Don’t ask how, but I’ve acquired a copy of the new Kanye West – Graduation album. It doesn’t technically drop until September 11th, but I’ve got a copy. What kind of douche bag drops an album on 9/11? Oh wait, Kanye and this guy. Anyways, I’ve listened to it for a while, and my general feeling is that the album is garbage. The lyrics are pretty good (for Kanye at least), but the music behind the lyrics is mostly crap.
The two exceptions to an otherwise subpar and uninspired album would be the single on the radio “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and the previously unreleased “Everything I am”. Save your money, and buy the upcoming Army of the Pharaohs album that drops September 25th.
p.s. I tag this post as “hip hop”, but I use that term very loosely when it comes to this album…
Rating: (based on the “retail” album)
[xrr rating=3/5]
Review: Kanye West – Graduation
Published
Wandering the Interwebs 
I’m loving “Good Morning” as an opener, too, but this album is just so… bad! Rap is the rhythmic equivalent of stream-of-conscious writing, not as faux-singing. And the samples on here are so synth-heavy that I have to wonder: Does Kanye know anything about his own heritage, or is his cultural identity so caught up with the Theo Cosby Black-are-White folk that he grew up listening to soft pop and crappy dance music for white folk who don’t know how to dance (like myself)? Damn, Kanye, listen to “Kamaal the Abstract” if you wanna hear something that uses samples and a heritage of gorgeous music the right way. And for Christ’s sake, stop dressing and rapping like Diddy!
Brendan, I’d have to agree with just about all of your points. I think Kanye dresses “more white” than even Diddy…and that is hard to do.
The album is utter crap though, I agree.