So today is Kanye West's newest album release. I'm not buying it just yet (because I am loathe to be part of Fiddy and Kanye's fake war to sell more CDs), but I've had the leaked version for two weeks now. I was reading the NYT review (which I strongly disagree with), and I decided that, hey, I am just going to write my own damn review.

My first listen through Graduation was a little disappointing. When I popped in Late Registration, it blew me away. I still remember where I was the first time I listened to it. Graduation was perhaps an inevitable disappointment. I had to get over feeling ZOMG BETRAYED that I didn't love it as much as Late Registration before I could get to know the album. And now that I know it backwards and forwards, I really do like it.

You can't really talk about Kanye West without talking about his creative persona. The arrogant alter-ego he's rapped as throughout the College Dropout/Late Registration/Graduation narrative could be incredibly annoying, but Kanye gives us enough glimpses of his underbelly to make him compelling. He's alternatively insincere and endearingly earnest. Kanye's also infused the character with a strong sense of self-consciousness, which is pretty unusual in hip-hop. Even though his albums are deeply rooted in the hip-hop tradition of posturing, I actually find Kanye (especially on his albums, but also IRL) to be very self-aware and fairly self-depreciating. It makes all of his hubris funny and interesting.

As indicated by its name, Graduation is lighter and more celebratory than Kanye's previous albums, and the material reflects this change. Songs about family and social issues have mostly been replaced by songs about his peers and the difficulties/responsibilities of being rich and famous. It's very much an album about having arrived, which obviously Kanye has. That's not to say it's without substance. "Barry Bonds," which sounds like your standard chest-thumper, is actually a clever kiss-off of the music industry. "Drunk and Hot Girls" is a more depressing (but still hilarious) version of "Gold Digger." "Homecoming" is a cute homage to Chicago that borrows heavily from Common's "I Used To Love H.E.R." (You think Kanye's talking about a girl named "Wendy", but he's really talking about the Windy City.) "Big Brother," the most traditional hip-hop song on the record, is an interesting song about Kanye's relationship with Jay-Z. It also contains the best advice on the entire album: "If you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell him/ People never get the flowers while they can still smell them."

Downloads

>> "Flashing Lights" - This is my favorite track, and it's also a good example of what I meant about Kanye's shift in focus; it's all about media attention.
>> "Champion" - It samples Steely Dan!

So, you know. It's pretty good. BUT IT'S STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE MY SUMMER ALBUM. But with the sun doing it's Fall Thing, I suppose that ship has sailed anyway. Siiiigh.

Not really related, but you can't think about hip-hop without thinking about race... The story about those six white people who tortured a young black woman in West Virginia is completely insane. It reminded me that one of the Jena Six kids is supposed to be sentenced next Thursday. I generally like to think that scary-bad racism like this is a thing of the past, but apparently not.