Kanye West - Late Registration
Album of the Week
Date - 2005-08-28 00:00:00
Kanye West... not much more needs to be said. Anyone who can keep street cred and at the same time produce white-friendly rap is going to be lauded everywhere. The problem, of course, is following up a debut as successful and amazing as College Dropout. Let us step together through this much-anticipated disc and see if Kanye can pull it off, shall we?
Track one is entitled "Wake Up Mr West." It's a skit. I don't like skits. Let's move on to the meat. Track two, "Heard 'Em Say," is a slower song, but it feels smooth and the sample is cool and understated, so I dig it. The lead singer of Maroon 5 is featured on this track, which leads to the question: is he the new John Mayer? An insanely white person that somehow has street cred... You all know that Mayer was on the Chappelle show fairly often, right? Anyways, this song could fit in on the last Common disc, except, you know, Common does not rap in this song.
So we are off to a good start and we get track 3, "Touch The Sky." At this point, I’m certain that this album is going to turn out alright. This track takes everything up a notch and just gets right into it, with a strong soul sample and a very nice complimentary beat. The key to the songs with more powerful samples is to kick them up a notch, I think. The subject matter of this song, which is West being incredulous that he was a success, is questionable, but I will accept it for now. This song is fun.
The second single I heard from this album is "Gold Digger," which comes up as track four. The first time I heard this song, I really did not like it at all. The second time I heard it was on my first time through this album, and it was freaking awesome. The beat is sweet, the lyrics are fun, and it is a prototypical good Kanye West song to me. The key is that everyone seems to be having fun in the studio, just goofing off but still aware that the beats and samples they are working with are amazing. When everyone is having fun making the song and the beat is as good as "Gold Digger," it is hard for the listener not to have a lot of fun listening along.
Track 5 is a stupid skit, and then track 6 hits and everything just falls apart. In fact, at this point, rather than go track by track through the rest of this album, I’d like to devolve into just presenting my notes. Let me leave my prose with this thought: it would have been a lot better if this was not a full-length album, but instead a 7 track EP. A lot better.
6. Drive Slow - what's the point of this song? it's a little too slow and the subject matter is kinda... typical rap.
7. My Way Home - common is fucking cool, but this song is kind of boring for a kanye album. it would fit pretty well on be. it woulda been better than some of the filler on that album, for sure.
8. Crack Music - most painful song ever. the sample and backbeat is way too overwhelming, and kanye trying to sound hard is pathetic.
9. Roses - decent... still hurting from track 8
10. Bring Me Down - why two slow songs in a row, kanye? what happened to this album? goddamnit! is this even a real song?
11. Addiction - another slow song? this song seems forced and kinda lame. unless kanye does heroin, in which case this song is perfect. track 11 - the song for heroin addicts. wait, apparently its supposed to be a sexual song. well it failed in that.
12. Skit #2 - SPARE ME OF SKITS PLEASE. ok this album has fallen apart. jesus.
13. Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) - a remix now? this is kind of unique. too bad the sample is the most grating thing ever, because it isn't really a sample, its the whole goddamn song. also, this song sucks. jay-z makes kanye sound like a punk MC, which is proof in my mind that kanye can't rap, because i hate jay-z's flow. it's fine if common blows him out of the water, common is sick. if jay-z blows him out of the water then kanye needs to re-evaluate what he's doing. did i mention that this album has fallen apart?
14. We Major - back to soulful samples, but really, what the hell is the point of this song? is he rapping about how badass he is now?? this is ironic and stupid and hypocritical and everything. maybe someone can explain to me why kanye put a nas track right after a jay-z track? it's like booking salman rushdie and the ayatollah to speak at the same convention, back to back. that must have been an awkward studio. i think there's a stand-up bit to be made here.
15. Skit #3 - i'm going to kill myself because of the incredible downfall that this album has
16. Hey Mama - ok this song is good. the emotion works here, and kanye is being true to his roots and sample/beat are both simple and thus powerful. yeah, i like this song a lot. it's a bit cheesy when the xylophone kicks in, but at least it isn't fake like the last... i dunno, 11 tracks. did i really just write "it's a bit cheesy when the xylophone kicks in?" all expectations have been destroyed.
17. Celebration - all these goddamn tracks have the pace of background music to a nintendo game. what the fuck? what happened to the bumpin' first 3 tracks? WHAT HAPPENED?!
18. Skit #4 - :censored:
19. Gone - this at least a little faster than 'celebration,' so we're getting somewhere. still kinda slow. i also have no idea what this song is about. however, i am bobbing my head to it.
20. Diamonds From Sierra Leone - so this is the original one? theres less of the sample. also, kanye is rapping about how badass and rich he is instead of about how fucked up sierra leone is, therefore this song sucks. i wonder if jay-z is gonna take part in this crap... no, he isn't. kanye west is an ass.
21. Late (hidden track) - huzzah, another slow boring rap song. this cd has no edge. it's like adult contemporary rap.
This album gets a 4/10, because 4 is the number of good songs on this album. Using that logic, I suppose it should get a 4/21. What's a 4/21, like a 2.5? Whatever, I'm never going to listen to this cd again anyways.
Track one is entitled "Wake Up Mr West." It's a skit. I don't like skits. Let's move on to the meat. Track two, "Heard 'Em Say," is a slower song, but it feels smooth and the sample is cool and understated, so I dig it. The lead singer of Maroon 5 is featured on this track, which leads to the question: is he the new John Mayer? An insanely white person that somehow has street cred... You all know that Mayer was on the Chappelle show fairly often, right? Anyways, this song could fit in on the last Common disc, except, you know, Common does not rap in this song.
So we are off to a good start and we get track 3, "Touch The Sky." At this point, I’m certain that this album is going to turn out alright. This track takes everything up a notch and just gets right into it, with a strong soul sample and a very nice complimentary beat. The key to the songs with more powerful samples is to kick them up a notch, I think. The subject matter of this song, which is West being incredulous that he was a success, is questionable, but I will accept it for now. This song is fun.
The second single I heard from this album is "Gold Digger," which comes up as track four. The first time I heard this song, I really did not like it at all. The second time I heard it was on my first time through this album, and it was freaking awesome. The beat is sweet, the lyrics are fun, and it is a prototypical good Kanye West song to me. The key is that everyone seems to be having fun in the studio, just goofing off but still aware that the beats and samples they are working with are amazing. When everyone is having fun making the song and the beat is as good as "Gold Digger," it is hard for the listener not to have a lot of fun listening along.
Track 5 is a stupid skit, and then track 6 hits and everything just falls apart. In fact, at this point, rather than go track by track through the rest of this album, I’d like to devolve into just presenting my notes. Let me leave my prose with this thought: it would have been a lot better if this was not a full-length album, but instead a 7 track EP. A lot better.
6. Drive Slow - what's the point of this song? it's a little too slow and the subject matter is kinda... typical rap.
7. My Way Home - common is fucking cool, but this song is kind of boring for a kanye album. it would fit pretty well on be. it woulda been better than some of the filler on that album, for sure.
8. Crack Music - most painful song ever. the sample and backbeat is way too overwhelming, and kanye trying to sound hard is pathetic.
9. Roses - decent... still hurting from track 8
10. Bring Me Down - why two slow songs in a row, kanye? what happened to this album? goddamnit! is this even a real song?
11. Addiction - another slow song? this song seems forced and kinda lame. unless kanye does heroin, in which case this song is perfect. track 11 - the song for heroin addicts. wait, apparently its supposed to be a sexual song. well it failed in that.
12. Skit #2 - SPARE ME OF SKITS PLEASE. ok this album has fallen apart. jesus.
13. Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) - a remix now? this is kind of unique. too bad the sample is the most grating thing ever, because it isn't really a sample, its the whole goddamn song. also, this song sucks. jay-z makes kanye sound like a punk MC, which is proof in my mind that kanye can't rap, because i hate jay-z's flow. it's fine if common blows him out of the water, common is sick. if jay-z blows him out of the water then kanye needs to re-evaluate what he's doing. did i mention that this album has fallen apart?
14. We Major - back to soulful samples, but really, what the hell is the point of this song? is he rapping about how badass he is now?? this is ironic and stupid and hypocritical and everything. maybe someone can explain to me why kanye put a nas track right after a jay-z track? it's like booking salman rushdie and the ayatollah to speak at the same convention, back to back. that must have been an awkward studio. i think there's a stand-up bit to be made here.
15. Skit #3 - i'm going to kill myself because of the incredible downfall that this album has
16. Hey Mama - ok this song is good. the emotion works here, and kanye is being true to his roots and sample/beat are both simple and thus powerful. yeah, i like this song a lot. it's a bit cheesy when the xylophone kicks in, but at least it isn't fake like the last... i dunno, 11 tracks. did i really just write "it's a bit cheesy when the xylophone kicks in?" all expectations have been destroyed.
17. Celebration - all these goddamn tracks have the pace of background music to a nintendo game. what the fuck? what happened to the bumpin' first 3 tracks? WHAT HAPPENED?!
18. Skit #4 - :censored:
19. Gone - this at least a little faster than 'celebration,' so we're getting somewhere. still kinda slow. i also have no idea what this song is about. however, i am bobbing my head to it.
20. Diamonds From Sierra Leone - so this is the original one? theres less of the sample. also, kanye is rapping about how badass and rich he is instead of about how fucked up sierra leone is, therefore this song sucks. i wonder if jay-z is gonna take part in this crap... no, he isn't. kanye west is an ass.
21. Late (hidden track) - huzzah, another slow boring rap song. this cd has no edge. it's like adult contemporary rap.
This album gets a 4/10, because 4 is the number of good songs on this album. Using that logic, I suppose it should get a 4/21. What's a 4/21, like a 2.5? Whatever, I'm never going to listen to this cd again anyways.
This review is gonna suck.
Honestly, I just couldn't really ever get into this album. It's not a bad album, a few of the songs are kinda catchy, but it just doesn't really do much for me and I expected better from Kanye. And that's why this review sucks, because I just don't have much to say about it.
I'm really not a big proponent of skits in rap albums, and especially in this album. They don't add anything, and in this case I feel like they take away from the flow of the album. Especially since I don't really feel like this album flows that well anyways, even without the skits, it's just disjointed. The songs are ok, the beats are interesting at times, but I just feel like he doesn't really do anything with that to make them memorable or something you want to listen to over and over. It seems like music that would be fine to have on in the background while you're doing something else, which is all well and good, but for me, I don't see it as something to listen to as my primary focus at the time.
Sorry for the briefness, but this album just made me say 'bleh' and not really much else.
The verdict: 4/10
Honestly, I just couldn't really ever get into this album. It's not a bad album, a few of the songs are kinda catchy, but it just doesn't really do much for me and I expected better from Kanye. And that's why this review sucks, because I just don't have much to say about it.
I'm really not a big proponent of skits in rap albums, and especially in this album. They don't add anything, and in this case I feel like they take away from the flow of the album. Especially since I don't really feel like this album flows that well anyways, even without the skits, it's just disjointed. The songs are ok, the beats are interesting at times, but I just feel like he doesn't really do anything with that to make them memorable or something you want to listen to over and over. It seems like music that would be fine to have on in the background while you're doing something else, which is all well and good, but for me, I don't see it as something to listen to as my primary focus at the time.
Sorry for the briefness, but this album just made me say 'bleh' and not really much else.
The verdict: 4/10