Kanye West The College Dropout

 Kanye West

The College Dropout

I am by no means a very reliable source for hip-hop critique. Nevertheless, I enjoy the genre from a distance.

I had the chance to check out The College Dropout by Kanye West. West is famous for his production skills, most notably for hits like "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" that he produced Jay-Z. This record marks West’s first attempt behind the mic.

Kanye West is not the most noteworthy rapper, but this album still shines because of the catchy beats. College Dropout draws heavily from soul and gospel samples. The standout tracks are “Spaceships,” a track about losing it at your day job, “Never Let Me Down,” with Jay-Z and “Jesus Walks” which contains the coolest line of the album, “God show me the way because the devil’s trying to break me dowwwwn.”

The drawbacks are:

1. The many high-pitched, Chipmunk-like background voices

2. Skits that break up the flow of the album

3. The hit “Slow Jamz.” (I know this a huge radio hit, but you should know how strongly I disdain all slow jams.)

Overall, a pretty good record.