By Odeisel

On December 7, 2009, Entertainment Weekly awarded Kanye West’s debut album The College Dropout album of the decade.  It would seem to be an acceptable choice, as it began the artist career of perhaps the most polarizing male artist in music presently. It began a shift in the tenor of Hip-Hop music, which is always a signifier of classicity. It sold a fairly large amount of records, which is note of its mass consumption.  There was the powerful single “Jesus Walks” and stunning guest appearances throughout from some great emcees. All the ingredients are there to let that choice ride without challenge. But they got it wrong. The album of the decade was not the great College Dropout, but its follow up, the masterful Late Registration.

To his credit, Kanye was not satisfied with the breakaway success of Dropout. Many artists have stunning debuts only to crash back to Earth flop city style. Only those with legs are equipped to run the marathon of stardom. Rearrange Kanye and you have Kenyan and no one runs the marathon like them. Late represents a significant leap in both Kanye’s lyricism, which originally had a hit or miss tenor of cute/corney depending on your mood.  He was credible as a rapper, but Late Registration was an album that had to be taken seriously lyrically, in both the more mature themes and the song construction. His lyrics now wove stories and boomeranged back to the beginning to summarize his arguments. Take his lyrics from the magnificent “We Major” which we will discuss later, in which Ye’ raps:

Feeling better than some head on a Sunday Afternoon/better than a chick that say ‘yes’ too soon

Until you have a daughter, that’s what they call karma and you pray to God she don’t grow breasts too soon.

He delivers his point crisp without extra words and devoid of a simple punchline rhyme scheme while encompassing internal rhyme schemes.  As an emcee he really wasn’t capable of that kind of construction on The College Dropout.

Musicality however is where the real increase in dexterity was on full display. Throughout his production history, Kanye depended mainly on soul samples and basic drums, with sped up chipmunk-styled sped up samples as his signature calling card. On Late, West enlisted the aid of Fiona Apple producer and film scorer Jon Brion, a modern master of string arrangements. The sped up sample had begun to get Das Efxed, with imitation flattening rather than flattering the appeal, and Kanye had no intention of being relegated to the periphery. The addition of Brion’s ear enhanced Knaye’s production, adding rich texture and layers to his beats and allowing him to alter mood and feel with added facility.

As a total work, Late Registration shines as masterfully sequenced, providing melancholy moments interspersed with explosions of energy, mixed with groovy, jazz-tinged sobriety. These moments wrapped in Chicago culture which he expounded on in songs like “Drive Slow” and traditional emcee hubris and braggadocio; tipping its hat to tradition while introducing a vulnerable intimacy what would prove compelling enough to draw in listeners who perhaps tired of the hyper-masculine supermen that flooded the market since DMX deaded the shininess. He was now credible enough for his album’s guests to feel like guests and not have his album feel like a compilation album like other producer/rappers’ albums generally turn out; it was his ascension.

While it is not as raw or fun as his debut, Late stands as Chicago’s second threepeat of Jordan’s reign, more mature, more dominant, and more precise; removing all doubt and detraction to supremacy. The cast of characters was immense, almost serving as an ensemble for a blockbuster.  He brought Brandy back from obscurity, gave Paul Wall some out of state shine (including a short but distinct tribute to the recently departed DJ Screw) and even gave hometown Common a solo track on his album. He had Game from the West Side (albeit just on the hook) and managed to get Jay-Z, Cam’ron, and Nas together on the album at a time when they were all beefing. He gave the first national shine to Lupe Fiasco.

After hearing Kanye’s original Diamonds of The Sierra Leon, Lupe dropped a freestyle changing the song from an allegory of Kanye’s Rocafella experience, to one that truly addressed the situation and conflict diamonds. When word of this got to Kanye, he changed his verse on the remix of the album to reflect that social awareness, but in effect it was a bite, that made Fiasco’s people none too pleased. In the end, all was worked out and Lupe had a spot on a multi-platinum album, Kanye got inspiration to do a song that actually mattered, and Jay-Z once again got to hop on someone else’s hit and remain relevant in his self-imposed, short-lived retirement.

Let’s revisit the album and we’ll illustrate just how advanced Late Registration was, compared to both its predecessor and its contemporaries.

Wake Up Mr. West 01. Wake Up Mr. West

Sets the tone for the album while establishing continuity with College Dropout. Listening to it now make syou just miss the hell out of Bernie Mack.

Heard ‘Em Say (Feat. Adam Levine) 02. Heard ‘Em Say (Feat. Adam Levine)

The plunk of the piano keys top fluid, yet murkyfoundation and a staggered drum while Maroon 5’s Levine croons the hook. It sets the tone for a far less sophomoric Kanye to get busy on this album.  Mature theme and crisp delivery

Touch The Sky (Feat Lupe Fiasco) 03. Touch The Sky (Feat. Lupe Fiasco)

An act of contrition, a coming out party for Lupe, a love letter to Curtis Mayfield featuring a slow sampled “Move On Up” and a self inspecting Kanye all make this song a banger. “Back on the block like i’m laying on the street”-Lupe.  Sickness that served as a mainstream precursor of things to come for Mr. Fiasco.

Gold Digger (Feat. Jamie Foxx) 04. Gold Digger (Feat. Jamie Foxx)

A throwback to the fun of College Dropout featuring Jamie Foxx doing his best Ray Charles impression fresh from his appearance in Ray. The thumping drum and the the singing Foxx playfully dance as Kanye gives you the groupie early warning system. Geev Me Half Eddeee! Indeed.

Drive Slow (Feat. Paul Wall & GLC) 06. Drive Slow (Feat. Paul Wall & GLC)

Brought down the pace from the previous two tracks while dropping  a lil Chi-town culture: “down the street from Calumet, as school full of [Black P Stone Rangers] Stones/nicknamed me K-Rock so they’a leave me alone.” In addition, Ye honors the then burgeoning Houston movement with a guest spot from Paul Wall and a chopped and screwed homage to DJ Screw at the end of the song. Not only creating his own pop movement but encompassing what was going on in the music at the time.

My Way Home 07. My Way Home (Feat. Common)

That an attention starved personality like Knaye would cede an entire song on his album to another emcee is incredible in itself. Common’s short -but-sweet, smooth demolition of the Gil-Scott Heron’s “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” powered groove is the definition of compelling. Brilliantly produced, flawlessly executed and a precursor to the duo’s work on Common’s resurrection from Electric Circus, Be.

Crack Music (Feat. The Game) 08. Crack Music (Feat. The Game)

While it would have been nice to hear game spit a verse, the construction of this song is powerful enoguh without him.  references to Reagan, Iran/Contra, and an allegory between Black music infiltrating the American consciousness in the manner that drugs infiltrated Black neighborhoods is flat out uncanny. West was simply not capable of this song lyrically the first go round.

Roses 09. Roses

Kanye goes totally solo on this track and bares his soul regarding family tragedy, displaying a mannish vulnerability that almost runs counter to hispublic tantrums and childish outbursts. The echoed minimalism of the beginning of the song provide an emotional valve for West to emote while the chorus serves to flush the pipes for the next verse. Musically sophisticated, emotionally mature, and lyrically potent.

Bring me Down (Feat. Brandy) 10. Bring Me Down (Feat. Brandy)

Kanye brings back Brandy from God knows where to body the hook on another somber tune. This stretch of the album is rife with emotional exploration and this song in particular is a journeywhose momentum is controlled not by words but by an assortment of string instruments orchestrated by Brion including the cello, the viola and violins, and awash in french horns, more than one type of trombone, and even a flugelhorn. Immaculate. It’s notable that these introspective songs comprise the bulk of Kanye’s solo forays on the album.

Addiction 11. Addiction

The last of the moody songs before the album really elevates to rare air.  the murkey yet amorphous  production are entirely appropriate for the subject matter. West’s analysis of waht drives the addictions of man aren’t immensely complex but cursorally deep enough to provide justification for the song. Solid.

Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z) 13. Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z)

Jigga retirement cameo strategically placed to answer all the question in the wake of the Rocafella dissolution. Kanye adding social relevance to an already dope single.  It had gravity, it had bump, it had Shirley Bassey. One of the best collaborations between the two emcees and mroe fodder for future Kanye song “Big Brother.”

We Major Feat. (Nas & Really Doe) 14. We Major (Feat. Nas & Really Doe)

Triumphant. Ambitious in a Songs In the Key of Life “Saturn” way. Grand in execution. Lyrically stunning performance by long-time Roc nemesis Nas. The song is seven minutes which is almost unheard of these days and beatifully arranged with a slow, smashing drum, a moogish synth sound that wins and decends against Tony William’s vocals with faint horns accenting pace changes and breaks withing the song. It’s construction is probably too large for its place on the album, but it’s a marking point where Late Registration begins to create distance between itself and its contemporaries.

Hey Mama 16. Hey Mama

The last of Kanye’s emotional solo songs, my general feel is that it throws off the rhythm of the album and is best served as a bonus track.  in light of the death of Donda West, we learn that you give the flowers when you can, not when you have to and so the song is entirely appropriate whereever he chose to put it.

Celebration 17. Celebration

The last song on the album (before the bonus songs) is the perfect summation of this project. It is beautifully paced by violins, which are muscled along by a viola and two stepping with the signature sped-up sample with alittle help from John Legend. The sparse key boards add poignance and sonic resonance to the track. The music follows Ye’s flow through rhyme scheme changes and timing patterns, almost like the sound track from Peter & The Wolf; tensing, releasing and layering mood throughout the length of the song. It is everything that College Dropout wasn’t and typifies what those extra years of scholarship are worth in the marketplace.

Gone (Feat. Consequence & Cam’ron) 19. Gone (Feat. Consequence & Cam’ron)

Probably the best free form emceeing on this album.  Consequence and Cam’ron in particular delivered stellar verses while Kanye outdoes himself as a rapper, aided in part by the tremendous string arrangements of the last verse and the haunting,  Michael Myers-style plunking piano that adds drama and weight to Ye’s delivery. Agile in form and fluid in construction.

“If you ever switch sides like Anakin, you would change everything in cluding the manekin, they got a new bitch now you Jennifer Anniston”

Kanye plays with pop culture, referencing both Darth Vaders turn to the Dark Side and the Brad Pitt/Jennifer Anniston breakup while analyzing the trappings and the downside of fame effortlessly and without a tinge of corniness. Very muscular song.

Late 21. Late

Finally we come to the last track on the album. (For brevity’s sake we left out the skits, and the original “Diamonds”). Late is a playful expansions of Kanye’s rapping ability. Clearly more facile on the mic at this poin in his career he puts the bassline on autopilot and lets the keyboard drive the movement of rhythm. The sample provides pause and a pitstop for  West to go full bore again. He has mastered his identity as a rapper on this song and it’s the beginnign of the confident Ye that we ahve enjoyed for the remainder of the decade to the point where he has gone from having featured artists to being on of the top 5 feature artists. It began on this song.

So there you have it.  i’m sure some will disagree as they are welcome to.  but I feel we’ve made our case on this one. While College Dropout has some extraordinary highs and a couple of really good cameos pushing it very far on the fun meter, Late Registration stands as not only Kanye West’s best album artistically and his best numbers saleswise at 4 times platinum, but a high mark in Hip-Hop album contruction and as one of the best produced albums of any genre in the last 20 years. Hope you enjoyed this ride, I sure did.

Peace