Kanye West - Graduation Reviews

My breakdown, agree with me or not, but I'll let you know that Kanye's CD's are the only ones I buy when they come out and I've given College Dropout and Late Registration multiple spins over the years:

Good Morning - Starts off too slow, never really picks up into a banger. Jay-Z's part is alright at the end, coulda used even more of him.

Champion - Nice uptempo beat, alright synth I guess, but the repeating sample infringes on Kanye's voice a bit.

Stronger - The most original song on the album, and even though it doesn't feel authentic cause it's become whored out as a single, it sounds even better on the album cause the techno contrasts so well with the rest of the soul-sample songs.

I Wonder - When this beat drops in, it's great. It's a solid song but nothing spectacular or special. I do like his staggered delivery though.

Good Life - Wow, this is by far my favorite on the album. T-Pain doesn't annoy or dominate the track like he usually does on songs he's on. The chipmunky sample sounds great and the beat is one of the few that sounds happy on the album, which is something it's really missing, in the Gold Digger/Touch The Sky vein of his other songs. Feels longer than it actually is, but I could listen to a 5 minute version of this and still love it.

Can't Tell Me Nothing - This is where the album starts to drop off a bit, in theme and actual quality of the songs. The sample is overpowering and annoying, Jeezy seems really outta place, and he should've at least given him a verse (which is the other thing lacking from the album, more guest spots, it's not really a hip-hop album if there's not someone else on every second song).

Barry Bonds - Kind of a Drive Slow vibe anyone? That's what it reminds me of. I have to agree with a lot of the reviews I read before listening to the album, the fact that this is more appropriate for a mixtape. The puns are really good of course, but he used that same sample of "wheh-wheh-wheh-wheh" on the "This Ain't A Scene..." remix. Weezy's also done much better work.

Drunk and Hot Girls - Funny song, I'll give him that much. I read somewhere though that this song would sound much better at twice the speed, so I'd love to see a remix. The part where he makes fun of the girl's singing is the best for me.

Flashing Lights - Grew on me a bit, and reminds me of "Bring Me Down" from LR, except it eases in instead of dropping in. The mix of beats is really good, and I think overall he shoulda kept stuff more uptempo like he does here. Dwele definitely has the best cameo here aside from T-Pain and John Mayer. One of the better songs on the album and where it starts to pick up again.

Everything I Am - Cool style mixing Toomp's scratching with the soul, and this one reminds me of Last Call in a way. I'm a chump for any hip-hop with a piano anyways. Great message too.

Glory - Feels like Mo-Town to me, and it sounds great. He shows off a bit of the cockiness and has some fun in this one too, so I liked that about it. The sample really does it for me too, even though it loops kinda loud, it's girly enough that it doesn't interrupt his flow if you know what I mean.

Homecoming - This one really took me by surprise, I didn't know he was gonna re-use "Home", cause I remember that track from about 2 years ago and I loved it. For some reason both choruses killed it, whether it was that older sample or Chris Martin, who does a great job here too. The saloon piano? Pure genius, I don't even know where he got the idea, but it's really original and actually works out well.

Big Brother - I get the idea behind it, but it sounds like a muted version of a Jay-Z song, and it's nut-riding at its finest. His acclaim for Jay shoulda ended with "Last Call", where he pretty much explained the relationship as well as anyone woulda cared to hear. Kinda gets annoying too and drags on, and it comes to a point with the "No way jose" line that's really annoying.

*Bittersweet - Now why the hell wouldn't this be on the North American release? I'd call it my favorite on the album, but I can't really since it wasn't released with it. Could've easily replaced "Big Brother" as the last track or even came after it. Fits the theme of the album great, Mayer is great on the chorus, Kanye has some great, great lines (my favorite being "you talk about her family, her aunt's and shit/and she say "Mahfucka, your mama's a bitch") and the way the beat fades out at the end is a much better finish than Big Brother.

As for the other songs left off the NA release, I haven't heard them, so I can't say anything.

University

Whooo, first day and it's already going great. Every class is supposed to be 75 minutes long, but I took a microeconomics course with the "best professor you'll have" (it was on ratemyprofessors.com) and he was not only letting people in late, but he told us our textbooks were useless (a waste of reading and basically a $150 dictionary, which I'd thankfully not spent yet) and that we didn't have to take either mid-term, making our final worth 100%. Best of all, he let us out of 8:30am class after 20 minutes, and told us to "enjoy our first day of university".

It's much better than I thought in the first place, I've seen enough of my friends, and the atmosphere here is great. For anyone who's currently in high school, and relishes that kind of freedom, it's about tenfold here. You don't have to go to any classes, and you have more than ample time in between them. Best of all, I have every Friday off, and we're one of the few universities to have that.