Universal Remote Control

Kanye West, "Graduation" (Def Jam, 2007)
Kanye West is without a doubt the most famous or infamous rapper to come out of Chicago in the last decade. His first album, "College Dropout," changed the course of hip-hop with its focus on the resurrection of the soul sound via samples. The album commits stabbing social commetary, violently debating the validity of post-secondary education. Easily the most sincere of his albums, He demonstrates his ability to hone in on a deliberate target audience. It was a life-changing album. Kanye's sophomore album was "Late Registration," which traded in the neo-soul sound for an ostentatious and grandiloquent orchestral sonance. This album won a Grammy as a reward for its commercial appeal. With the exception of "Crack Music" and "Drive Slow," the album was completely void of any of the frustration and angst present on the first album. Many of the values that resonated with West's audience in the first album were absent; the album just wasn't tough. West was hailed for his "ultra" political "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." Sadly, those of us in reality recognized the song as bombastic. He steps up to the podium and says little of relevance pertaining to Sierra Leone, the DRC, or the real minerals perpetuating the longest standing war of our lives.
Which brings us to the album that made our parents all fans of Kanye West, "Graduation." His first two CDs combined for 41 tracks. "Graduation" is a brief and focused 13. If the "Diamonds" remix wasn't enough, Kanye's windbag lyrics in his opening track sure are. "I'm like a fly Malcolm X, by and jeans necessary" completely undermines the political gains of someone much more deserving of iconic status. The only thing more despicable to the comparison is seeing Soulja Boi paraded around like a baboon and applauded by a slobbering audience pleased with their delightful minstrel jester. This album boasts more commercial appeal than the last two combined and it's no wonder it sold nearly a million copies in its first week. The target audience is the entire galaxy, and at least 11 of these songs are dictionary definitions of universal appeal. In spite of his success, Kanye is still extrovertly analyzing his academic experience (or lack there of). "Scared to face the world complacent career student, some people graduate but be still stupid." Despite the Malcolm X comparison, "Good Morning" is buzz worthy and stimulating foreplay. Kanye West definitely makes the most of the Elton John sample, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." The production can only be described as heavenly. The chorus is a looped audio track of Hov, "Hustlers, that's if you still livin', get on down." The only thing missing from his opener is a third verse;"Good Morning" is definitely a song to listen to on repeat.
The second track is "Champion." This song is amazing because it takes the place of an actual conversation when you are stuck in the car with Dad. Kanye must have some serious bank to afford the Steely Dan sample ("Kid Charlemagne"); hats off to him for actually taking some creative licence in a derivative work. Other family picnic or road trip songs include: "I wonder", "Good Life", "Flashing Lights", and "Everything I am."
"Barry Bonds" is the best "rap" song on the album. Its got attitude, edge, funk, and grit. Both Kanye and Lil Wayne are inventive in their rhyme schemes. The commercial nature of the album is completely put on hold which yields to an authentic artistic expression. Only Wayne could go in the booth high on heroin and come out with some crack. "Drunk and Hot Girls" is another classic. This song is in 3/4 time which isn't at all typical of hip-hop. Its lyrically hilarious and quite intoxicating sonically.
"Can't Tell Me Nothing" is reason enough to buy this album. Finally we see the spiteful and determined Kanye from that first glorious album. He shows why he has been long renown as a mercenary producer with this track. He even throws in Young Jeezy's adlibs as a final spice for his masterpiece(Jeezy is on the remix). You can't help but to quote the lyrics of this song religiously, this is as epic as it gets. This song resonates after getting kicked out of your house, or losing your job, or dropping out of school. A strong and volatile declaration railing against an unnamed authority. A focus on the only imperative of this world, the money.
This album can best be described as a symphony of synthesisers (very expensive-sounding ones). We have definitely proceeded to the next step in the trend of moving toward a softer more accessible Kanye. Hey, nobody said going mainstream was a bad thing, but maybe I don't want my mom quoting more Lil Wayne lyrics than I do. This album is by no means an edgy or rambunctious reflection of Mr. West's personality. Instead it is a prelude into his next, ultra vulnerable ablbum, "Heartbreaks and 808's." The Chicagoan almost certainly must be applauded on his ability to entertain a universal audience; West does so without sacrificing any noticeable quantity of his integrity. This album deserves upwards of three out of five stars.