TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Kanye Graduates At Head Of Hip-Hop Class

ADVERTISEMENT

By CURTIS ROSS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

The same egomania that turns Kanye West boorish in public is part of what makes him one of hip hop's most fascinating artists. On 'Graduation,' his third album, his self-esteem comes out in clever, disarming rhymes; and it's tempered with some equally rampant self-doubt.

In person, West may pout about not winning awards, but on opening track 'Good Morning,' he wonders if he deserves his success. Continuing the school theme of his first two albums (2004's 'The College Dropout' and 2005's 'Late Registration'), West chastises himself: 'Barely pass any and every class ... Cheated on every test ...'

Of course for every expression of self-doubt there are at least a half-dozen audacious boasts: 'So how the hell could you front on me? There's a thousand yous, there's only one of me,' he raps on the album's first single, 'Stronger.'

Of course, any idiot can grab the mike and tell us how amazing he is. It takes a real talent to make us care and to make us want to hear even more outrageous claims.

That he can flip the script and show vulnerability regarding his hometown ('Homecoming') and his mentor, Jay-Z ('Big Brother'), is West's crowning achievement as a lyricist.

His production mastery is his ability to craft hooks that are irresistible to pop fans and hip-hop heads alike. Here, though, he seems to rely too much on samples of Elton John ('Good Morning'), Steely Dan ('Champion') and Daft Punk ('Stronger') instead of creating something new from them. Still, those tracks, like most everything on 'Graduation,' are as infectious as their predecessors.

Download this: 'Can't Tell Me Nothing'

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT