THROWBACK: College Dropout - Kanye West

Kanye West is infamous yet well respected both. He is sadly more noted now for his off the stage chaos than the real acknowledgment of what he offered to a genre. Kanye West is by no means bad. Musically, he innovates and expands with each release and I feel it needs to be acknowledged. Instead of looking at the latest war happening because someone should take over his social media to save his PR, we should listen to the music. We are doing just that.

College Dropout is West's debut album, released in 2004. It is now included on the greatest albums of all time, noted for its whimsical qualities and innovative approach. He broke a new barrier as he did not want to fall into the realm of the rap that was popular at the time of release. He ended up creating a new trend in rap music all together. Since release, it has sold over 4 Million copies worldwide.

The introduction is just a spoken piece, we will not need to look at much of that outside the nice introduction. 

The intro leads right into "We Don't Care", which feels like it uses some serious irony. Yes...perfect thing for the kids...drug dealing just to get by. I do not think this is meant to be hurtful but very self-aware. We live in a society where all these dark themes are glossed over. I think it is very representative of how we sweep major issues under a rug without a care.

"Graduation Day" is more of a short interlude to carry the story of Kanye choosing a different path than maybe what his family was hoping. A belief in the self.

"All Falls Down" seems a very honest take on him wanting to experience and achieve all these things, and be seen as all these things, but also he is insecure. It is interesting to think of that considering his antics of today, but it is very plausible as with everyone...things change. 

"I'll Fly Away" is another shorter interlude. I find it interesting to see how much Kanye actually incorporated singing into his early work.

"Spaceship" has a lot of different elements. From the perspective of African-Americans, it is the constant hurdles and struggles they faced finding success in a society that still looks at them sideways. From an everyone perspective, I think we have all had that terrible job where we just wanted to get out and were barely getting by. From another perspective bigger, there's also the change in how people treat you once you obtain relevance. A distrust, everyone acting like your friend when they didn't care about you before. The themes are strong and make this a very appealing track.

"Jesus Walks" makes it seem less bizarre he shifted to Jesus is King. A song calling out to God despite a strained relationship. I am surprised to hear this here even, but actually very admirable to hear it. 

"Never Let Me Down" is held back a bit by Jay-Z to me. He did not compare to the sheer emotionality of the way Kanye did the verse after him. Not comparable at all. The lyrics themselves are profound enough to hold it up despite this.

"Get'em High" is genuinely the first track I don't like much. It sounds more like a typical track and less emotional or innovative than the others.

"Workout Plan" is another random interlude. I am not sure what its purpose it to be honest.

"The New Workout Plan" is a straight up ironic mockery of the kind of women who wait around for a guy with money. And honestly, gold diggers kind of deserve it. It is ridiculous how often women can do no wrong to a guy yet many can act shallow and hurtful. I say this AS a woman...

"Slow Jamz" feels weighed down by the collaborations. The song isn't terrible but I probably wouldn't return to it.

"Breathe in Breathe Out" sounds like a rap flex song. It is in fact a flex song. If you like that, cool. I prefer the intense emotion in the track above.

"School Spirit Skit 1" is a comedic interlude.

"School Spirit" discusses Kanye's decision to drop out of college and chase his rap dreams. He also discusses seeing how education did not necessarily remove anyone from their negative situations.

"School Spirit Skit 2" is another comedic skit referencing how people elevate their ego falsely through a piece of paper acting like they know something.

"Lil Jimmy Skit" continues to mock the obsession with chasing educational achievements that give you no individuality. 

"Two Words" returns to the more emotional lyricism discussing the struggles of coming up after choosing to chase dreams instead of people pleasing, especially as a minority.

"Through the Wire" definitely taps into the car accident mentioned in previous lyrics, and the power of survival. 

"Family Business" discusses standing by family despite getting put into prison. Likely referencing the high rates of crime and incarceration amongst the community, that is perpetuated by the struggles of poverty and the hurdles people of color face.

The album closes with "The Last Call", discussing obtaining many of the things he was looking to achieve and being with his mother during this. 

LYRICS: 8/10 - Most of the lyricism holds up even the weaker parts of the album.

MUSIC: 8/10 - The music did not take away from the lyrics majority of the time and stayed on flow with the beat.

Overall: 8/10 - A very solid debut. Held down a bit by collaborations. I find some of the lyricism to be very strong and show Kanye's real talent.