To me, if The Blueprint is considered the Godfather of modern hip-hop, than Kanye West's debut The College Dropout is Goodfellas -- not quite as innovative, but chock full of attitude, swagger, and a likability that only a persona of West's stature could create. Straight out the gate, Kanye was on point, and lord knows he hasn't missed a beat yet.
The story of this album is simple, and you've heard it all before: he secured a production deal with Roc-A-Fella Records, quickly becoming the go-to guy for beats with an R&B/soul infusion that could still get played loudly in your whip without fear of you being shot and/or religiously converted.
But, as most actors would tell you, all Kanye wanted to do was dance! -- or, barring that, rap. He was told not to give up his day job even as he was crafting beats to some of Hova's classics -- which was distressing to young Kanye, especially since his day job consisted of assistant managerial duties at Wet Seal. Finally, after some relentless badgering, Roc-A-Fellas agreed to sign an album deal, although they had no clue how to market such an animal ("Dame, why he ain't got a jersey on?" "I coulda swore I saw him roll outta here with a backpack on, g!")
The plan paid off though, and truly, the rest is history. What we have here, though, is a collection of fourteen amazing hip-hop songs and seven weird skits that make up one of the best hip-hop releases of the decade. If you don't already know, I'm not even gonna waste my time.
Key tracks: "All Falls Down" "Spaceship" "Jesus Walks" "Through the Wire" "School Spirit" "Get 'em High"
Next week: 2005
Hint: Superman
No comments:
Post a Comment