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Music CD - Kanye West: Graduation
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Music CD: Graduation
Artist: Kanye West
List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $4.29
Your Save: $ 9.69 ( 69% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Roc-A-Fella Records
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. Good Morning
2. Champion
3. Stronger
4. I Wonder
5. Good Life feat. T-Pain
6. Can't Tell Me Nothing
7. Barry Bonds feat. Lil Wayne
8. Drunk and Hot Girls feat. Mos Def
9. Flashing Lights feat. Dwele
10. Everything I Am feat. Scratches by DJ Premier
11. The Glory
12. Homecoming
13. Big Brother
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0602517412200
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records
Manufacturer: Roc-A-Fella Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Roc-A-Fella Records
Release Date: 2007-09-11
Studio: Roc-A-Fella Records
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Say goodbye to the NAACP award, goodbye to the India.Arie award..."
Comment: "Tell me what it takes to be number one..."
Kanye West knows what it takes. He made loud noise a few years ago with his debut cd COLLEGE DROPOUT, and he hasn't really simmered down yet. And, really, Kanye may be an arrogant, self-serving so-and-so, but, damn, can the man back up his swagger! GRADUATION, his third release after the immense The College Dropout and Late Registration, comes at ya hard with infectious tunes that employ tight, well-articulated lyrics and that inimitable Kanye West attitude. With a dubious year for hip hop, I'd say that GRADUATION emerges as pound-for-pound the best rap album of 2007. And, as a bonus, it resoundingly kicks 50 Cent's simultaneously released Curtis to the curb.
Only 13 jams to this one, compared to COLLEGE DROPOUT's 20 tracks, and LATE REGISTRATION's 21. This probably helps to lend a more restrained feel to GRADUATION (compared to those prior two's excesses; and no skits in this one). GRADUATION hits you up with sweet joints and captivating beats. I'm not enough a creature of music to determine if Kanye's grown as an artist or not or if his stuff here is more mature or not(that "genius" label sure is touted around pretty liberally). But I do know what I like, and I like most of Kanye's songs here. He again lets loose the producer side of him, resulting in outstanding production values, rich, polished and intricate.
GRADUATION is soul and synth and samples, electronics and brass and strings, and sometimes nostalgic, often versatile; all adding up to a bounty of addictive hooks. Most of the tunes serve equally as either bangin' club joints or bob-your-head-as-you-drive music. The danceability factor is simply off the chain. The break out hits (so far) are the techno-funky "Stronger," "The Good Life," and my personal favorite "Flashing Lights" (which boasts the best, lushest hook in the cd).
Nicely sampling from the likes of Daft Punk ("Stronger), Steely Dan ("Champion"), and even Elton John ("Good Morning"), Kanye also collaborates with T-Pain ("Good Life"), Dwele ("Flashing Lights"), Cold Play's Chris Martin (the piano-driven "Homecoming"), Lil' Wayne (sloppy in "Barry Bonds"), and with one of my favorite dudes Mos Def (on "Drunken Hot Girls," which, along with "Barry Bonds," is, I think, sub-par stuff). "The Glory" is his catchy go-to-church gospel tune. And, although he'll "never be as laid back as this beat was," he still takes time to be reflective in the mellow and charmingly melodic "Everything I Am" and "I Wonder." Also worth checking out is the final track "Big Brother," which is Kanye's sincere ode to his mentor Jay-Z.
It's no secret that Kanye West has opinions. And you may find them grating at times (or maybe not), but dude at least is nothing but forthright. He's not shy about telling the world that he craves and deserves fame and wealth and Grammys up the yingyang. And yet, once in a while, this brash Chicago native throws a curve by pausing his rampant narcissism to pepper in bits of self-deprecation (see "Everything I Am" for an example). Mostly though, Kanye's agitated style is palpable; dude is vibrant in his neurosis, twitchy in his brazenness. Is it false bravado? Whatever it is, Kanye gives off a vibe unlike other artists'.
I may not agree with Kanye's verbal incendiaries much of the time, but one can't deny that you get more out of his music than from the typical hip hop album. Kanye again delves a bit deeper than the standard riffs on gangstas and guns, fancy cribs and shiny dubs, hard street reps and hot chicks (although "Drunken Hot Girls" kinda puts paid to that last one, huh?). I don't know if his lyrics are necessarily thought-provoking, but they certainly are blunt and honest. So respect to that. Kanye, I guess, will always be a polarizing figure. His music, on the other hand, is more a unifying thing. To go by his chart-topping status, Kanye West is decidedly (to quote my very hip grandma) the shiznit.
As the song goes, "Did you realize...that you were a champion in their eyes?"
Yes, he did.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I don't get what the big deal is
Comment: The stuff on this album is ok, but it doesn't seem to be anything all that different or that much better than the hip hop or rap from the past. I guess he should get extra points for not promoting the thug life like many artists in his genre do. This sounds like compentent stuff, but I just don't hear anything that's blowing my mind here. Kinda makes me yawn when compared to the old school stuff. I mean, great for him that he's selling tons of records, etc. But so did Britney Spears, so obviously that's not a sure sign of artistic merit on its own.
I can only assume that those who continually use the word "genius" when talking about West are simply buying into his press hyperbole as much as he is himself.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Commencement....
Comment: Kanye West has always been known for going against the grain of others in the Rap Industry. "Graduation" seems to solitify him as one of the best for innovation lyrically and productions. Each beat are deeper, darker & bass pounding besides tracks like "Good Life (ft. T-Pain)" & "Homecoming (ft. Chris Martin)". Each track has its positive strong points with good lyrical craft from Mr. West. The feature artist on the album are not exactly rapping but more crooning on the hooks from Dwele, Mos-Def, Chris Martin & T-Pain; this allows Kanye to venture into the world of the unknown. The most shocking track on the whole album is "Big Brother", which he dedicates his whole career to his "brother" Jay Z; the beat is sick also.
Overall, the ablum is strong regardless it is only thirteen tracks on the album. But, each track is strong and supberb and carries the album to platinum status.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Kanye West's 'Graduation' Day.
Comment: Following a lackluster year of new hip hop music, with the simultaneous release of Kanye West's third album, Graduation, and 50 Cent's Curtis, September 11, 2007 was a very good day for fans of rap and hip hop. (Graduation went on to become the number 5 album on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2008.) Unlike 50 Cents' darker, grittier album, Graduation is hip hop for the masses in that there's something here sure to please everyone. West's album samples Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" on the opening track, "Good Morning;" Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" on the second track "Champion;" and Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" on the third track, "Stronger." "Homecoming" features Coldplay's Chris Martin. I like West's previous two albums, The College Dropout and Late Registration better only because they were somewhat edgier. Tracks include:
1. Good Morning
2. Champion
3. Stronger
4. I Wonder
5. Good Life
6. Can't Tell Me Nothing
7. Barry Bonds
8. Drunk and Hot Girls
9. Flashing Lights
10. Everything I Am
11. The Glory
12. Homecoming
13. Big Brother
G. Merritt
Customer Rating:
Summary: Its Kanye West, what else do i have to say
Comment: Any Kanye West album is pure hip-hop gold. He is one of the best rappers alive, and his lyrics and style are original and creative. If you are actually wondering whether or not to buy this, it's a simple decision. Just do it. You wont regret it. Favorite Tracks: Homecoming, The Glory, Flashing Lights, Can't Tell Me Nothing, Stronger, Bittersweet.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Kanye West's third in a whimsical trilogy of "scholarly" albums, Graduation wears its predecessors' badges of success on its sleeve. Matriculation has its rewards, apparently, and it's time to take stock. Lyrically, there's plenty of self-congratulation to attend to, but the real fun comes in the collabs, and West chooses co-conspirators like a kid in a candy store--John Legend ("Good Life"), Coldplay's Chris Martin ("Homecoming"), Mos Def and the Section Quartet (both adorable choices for the foreboding "Drunk and Hot Girls")--and plucks samples with A-list braggadocio: Elton John, Steely Dan, Daft Punk, Can, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy. Nothing here quite captures the superlative symbiosis of West's past best beats (think "Gold Digger"), but the central motif remains: No one ever accused Kanye West of being too cool for school, and Graduation still knows how to party. True, Kanye West will happily whine about the pitfalls at the top of the heap, clear his throat and try to rhyme it with Barry Bonds, or diss fish in a barrel all day, but that can't stop a shameless good time, and Graduation maintains an unshakeable knack for producing it. --Jason Kirk
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