Music Preview: Kanye West - "Graduation"
By: Brett Hickman |
Monday September 03, 2007 |
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School's Out |
| "I'm like the fly Malcolm X/Buy any jeans necessary..." - Kanye West on "Good Morning (Intro)" from forthcoming album Graduation out September 11th. Kanye West has always shown a knack for a perfectly clever turn of a phrase and on Graduation he delivers a classic one to kick off his third album. From there the Chicago-bred superstar takes off on a cosmic journey of the soul, effectively nullifying most of his peers in the process. He's more serious lyrically here than his previous efforts (2004's The College Dropout, 2005's Late Registration), but also more playful musically in spots. West has always been known to set the bar higher than just getting a bangin' beat and here he pulls off some very spectacular achievements. West has developed a closeness to indie-rock (associations with Peter, Bjorn & John via their "Young Folks" indie-hit), techno (French dance sensations Daft Punk are sampled on the album's breakout single "Stronger"), alternative (Coldplay's Chris Martin appears on "Homecoming"), new age (I swear I hear some Voices-era Vangelis on "Good Morning") and classic rock (Steely Dan is sampled on "Champion"). All the while bending, twisting and shoehorning lyrics into songs (oftentimes making them up, see "apologin" on first single "Can't Tell Me Nothing") and demonstrating an earthiness even while he clamors to be the greatest artist in the world. West, whose aggressive boasting has always come off as being more about insecurity than phony posturing, is often at odds with the things he does and says. On Graduation he fights with his desires to reach the stars while not forgetting the streets of the South Side of Chicago he came from. "I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven/When I woke I spent that on a necklace/I told God I'd be back in a second/Man it's so hard not to act reckless" he raps on "Can't Tell Me Nothing," a song that is Graduation's centerpiece. On "Good Life" he's revelling in his stardom. T-Pain, who is apparently this year's Akon (last year's go-to guy to show up on everyone's records), joins West as he raps "I go for mine/I got to shine...I'm gonna get on this TV momma..." On "I Wonder" things start off low-key, before a bangin' beat (they're still useful to have) appears with West sounding quite agitated as he says "I've been waiting on this my whole life/These dreams been wakin' me up at night." But West's melancholy comes out towards the end of the album. "Everything I Am" shows West being reflective of his place in the entertainment spectrum. But it's on "Big Brother," surely what will be the most talked about track on Graduation, where West lays out everything, the good and the bad, about his mentor Jay-Z. West shows how hard it was to step out from behind the shadow of the man he'd idolized and how much he wanted to outdo him. West's best asset, more than his astute sense of where music is going, or his flawless production skills, is when he's being totally honest about himself. From The College Dropout's "Through the Wire detailing everything about the car crash that he miraculously made it through, to his eye opening experience concerning conflict diamons for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" off of Late Registration to "Big Brother," "Can't Tell Me Nothing" and more off of Graduation, West shows up his competition by truly being "real". Real about where he comes from, where he went and where he's going. The bullshit in between the margins is just the parts of life that keep him interesting for the masses. It's West's heart and soul that makes him one of his generation's best artists. On Graduation West has emerged victorious. |
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