Thursday, September 06, 2007

Kanye West Graduates

Like the writer who penned this review for the Village Voice, I'm still trying to make up my mind about Kanye West's latest album, Graduation. There are times when I love the album, and then there are times when I hesitate to compliment it because I'm not sure what West is trying to say to his audience. With any other musician, that lack of artistic clarity would be a flaw, but with Kanye, the genius of his work usually lies within the ambiguities of his albums. Give me a few more days to work it out. I'm getting closer to cracking the code every time I take a ride in my car.

5 comments:

Afshin said...

Ye gets a post entry at this place? This must be a joke right? I respected the Common post you guys had earlier since his ingenious lyrics made a reference to Obama ("raps ignite the people like Obama). PLUS it's his first album atop the Billboard charts, so ya MAD PROPS.

But nooooooow. I come here to read about the guy who ran on stage at the Euro Music Awards after he lost to Cross's Justice music video, who then cried that he was more deserving of the award because he paid money to get Pamela Anderson and whomever on his video. First I say blahahaha to that. Second I say he's terrible as a lyricist. I'm gonna bet his album is rated no better than 6 out 10. So far I've recently heard him on Talib's and Common's album and his verses sounded like crap compared to Talib and Common.

And don't label hip hoppers like myself as 'backpackers' 'cause sometimes we're more than that and sometimes people who refer to themselves as one don't deserve to be considered as one **cough** 'ye **cough**.

/rant finished

ALSO, one more thing! Talib might be coming to UCLA if people join this group and follow the directions to get him here (we've dropped to 4th):
http://ucla.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5323917081&ref=mf

Curtis said...

Afshin, we've been over this. Stop hating on Ye, man. The guy has lyrics for days. And how can you possibly hate Kanye and love Talib and Common so much?!?! Common wouldn't be on the charts if he didn't have Kanye's production. And the last time Talib got serious recognition was back in 2002 when he released "Get By," which was produced by none other than Kanye West. Don't make me cite Kanye lines in defense of his lyricism, because I'll do it if you drop one more ounce of hater-ade on this blog! ;)

Afshin said...

Curtis, I can't agree with you more. Ye's production is incredible. He's a mastermind at the beats and I put him up there with 9th Wonder, Hi-Tek, DJ Premiere, ?uestlove and all the other prolific producers out there.

But here's the sticking point, he's terrible at everything else. And he's an airhead 'cause he thinks otherwise. He puts himself off that he's as good on mic as his production skills. He may give a sharp quib here and there (prolly due to the help of his fellow cats, i.e. Q-Tip on that track about Blood Diamonds - "Sierra Leone"(?)), but overall he overhypes himself too much to deserve any credulance as a bona fide rapper.

On second thought though, maybe Hip Hop needs Ye. Maybe all this serious stuff and hearing Nina Simone (Jazz lady - one of the best I might add) be sampled by Mos, Talib, Hi-Tek, and now Common over and over again is getting overplayed.

Instead we should be like, "HA HO, DAMN TOKYO ROBOT KILLER CASSIE FUNKY SHADES DAFT PUNK ANIME KANYE IS THE SUN LET'S GO APESHIT STRONGER!" - cause that's creative value, no doubt!

And Common wasn't rapping about 'ye being in a fur coat and driving himself crazy over himself, 'cause Common is just a straight forward cat like that. Nothin' subtle about his rhymes.

l said...

I think I speak for all of Bruin Democrats when I say: NERDS!

Curtis said...

Dude, have you heard Graduation? Listen to "Glory," and then tell me Ye can't rap. Listen to "Homecoming," and then tell me Ye can't rap.