Kanye West-Graduation (September 11th, 2007)

Further Solidifying Himself as the Best There is.

Afterimage Rating: 10.0/10.0



✔Good Morning (Intro)
✔Champion
✔Stronger (Ft. Daft Punk)
✔I Wonder
✔Good Life (Ft. T-Pain)
✔Can't Tell Me Nothing
✔Barry Bonds (Ft. Lil Wayne)
✔Drunk And Hot Girls (Ft. Mos Def)
✔Flashing Lights (Ft. Dwele)
✔Everything I Am
✔The Glory
✔The Homecoming (Ft. Chris Martin)
✔Big Brother

Bonus Tracks:

✔Bittersweet Poetry (Ft. John Mayer)
✔CRS (Ft. Thom Yorke, Lupe Fiasco, and Pharrell Williams)

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Kanye West, once known only as the best producer in Hip-Hop, is now the best in the business all together. "Stronger" is a current #1 hit, "Can't Tell Me Nothing" was quite big, and now the album has dropped. When Late Registration dropped in 2005, most of us went nuts and gave it great reviews (like myself). This album has that same hype. "Good Morning" is the best opening Kanye has had yet, after having Deray introduce us for the last 2 albums, Kanye kicks us in himself. Champion is a short, dancy, groovy, song sampling a soul singer and is full of synths with a great chorus. The Aforementioned "Stronger", which samples Daft Punk, is one of the best singles of 2007, and shows what Rap should really be one day. "I Wonder" is a brilliant, dreamy track, with piano (!) and dancy synths. I've kinda hated T-Pain in the past, but he shines on "Good Life", which is supposed to be the 3rd single from the album. "Can't Tell Me Nothing" is a song with amazing rhymes, and some great samples. "Barry Bonds" is the only song to feature a guest rap on the album, from Lil Wayne, who is killer. The hook and lyrics are madness, perfect for a single. German 70's art rockers Can are sampled on "Drunk And Hot Girls", which guests Mos Def. "Flashing Lights" Is Gold. The strings, synths, and vocals are amazing and so perfect. "Everything I Am" is Kanye backed with a piano, and is quite good. "The Glory" is genius lyrics, with great sampled backing vocals. "The Homecoming" is a song we've been waiting to hear, and it lived up to its hype. Great hook and Piano by Chris Martin, fantastic tribute to Chicago. "Big Brother" is Kanye's Ultimate tribute to Jay-Z, full of guitar and amazing rhymes.

The Bonus tracks are of note. "Bittersweet Poetry", with John Mayer has a great hook and music. "CRS" (or "Us Placers") is pure genius. It is the definition of a perfect Rap song, with a great sample (Thom Yorke's "The Eraser") and great rhymes.

Overall, no other rapper could do this. Nobody could choose these great samples, layer strings on synths, and sample songs from bands like Can. Kanye is the best in the world, and he looks to dominate it.

TOP 3 (Extremely Hard):
-Flashing Lights (Ft. Dwele)
-The Homecoming (Ft. Chris Martin)
-Big Brother

Go Buy September 11th.