“Timeless Education…”
SMOKE BREAK By J. Tinsley on December 13, 2009 at 10:24 am
Kanye West can be an asshole at times. We all know that. His legend, however, is permanently etched in Hip-Hop. 2004 ranks as a noteworthy time in my near 24 year existence on Earth. I graduated from high school and matriculated to college a week later. Things were changing fast and at that time, I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of life. I wasn’t even sure college was the right move. With so many things running through my head, I turned to music for solace, answers and retreat. The College Dropout provided this and is an album I can honestly say changed my life.
Recently, Entertainment Weekly named Kanye’s introductory confessional as the “album of the decade.” They weren’t too far off. In its entirety, College Dropout served as the soundtrack for the greater majority of Hip-Hop listeners. We’ve never sold dope. We’ve never shot or killed anybody. And most of us have dreams and ambitions beyond reality’s constraints. Regardless of who you ask, everyone can pinpoint one lyric, one verse or one song that seemingly defined them to the tee. He penned the hopes, dreams, fears and pet peeves of an entire generation and turned it into timeless music.
“Cause ain’t no tuition for having no ambition/And ain’t no loans for sittin’ yo ass at home…” Lines similar to this described mindstates long before we had Facebook or Twitter statuses to share with the world. For me personally, I’ve always referred to it as a type “hip-hop gospel.” Not in a “holy” sense, but it was damn sure spiritual. On this album, we got THE Kanye West. What I mean by this is, we could connect to damn near everything he spoke upon. We’re all self conscious, admittedly or not. At some point, we’ve all hated our jobs. And the love for our respective families burn deep, even with drama.
For every (great) album after this, we were hearing the words of a man who was becoming a bigger superstar with each hit record. As fans, we can’t blame him for it either. Life changes and people do too. Experiences mold you into the person you are and the person you’re to become. Hell, I’m not even at the same point I was five years ago, so expecting his music to is completely asinine.
“But I’m a champion/So I turn tragedy to triumph/Make music that’s fire/Spit my soul through the wire…” If first impressions last a lifetime, then maybe, just maybe, this dropout deserves to graduate at the top of the class.
10 Best Albums Of The Decade [EW]
Posted in SMOKE BREAK — Tags: Entertainment Weekly, Kanye West, The College Dropout
66 Comments
I’ll have to go back and listen but I’ve always thought Late Registration was better than College Dropout.
The first pretty much always gets a little more recognition than its successors. Plus, TCD was accepted off the bat while LR had to grow on people of sorts. Strictly my thoughts.
Just looked at the full list…Sasha Fierce and Stankonia? Kinda weak.
LR was infact a better album then drop out.
better guests, better beats better flows…what more u want?
TCD is one of the best debut albums this decade. Great album…however Blueprint and Supreme Clientele are at the top of any “best of” Hip Hop decade list for me.
^ yeah but it was across genres.
Dropout is easily the best ‘Ye album, IMO.
And while LR is dope, I’ll never understand the over the top love for it. To me it isn’t touching Dropout. It probably has something to do with when it released (about to graduate from college), but Dropout is definitely a personal classic.
Nah’ ya’ll. I argue pretty constatnly that The Late Registration was better all around. Even better Sounding. P.S. What about Get Rich or Die Trying.
“Kanye Get’s the awards, I get the Checks”
If there’s not a Line on Get Rich that you can relate too yet, you will
“Cause ain’t no tuition for having no ambition/And ain’t no loans for sittin’ yo ass at home…”
^^
Im 26 and this shit is still insightful on my own existence…..
In short, it reflected an artist (and his audience) at his most honest. Hip Hop NEEDED that album. It was looooooong overdue.
Late registration was better executed as an album i its entirety….sequencing and all that good shit, skits on CD messed its flow up a bit (not that the LR skits were much better). “Gone” with Cam and Cons’ is one of the dopest hip-hop tracks of the decade. Seriously. Despite how meticulously it was obviously put together its almost unhinged in format and all the more perfect for it.
Great Drop JT
I’m not discrediting LR. I think TCD was the setup for it. LR is in fact much better musically. But for an artist introduction, Kanye knocked down the door w/the first album and grabbed everyone’s attention.
Either way, I don’t think they could’ve went “wrong” by choosing either album. But for the general public, TCD was more accessible. Again, you have to keep in perspective who the list was made by and for.
Then again, I’m just as shocked they chose rap albums for the top two slots.
Jesus Walks was awesome … Spaceship is a slept on gem … All falls down is classic … through the wire showed us that hunger for success.
College Dropout was great … more of an impact than Late Registration. Helped define the character known now as Ye!
IMO Late Registration > College Dropout
BTW… that’ Beyonce joint doesn’t belong on that list.
B Day >>>>>>>>>>>>> any other Beyonce album.
great writeup…sonically lr may have been an improvement but it was a disjointed album, for the moment cdr is still his masterpiece
good write-up!
i can agree..this whole album fit my situation too. Graduated from hs in 04 and was a freshmen in college in aug. this was the soundtrack..
gems all the way around. all falls down, spaceship,family business, last call…
good insights, thanks
tss is major!
Stacey Dash’s ass in All Falls Down > anything we’ll discuss regarding College Dropout
The thing about Kanye’s catalog is that it’s one of the best in music. To me, “Graduation” > “Late Registration.”
LOVE THIS! Kanye is the artist of the decade. he changed hip hop.
whats crazy is since they gave him album of the decade everyone has tried to determine if its even kanye’s best album in the same time period. I’ve seen videos sayin that graduation was his best and alot of people give late registration the nod as well. like tins says he just has a great catalog..but dropout wins just because he didnt piss anyone off (read: white people) yet.
College Dropout had two small issues in it: the beat to Breathe In, Breathe Out was NOT suited for Luda, and quite honestly didn’t need his presence; and some of the skits could’ve been dropped.
Other than that, I can’t see myself saying that ‘Ye didn’t hit a homerun with his first album. I rarely, if at all, skip a track when I listen to CD. It’s a time capsule for me, 2004 was a rough year for me, and CD got me through it.
Although I must say… I REALLY like LR and Graduation. Graduation STILL gets spins every day.
P.S. I don’t disagree with Stankonia being ranked as high as it did. I mean, it DOES have the song of the decade on it. Just saying.
While I prefer Late Registration, College Dropout is a true classic that deserves it’s nods. I feel the same way, J. I was graduating from high school and looking at how almost every song reflected the way I felt at the time. I was a young man with big dreams and the want to change the world through song.
If anything, College Dropout was inspiration for me to try to find my own happy ending. You could feel his sigh of relief and fulfillment through songs like “Through the wire,” and “Never let Me Down.” Hell one day I want to make my own version of “Last Call.” I can’t get mad at EW’s choice because that cd helped my become the man I am today. at least mentally.
And as far as “Get Rich,” it’s a great album but I’m not sure of the best of the decade. I always hated when 50 said people like Kanye cause he’s “the safe nigga.” People liked Kanye because his reach was universal. He talked about stuff everyone could relate to, including people from the streets. If anything he broke the status quo of what a rapper was suppose to be, unlike 50 who was basically doing the whole “rich gangster who’s seen some shit, but I can make a hot song” schtick that everyone else was doing, only better. They both have made great contributions to the music, shouldn’t that be enough?
The best songs on Late Registration (Late & Gone spring to mind) are better than the best on College Dropout, but overall College Dropout is a more consistent album, the theme running through it seems a little more coherent and holds it together in a way that’s lacking on LR. Most people can relate to Spaceship and School Spirit, but less so to We Major…
Both great albums though, and it says something about rap’s stranglehold on popular culture that you’ve got Jay, Kanye, Outkast and Justin Timberlake’s Timbaland produced album in the top ten…
Oh and I agree with Douglas Howser on Sasha Fierce being in the top 10. But hey, it’s their list. But not B’Day being better. Didn’t care much for it.
Late Registration is a better album then College Dropout. Conceptually it was outside the box & the production was on a level that Ye hasn’t come close to since.
Just my .02
Dangerously In Love >>>
Her best album IMO
The thing about Kanye’s catalog is that it’s one of the best in music. To me, “Graduation” > “Late Registration.”
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Co-Sign!!!!
for me….College Dropout hit me close to home….I’ll never forget that…but at times I enjoy Graduation over all of Ye’s albums.
Graduation lacked some of the heart of his previous albums. Dude was aiming for the carts and that’s cool but I rarely bump that album aside from Flashing Lights, Good Morning & The Glory.
Amp, what about “Everything I Am”? To me, that’s one of his best songs.
And yeah, “Dangerously In Love” is hands down Beyonce’s best album.
Amp, what about “Everything I Am”?
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Definitely fits in that mold. “Homecoming” is kinda in that same vein too.
I guess when I think Graduation, the first thing that comes to mind are the big songs like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”, “Stronger” & “Good Life”.
I think if there were a few more moments like “Everything I Am” it would’ve made for a more well rounded album.
I actually thought “Bittersweet” shoulda made the cut.
its all about the production for me…I couldnt relate to CD that much…I was just getting back from doing a bid and the college thing wasnt resonating w me.
by the time LR came out i was off probation and feeling like a human again so I partied my ass off to that CD and songs drive slow,late, gone and we major as well as celebration were like the soundtrack to my summer…as a matter of fact i smoked my first blunt after a two year hiatus listening to LR after i got off papers…good times.
Graduation was good..not great. Late registration is sonically better than all his albums. Kanye added on to everything that was great about Dropout.
TCD made this suburban black kid from Indiana finally feel like he was hip-hop, too.
This nigga Petey is a convict lol.
Can Good Ass Job possibly top what he’s done so far?
Amp, I think so. well rapping -wise at least. I don’t think he was too happy with 808’s(notice that he won’t talk bout it) and people still are shitting on him for the VMA’s incident
…I was just getting back from doing a bid…
by the time LR came out i was off probation…
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how the hell you do that AND successfully petition the court for custody of your child AND get child support from your baby momma? that’s gangsta. lol
Damn, make me wanna dust off my College Dropout. I was in middle school when it dropped, but I still play this shit. I kinda passed on all his other albums though. I might have to really give Late Registration a listen.
…I was just getting back from doing a bid…
by the time LR came out i was off probation…
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how the hell you do that AND successfully petition the court for custody of your child AND get child support from your baby momma?
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She musta been a handful lol.
I can totally empathize.
I knew there was something shady about that chick…
ohword.com/julia-beverly-ills/
^ i peeped that too. Rafi sure did his homework on that, lol.
Oh Word is one of the few sites that holds bloggers accountable for their bullshit.
I just Google’d “$35″ & “kevinnottingham”
lol
these exposés are some funny shit
what’s done in the dark shall come to light
Late Registration was much better musically than College Dropout, but the impact College Dropout had paired with it’s amazing quality of music, i understand it’s placement. This shit came out my sophomore year in High School and WAS the album of my generation.
What K1NG said.
1. College Dropout
2. Graduation
3. Late Registration…
LR had waaaaaaaay too many skits. Production wise, LR is better than TCD but lyrically TCD>>LR
Graduation is a 5 mic album if ‘Ye woulda been smart enough to take off that horrible-ass “Drunl N Hot Girls” trash… smh
I just Google’d “$35? & “kevinnottingham”
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Now that surprised me. I expected better from those cats.
SMH
$35 a review? Really?
And to think they actually tried to justify that shit lol.
I’m not mad at College Dropout being placed on a pedestal like it is.
In retrospect, it’s kinda like Chronic: 1 producer with some great features. Skits are an integral part of why that album works. What else can I say? College Dropout was/is pure, an undoctored snapshot of Ye, very multi-dimensional and resonating on a wide scale
College Dropout was/is pure, an undoctored snapshot of Ye, very multi-dimensional and resonating on a wide scale
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Very True.
Late Registration is still better though lol.
Blame Jon Brion.
one of the best artists in music
Actually, I DO blame Jon Brion, lol. LR had an overall darker/brooding, yet more polished sound I didn’t care for. Dropout sounded livelier.
College Dropout and Graduation are both better than LR.
I think TCD was his most “spiritual” album.
Graduation is produced the best.
LR had an overall darker/brooding, yet more polished sound I didn’t care for.
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But that’s the exact thing that drew me into it. The sounds are so intricate and layered and they set the mood for each song so well. You can tell that they sat down and really put time into every nuance of that album.
I actually hope Ye & Jon work together again in some capacity.
Crack Music >>> every song on College Dropout not named Jesus Walks
Wow me and my roommate were having this same discussion the other day…personally, i was a college dropout when this came out and I was in audio engineering trade school in absolute awe at how honest an artist kanye was “through the wire” but “slow jamz” was off the fuckin chain!!! before the album came but on the real kanye is the black artist of the decade in the span of five years he has two classics TCD and Graduation and two future classics, because LR and 808s and Heartbreaks become more beautiful with each listen but the excitement of ‘Ye before he was world famous can never be matched…the brand Kanye West was the dopest from 2004-2009
You guys need to do a “notable quotable: College Dropout edition.” This album is too good not to have this kind of recognition haha.
LR is probly the only Kanye album I will ever support and Im at peace with that.
College Dropout.
I put it straight in the ‘classic’ category that all the great LPs have… when everything just aligns at the right time to make a perfect statement.
CD has its got its own philosophy & vision that meant something special cos we hadn’t heard it like that before. He was hungry, angry & honest on there & it seemed to come out of nowhere.
Some musician once said ‘You’ve got your whole life to write your first album, and 2 weeks to write your 2nd’!
Great write-up.
The College Dropout is one of the best hip-hop albums out there.
One of my favorite albums of all time. “Family Business” is one of my Top 10 favorite records, too.
Real nice piece JT.
my babymoms is a real piece of work…bi polar and manic depressive and unmedicated for most of the time, a little paper for a good lawyer goes along way in a small city.
basically i paid my debt to society and had CPS come check me out to cosign my household and i took parenting classes that i didnt need and THEN i petitioned her and the court seen fit for me to have her and she was in no position to contest it basically.
it was either me or the state.
i been sayin this! my fav album of all time besidess the pink lavalamp!!!!
my favorite album ever. you guys need to do a notable quotables on it.
The first two albums he did were great, yeah (arguably classics, although I wouldn’t go that far). However, that does NOT give the man an excuse to release song after song of utter cow tripe for the last 5 years JUST because he did some great songs AGES ago. Kanye’s only decent material in the past 5 years or so for me seems to be his production work on Common’s Finding Forever and Go (was ‘Go’ less than 5 years ago?).
The album came out right around the time I dropped out of college (temporarily). That sh!t hit my soul lol. Definitely one of my favorite albums ever. The honesty and purity of that piece of work are amazing.