Kanye West - Graduation Album Review

4.5 ninja stars out of 5

In a cameo on Talib Kweli’s also excellent Ear Drum (review to come later) Kanye West states that he’s “always ‘bout rockin’ the this ain’t out yet.” Although he was talking about clothes we here @ Gooseninja feel the same way about music. So while we were taking breaks, or traveling to and from, this year’s Bumbershoots festival we were rockin’ the new Kanye album Graduation and let be one of the first to say welcome back Mr. West!!

As always with a Kanye album the production on graduation is a top-notch mix of cherry picked soul samples with extras added in. And even if some of the beats are left-overs from his day job as the most sought-after producer in hip-hop…. Well as Kanye states it perfectly in “Everything I Am”

"Here we go again
Common passed on this beat
I made it to a Jam."

And Graduation is jam-packed with them. Out of the 14 tracks on the album there could easily be five singles. And speaking of his lyrics (a weakness of the otherwise brilliant Late Registration) Kanye has stepped his game at least back to the level of College Dropout and for the first time holds his own with his blend of über cocky, conscious, and everyday, with very few guest rhyme appearances.

Some highlights include “Champion” where he “wishes (Lauren Hill’s) heart was still in rhymin’ (don’t we all). Or “Evertything I Am” where he states “Man Killin’s some wack shit.” Or “Big Brother” where Kanye relays his relationship with Jay-Z and implores us to tell our heroes how they inspire us.

So while others have got rich and stopped trying Kanye West has established himself as hip-hop’s new king of consistency with his third great album in a little over three years with one of 2007’s best so far. Don’t be surprised if you’re still rocking songs like “The Good Life” at your New Years Party. Yes Kanye you can talk your shit again. You can talk all you want.