![]() ![]() While gospel over soul samples with hip-hop beats is his true/primary sound – that’s basically all Kanye is producing here. The music, while minimal, is more labored than I even picked up on during the first listen. Upon my my second listening and more mental digestion, my theory expands. And the length.this release is only seven tracks and only 24 minutes, with not one six- seven- or eight- minute track as he is wont to do? Dude is tired. The “ye” album has elements soul-baring and depth the music is heavily gospel and spiritual, though not groundbreaking like his previous work. The fact is, in my mind, Kanye probably just wants to hang up the mic. After an unparalleled-so-far-in-the-21st-century string of great critical & commercial albums, he thoroughly knows that “ye” needs to follow in that lineage – he MUST produce a magnum opus. Perhaps Kanye is exhausted with this role witness him holing up in Wyoming for this album/ gaining weight/ deleting twitter/ disappearing for about a year. Confusion and depression are underlying themes throughout the album – maybe not the “depression” associated with somebody that “lost everything,” but from Kanye branding himself as a great artist/iconoclast and feeling the pressure of living up to that standard. West wants the listener to feel that he is in a super dark place. My initial thoughts after my first listen is that I think Mr. As I began to internalize the album more thoroughly, I feel that “ye” is ultimately a strong listen, but falls short in one area where Mr. That didn’t quite work out – instead, I spent the weekend listening to “ye” on repeat. ![]() But switch that track out with the bonus cut “Good Night” and it may deserve the 1/2 of a star.I initially thought that I would wait my prerequisite three months to listen to Kanye West’s new release, “ye” – I typically want the ‘noise’ to subside so I can take an uninhibited, zero-influence approach to an album. In years of listening, it’s starting to grow on me. Then why did I give Graduation a 4.5? “Drunk & Hot Girls”. It also proves that he will never have the burden of trying to top his first album like some of Hip-Hop’s elite because so far Graduation is his best album. If Kanye West ended his career today he would have a lotta accolades, but this would be the go to album to showcase his talent. Or even how this album gave Curtis Jackson a big L in the sales competition. Or how Kanye flexed his lyrical muscle and buried Weezy on “Barry Bonds”. Or how Ye wasn’t afraid to share production credits with the likes of Nottz, DJ Toomp, & Jon Brion. Or how each track fits with the whole scheme of the album. Or I could talk about how the album showed progression and shifted to a more electronic feel. I could go track and track and show you how almost all the songs are top notch. ![]() Now I can go a lotta ways to prove this point. Yes, Graduation more than deserves the Classic Material title. And still to this day I find myself going back to this album and still enjoying it. It was also the first album on nappyafro to receive 4.5 out of 5 rating. A few years ago when we first opened up the doors here at nappyafro, Graduation was one of the first albums I got to review for the site (Even before we made up our minds to go with the track by track format). Too soon to call Kanye West’s Graduation a classic album? Not at all. ![]()
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