of The College Dropout proper (as opposed to its deluxe reissue) is presented here in a mastered form, although ‘Ye’s collaboration with his former friend and former rhyme partner GLC sounds exactly the same to me. (Def Jam Records also saw fit to include “Heavy Hitters” as a B-side on the twelve-inch single for “Jesus Walks”, for those of you keeping track.) ‘Ye is in full-on Go Getters mode, talking his shit while trying to justify his place within the hip hop pantheon even though, at the time of this song’s recording, The College Dropout hadn’t even yet been released, so at least his confidence was already out in full force. Our host sounds fine, as you know as you’ve all heard this track before, but he’s easily outshined by GLC, whose flow is effortless and entertaining as shit. I’ve always wondered what GLC would sound like today had Kanye not abandoned him, along with the rest of Chicago, so early on in his career. The cameo toward the end, from radio personality Rude Jude, seems to exist only because ‘Ye name-drops him during his verse, and it lasts for quite a while, so be forewarned.

6. TWO WORDS (CIMENATIC VERSION) (FEAT. MOS DEF & THE HARLEM BOYS CHOIR)

Interesting from a musical standpoint. Those of you two who are fretting because it seems like Freeway was erased from this alternative version of The College Dropout’s “Two Words”, well, it’s because he has been, but aside from a brief appearance from Yaasin Bey Mos Def, this is just an interpretation of the track, mostly instrumental, and Kanye West remains firmly behind the boards. It does sound just fine in its own way: it can’t top the album take, but it’s basically its own entity, and it should be treated as such. It’s easy to see why ‘Ye categorized this as a “cinematic version”: there seems to be far more scope present here than on The College Dropout, even though the actual rapped verses are missed dearly.

7. NEVER LET ME DOWN (CINEMATIC VERSION)

If you read through the paragraph on “Two Words (Cinematic Version)”, then you already know the drill: this isn’t a remix as much as it is a reimagining of the source material, with the lyrics from ‘Ye, Jay-Z, and J. Ivy removed in favor of shifting the focus to the music itself. The chorus from the original song stull gets played (a bit too often, in my opinion), but this was still a pleasant experience. A bit lacking in scope when compared to the previous track, perhaps. I know Kanye’s trying really hard to get everyone to like him again after torching several bridges earlier this year and releasing that garbage album ye: maybe one of the ways he could get older hip hop heads back on his side is if he revisited more songs from his previous projects in this fashion. Hell, maybe Yeezus would even sound better as instrumental interpretations. But that will never happen, so the hell with this.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The bonus disc to Kanye West’s The College Dropout Video Anthology isn’t a real album, so it shouldn’t be graded as such: rather, it’s a compilation of loose extras that wouldn’t have fit the regular program, but occasionally make for some fascinating listening. Most of these failed to make the cut for valid reasons: obviously the remix to “Jesus Walks” hadn’t even been conceived when the album dropped, and the “cinematic versions” of two tracks would have disrupted the flow of the project, and besides, Kanye doesn’t put instrumentals on his albums. All of this stuff either has or would have ended up in the mixtape circuit eventually, so I suppose it was nice of Kanye and Def Jam to provide fans with mastered versions of the tracks, but there is no audience in the world that would pick this disc up by itself, nor should they. The bonus disc to this video anthology is for ’Ye completists only, although if that happens to describe you, you’ll probably love this shit, and I completely understand: people enjoy hearing songs that nobody else is aware of. If Kanye has any more of those “cinematic versions” in the vault, I’d love for him to unleash them upon the world, certainly much more so than a Lil Jon-produced remix to an album track that already sucked. Welp.

BUY OR BURN? Unless you’re dying to own all of the various videos commissioned for The College Dropout, there’s no real reason to buy this DVD, especially since these bonus songs can easily be found elsewhere. YouTube is your friend.

BEST TRACKS: “Jesus Walks (Remix)”; “Heavy Hitters”

-Max

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