New Kanye album - Late Registration

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http://www.stylusmagazine.com/news/archives/001391.html#story00007

Kanye Nearing New Album’s Finish

Hip Hop DX reports:
Kanye West’s new album, entitled Late Registration is about “75 percent finished”, said the rapper last week. West has been mysterious about the project, only confirming that John Mayer has collaborated with him. West went on to say that he worked with Mayer “because I really love John as an artist, I like his voice. He's like the modern day [Doobie Brothers singer] Michael McDonald.”

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Disturbing.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:45 (twenty-one years ago)

WTF all around.

― Huk-L, Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

your kanye is a wonderland

― Big Baby Bingo (Chris V), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"He's like the modern day Michael McDonald."

Uh - Michael McDonald isn't dead yet.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Did they bond over hating school? Weird.

― Mediawhore, Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm hopeful about this. he kinda fell off on outside productions this year but I think that was because he was so focused on the solo career, so hopefully that means he's working hard on the next LP. I'm curious if any of the old songs he's been saving are gonna make it on there. probably "Hey Mama" will.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

all-out WTF. mayer is the dullness. el dullerino. dullovicz. and kanye made, like, one of the most adventerous albums of the year. the hip hop love for white music thing is going too far now.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Critical backlash is gonna make dude pay for his Source and AMA comments.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i know the ama story, but what were his source coments?

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

the hip hop love for white music thing is going too far now.

Does Kanye's love seem simultaneously genuine and tongue-in-cheek somehow?

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Does Kanye's love seem simultaneously genuine and tongue-in-cheek somehow?

What makes you think so?

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Well...the compliment to john mayer vis a vis the doobie brothers could be read as slightly backhanded, right?

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

did I use "vis-a-vis" correctly there?

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

?uestlove loves Mayer too for some reason, WTF.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

His love seems disgustingly genuine though.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

It seems to me Kanye's line of thought is "this guy isn't that good, but more white girls who like guys with popped collars will come to my shows and I can always just use him in place of a hook girl." Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

i know the ama story, but what were his source coments?

Can't remember if it was Source or Vibe--which ever one rates on a scale of mics--but Kanye was pissed that his album only got four mics (when I think less than 10 albums in their history have ever gotten five mics). Said that he should've gotten it for "Jesus Walks" alone.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:40 (twenty-one years ago)

John Mayer = latest victim of "DJ Spooky Syndrome" : a dull and pointless creator who's consistently embraced by a whole lot of people who should know better.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, John Mayer and DJ Spooky are, like, sooo alike.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

?uestlove loves mayer cause they were both on the same chappelle's show episode together. they probably bonded over some sushi.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

"DJ Spooky Syndrome" : a dull and pointless creator who's consistently embraced by a whole lot of people who should know better.

ha ha ha. o.t.m!

by the way, i think michael mcdonald got a lot of soul props for his smoooth delivery. so this wasn't being backhanded in anyway whatsoever -- it was fronthanded all the way.

― john'n'chicago, Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Mayer is the opposite of DJ Spooky -- liking Mayer isn't cool at all. People who like him like him despite his uncoolness; that isn't possible with DJ Spooky. As for why to like Mayer: he is a very skilled guitar player who writes and sings boring MOR songs that millions of people want to buy. He's funny and paid dues; he's a bona fide cat with a nice gig. What's not to like?

― Vornado (Vornado), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

?uestlove was producing his record and jamming with him before the Chappelle show!

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

John Mayer, his music aside, seems like a genuinely aight dude, honestly.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost - yeah i think kanyes love for mayer is genuine yet tongue in cheek too. not sure if that makes it any better than if he just loved mayer without any irony though.

i dont know about kanye's album being adventurous though, its hardly that at all, even if it was good.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Black people/artists consistently gravitate to three different white groups/artists: Coldplay, John Mayer and Incubus. This is totally inexplicable to me. I go to a historically black university and girls who listen to nothing other than R&B have 'Clocks' as their ringtone. WTF

the parallel: this white girl i know (and love) has pretty much nothing but kill rock stars 7 inches and acoustic rock. the only rap CD she owns? the college dropout.

erick sermon would have something to say about all this, i think.

Oh yeah, Nas references The Hives on "Serious" and Andre said he was ripping off their drummer in the 'Hey Ya' video. They might be another example.

i would probably hang out with mayer in real life, from interviews and shit, he seems like he's unwittingly trapped into making shitty music. like, if given the opportunity, he could do good. it's like some supervillain put a chip in his brain, maybe?

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:13 (twenty-one years ago)

doesn't nas disparage the hives on "serious"? (and coldplay too?) i might be wrong.

― m. (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

i think its dumb that this is still a big deal that rappers like rockers and vice versa (even if half the time it sounds totally token). what should be a bigger deal is what bad taste each side has in the other.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

gravitation by black 'super-auteurs' towards white MOR is a big theme these days. andre3000, kanye, jay-z doing that track with linkin park, timbaland interview in the NYT saying that hip-hop has grown dull from him and that coldplay is really where it's at, wiley interview in the guardian saying he wanted to pull a collabo with alanis morissette.... etc.

― captain easychord (captain easychord), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:29 (twenty-one years ago)

mitch, he points out that 'Hives, Joss Stone and Coldplay' are examples of pop music, something he is not apart of, i guess, in the context of the line. i don't think he was necessarily dissing them.

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

common embraced stereolab recently (what a lame track that was)
erykah touches glitch electronica on her ep
pharrell is a total whiteboy - he's completely into radiohead
andré was listening to ramones when i interviewed him a year ago

all of these things are very understandable, but i think playing the mayer card will backfire. or maybe it will take kanye to the absolute überleague. but i don't think so.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

and the hives, goddammit. they're a weak point of reference, too.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Seriously though, Kanye's popped collar image seems very Mayer-esque.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

there was an interview with ?uestlove in The Believer recently in which he insisted that Mayer was a genius who was being suffocated by his record label. i find this hard to swallow, but it seemed worth mentioning.

― jek, Tuesday, 23 November 2004 22:29 (twenty-one years ago)

What's weirder: hip-hop love for John Mayer or hip-hop love for Kate Bush?

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 22:33 (twenty-one years ago)

this is all Prince's fault.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

(har har)

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 23 November 2004 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

this thread has blown my mind. mayer's interviews in NZ were [admittedly] entertaining, too.. maybe the dude isn't the date-rape-rock fucker he's been promoted as, but this still doesn't bide well for my kanye west expectations. sounds a little too close to the demise of tricky (guests from alanis morrisette and the red hot chilly peppers? yesh!)

― chris andrews (fraew), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 00:41 (twenty-one years ago)

JOHN MAYER PWNZ (when he doesn't do the Stevie Ray Vaughn thing)

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 00:44 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah Mayer's got some good singles, and I dunno why everyone's being such a crybaby about the prospect, in all likelihood he'll do a hook on like one song for Kanye or something.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Kate Bush has some hot beats.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Do hiphop folks all love Joni Mitchell too?

― Maxwell von Bismarck (maxwell von bismarck), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Mayer writes a column every month for Esquire (US version). Every month he seems to pick an artist that has either fallen off their game or not put a record out in a long time and tells them that if they're having problems putting things together then they should give them him a call. In this month's issue he tells D'Angelo to get his sh*t together and put an album out already. He goes on to tell D'Angelo that if he's having problems writing music to give him a call, that ?uestlove has his number if he needs it. Seems to be a knowledgable guy, with more rounded tastes than his music would suggest.

― Gregory T (tubesocks), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Uhhhh... rewind the thread back a bit to:

wiley interview in the guardian saying he wanted to pull a collabo with alanis morissette

what the fucking fuck?!?! is this real?

Hip-hop love for Kate Bush is very understandable, she was as into crazy forward-thinking production and beats as Timbaland. I assume they are loving The Dreaming rather than The Kick Inside.

I wish Kanye would work with Fiona Apple.

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:13 (twenty-one years ago)

"hip-hop love for Kate Bush"

whoa, i never heard that one before.

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:18 (twenty-one years ago)

"I assume they are loving The Dreaming"

yeah, that would be understandable. and maybe Hounds of Love too.

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Does Tricky like the early Bush?

― Maxwell von Bismarck (maxwell von bismarck), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 01:30 (twenty-one years ago)

YO WHITE MALE ROCK CRITICS!!! WOMEN LOVE ME AND KANYE WEST LOVES ME!!! JUST JOIN MY WORKOUT PLAN!!! YOU CAN BE LIKE ME!!! JUST JOIN MY WORKOUT PLAN!!!

http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/mediaassets/images/John-Mayer-IV.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I ALSO HAVE A MONTHLY COLUMN FOR ESQUIRE!!! HAHA YOU NEED TO JOIN MY WORKOUT PLAN, NON-ROCKIST CRITICS!!! I PWNS YOU ALL!!!

http://www.buzzpics.com/weekend_02/mayer/mayer_185.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 09:01 (twenty-one years ago)

mayer's work-out plan!
mayer's work-out pla-a-an!

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 09:22 (twenty-one years ago)

tricky loves kate bush.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 10:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Fiona Apple gets sick hip-hop props

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

true.

all hip hoppers like seven nation army too, even though jack white doesnt like them.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 11:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Big Boi is a Kate Bush freak, isn't he? I think that's cool, but the probable sonic union of KB + Outkast is almost too strange to think about. Would be great if it existed, though.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 13:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, and ?uestlove is a Jon Brion/Fiona freake. There's a post on Okayplayer about a recent meeting (1st for both parties) with Brion & Apple at a Roots show and it's all wet n' weepy. Just a big ball of mutual, drooling admiration from all of them.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)

i read that post from questlove and it was disgustingly gushy!

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 13:26 (twenty-one years ago)

it's all so gimicky and transparent. I hate it when hip hop artists try to be eclectic by having a guest spot on their album by someone like Mayer. It never works for me because it smacks of effort. It's like, "Look at me!! I'm creative and bridging the gap because I work with trendy, white, non-rap artists!!" This is just one more reason why I abandoned hip hop for the most part circa '98.

― kevin says relax (daddy warbuxx), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

or maybe they actually like their music and it's a bunch of corny white guys wetting their pants about it.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"Whatever happened to artists working on their own sh--?" West said. "Like Kurt Cobain, what if he would've given ['Smells Like Teen Spirit'] to ... what was that group that made 'Mr. Jones'? [Counting Crows] No. They should have kept it for Nirvana."

― d. mitha (ykeo), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 19:43 (twenty-one years ago)

hahahahaha

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

even if you don't like Kanye comparing himself to Kurt, there are some very apt comparisons to be made between some of the people he does beats for and Counting Crows.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

strangely enough, Kurt did give the Crows "Mr. Jones."

― d. mitha (ykeo), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

sha la la la la la yeah...uh huh

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 19:57 (twenty-one years ago)

It never works for me because it smacks of effort. It's like, "Look at me!! I'm creative and bridging the gap because I work with trendy, white, non-rap artists!!"

i think that says more about you that it does about the artist.

― it's tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

and what exactly does that say about me, other than I'm not easily bamboozled?

― kevin says relax (daddy warbuxx), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:45 (twenty-one years ago)

it says that maybe you are a little less relaxed than your name suggests. no, seriously, i totally get your point, and it might be true in some cases. but it's hard to generalise like that, dontcha think?

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 11:07 (twenty-one years ago)

eight months pass...

fucking hell

this just leaked and um, think 10x better than College Dropout and i LOVED that album.

― Googley Asearch (Toaster), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:28 (twenty years ago)

really big soul old style soul influence on this.

― Googley Asearch (Toaster), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:28 (twenty years ago)

this just leaked and um, think 10x better than College Dropout and i LOVED that album.

but still very mediocre

― Rizz (Rizz), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:40 (twenty years ago)

big old style soul is right. it's like college dropout + chocolate turtlenecks and brown leather jackets. and it's great.

― stoleyourbike (stoleyourbike), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:54 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, someone posted a track on the YSI thread. I like it!

― nathalie starts to cry each time we meet (stevie nixed), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:55 (twenty years ago)

is it on slsk or just on stupid things like oink??

I(i'm on an old computer for a few days, so i don't want to bother installing slsk unless it's actually there...)

― toby (tsg20), Friday, 19 August 2005 10:57 (twenty years ago)

It's on slsk but there's lots of fake ones.

― nathalie starts to cry each time we meet (stevie nixed), Friday, 19 August 2005 10:59 (twenty years ago)

here's a link.. http://files.filefront.com/k05_exe/;4052834;;/fileinfo.html

the password for unpacking the .rar is "kanye".

― Guy Incognito (Guy Incognito), Friday, 19 August 2005 11:04 (twenty years ago)

thanks!

― toby (tsg20), Friday, 19 August 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

I haven't heard the whole album, but about the second time I heard Golddigger on the radio, I suddenly realized that his voice annoys the living shit out of me.

― Hurting (Hurting), Friday, 19 August 2005 13:18 (twenty years ago)

Haven't heard it yet but people I trust are enthusiastic about it, telling me its great! Good to hear.

― deej.., Friday, 19 August 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)

yep, there's like 10 great songs on there.. great guests.. the Common song is excellent but very short; 'Gone' with Camron and Consequence; Roses, Addiction, Hey Mama, Late... Drive Slow (w/Paul Wall), Touch The Sky, We Major (the Nas track - great!)..

The Maroon 5 guy is (expectedly) bad. And there are maybe two more skippable tracks, but most of the album is really good. Better than College Dropout.

oh, and here's a link where you can download it track-by-track.. ftp://mirror:imdr8nkz@lordspoon.com:21
(get 'Gone' or 'Drive Slow' first)

― Guy Incognito -, Friday, 19 August 2005 14:35 (twenty years ago)

The Maroon Five guy was actually good on the ying yang album. Why is his Kanye song 'expectedly' bad?

― deej.., Friday, 19 August 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

Well OK, sorry, I expected it to be bad, heh. I just dislike Maroon 5, and it's pretty much the same with this song.

― Guy Incognito (Guy Incognito), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)

Arrggh!!! I just heard "Golddigger"....and....fuck.....I really like it. I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:25 (twenty years ago)

Yo Alex,

I've said it before and you gonna make me say it again...

This boy can't be stopped. Check me out in every major magazine, every major tv network, then tell me you don't love to love it.

That's why I'm your boy... til 2050 yall.

Kanye

― Kanye West (Confounded), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

I actually hate to love it.
But I do.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

SFJ's New Yawker piece said listening to the album was like riding in a limo with a gabby driver; great ride, but kind of annoying.
Seconded.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

SFJ's New Yawker piece said listening to the album was like riding in a limo with a gabby driver; great ride, but kind of annoying.
Seconded.

Is that piece online anywhere?

Dan Selzer rides in limos now, I hear.

― Confounded (Confounded), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)

yeah, but I tell the driver to pipe down, I'm not paying the premium for the conversation you know.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

“Late Registration,” is a bit like being chauffeured around in the fanciest car you can imagine by a driver who won't stop complaining about the mileage or the radio reception. You're annoyed, but at the same time you don't want the ride to end.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

That review is pretty good, its weird how he doesnt like Kanye's rapping on "Through the Wire," I dont think it was just the sample that propelled that on the charts! Also surprised he doesnt like "hey Mama"

― deej.., Friday, 19 August 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

yeah, everyone disses hey mama but i love it! that sample is gorgeous. so if i already like the 'worst' track...

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 17:39 (twenty years ago)

thanx to Guy Incognito!!!
don't you thing the album is very laid back? very positive...

― karl76 (karl76), Friday, 19 August 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

Someone's gotta say it: First back-to-back P&J winner since the Clash?

― asl, Friday, 19 August 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

Fuck, let me LISTEN to the damn thing first!

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:04 (twenty years ago)

To clarify, not saying it SHOULD be--I've only heard the radio tracks so far. Just saying it COULD be.

― asl, Friday, 19 August 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

SFJ's common sense fails completely regarding "Through the Wire" - he seems to imply that Kanye took a sample, spit a bunch of bullshit over it, and just incidentally happened to have his jaw shut; whereas it's beyond obvious that the sample was chosen for the pun value set up by the song's content!

In other words, the logical chain is theme --> lyrics --> arrangement, not the other way around.

After those descriptions of Brion arrangements, however, I will have to buy the damn thing.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

jaw *wired* shut; sorry

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

asl: certainly COULD be, but at this stage in the game, I've gotta think that the unnamed Outkast or the Sufjan is the likely winner.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

I'd be surprised if the Sufjan won.

― asl, Friday, 19 August 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

logical timelines have nothing to do with what SFJ is saying about Through the Wire.

He likes the sample. He doesn't like the rap. The order in which they were created is irrelevant.

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

Its a very odd criticism of the song though! Seeing as what APPEALS to people about the song is the theme/content, not the beat, where he implies the song's success was entirely based on the production.

― deej.., Friday, 19 August 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

I mean its just guesswork on my part but the success of the song was about more than 'another helium-voiced hit' in my mind.

― deej.., Friday, 19 August 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

It was both.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 19 August 2005 20:22 (twenty years ago)

Thats what I was trying to imply! deej is stressed at work and the phone won't stop ringing.

― deej.., Friday, 19 August 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

the fileupload link seems to be dead. Could anyone YSI/GMail it?

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Friday, 19 August 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

ok this is fantastic. better than cd on first listen.

jon brion is key. the arrangements really give it all an extra dimension.

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

ahemreadincognito'spostcloselycough

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 22:56 (twenty years ago)

Man, there's a lot of Stevie Wonder sound on this disc.
Some filler too.
But at least five Great tracks.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

you mean stevie wonder samples? which tracks? i didn't notice

five great tracks--so generous!

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

No samples, I don't think. But there's a stevie SOUND... like circa Talking Book.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)

it's true, he uses lots of old soul samples!

the only track that actually sounds like stevie specifically to me tho is We Major, and I don't think that is Stevie, I think it's a modern vocalist who is very very heavily influenced by stevie, tho i could be wrong

no offense, but you might as well say it's a curtis mayfield sound--people get ready is the most blatant sample on there

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:14 (twenty years ago)

Um, I disagree; although obviously "We Major" is Stevie'd out like a mother. I'm assuming John Legend does keys on a lot of this stuff.
I don't hear Mayfield on this much at all.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:15 (twenty years ago)

(i mean move on up, not people get ready! track 3 is as massive a sample of it as the doors were on takeover. you have heard move on up, right? ;o)

hey mama is actually a great example of what brion brings to the table

on the advance that was floating around, it was just that vocal sample and drums--wonderful but a bit samey after a while

now it has all this extra orchestration, keyboards and that warm bassline sound brion uses... takes it to a different level

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:18 (twenty years ago)

um dude, you're talking out your ass

check the bit on wake up where he shouts out brion on keys!

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:19 (twenty years ago)

I'll agree with you on Hey Mama; it's GREATLY improved.
Though at moments with that Theremin sound, it reminds me of the Clockwork Orange Bazaar.

Uh, and "dude", this is my first listen through the album as we speak and the sucker's on random.
Here is a pill labeled chil; put it in your bill.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:21 (twenty years ago)

oh, i'm chill baby. i am so chill.

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:26 (twenty years ago)

In any case, why argue when we can talk about the Otis Redding inspiration on GONE, holy shit this is good.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:27 (twenty years ago)

i like arguing.

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:27 (twenty years ago)

I like ice cream.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

strawberry is so much better than chocolate.

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:29 (twenty years ago)

i do miss the old helium kanye tho. nice of him to give us a little taste on the last track, late, which is so sweet

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:30 (twenty years ago)

i actually think kanye west is one of the few people you really SHOULDN'T listen to on random these days. in his king-size ego ambitiousness, he really programs the tracks as a sequence. it's almost orechestral, man,

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:32 (twenty years ago)

I actually took it off when you challenged me and I'm close to agreeing with you.
Winners thus far: Heard Em Say (there's that Stevie sound; post this and YYTwins, I am prepared to be more patient with Adam Levine), Gold Digger(great song, lousy video), My Way Home (too short, Mr. Heron!), Hey Mama (much much improved), Gone(!!!!!!=this is 'Bread + Butter' good) and Late (woulda fit right in on The Love Below).

Some immediate conclusions:
1) I think Beanie Sigel might've made a better album.
2) Kanye wishes he had thought of being Andre before Andre was Andre.
3) Probably not as good or as long lasting as College Dropout.
4) I'll likely listen to this pretty heavily for the next four days.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:41 (twenty years ago)

1) you're mad
2) andre wishes he was as good as kanye. where would andre be without big boi? both kanye albums piss all over love below from a great height
3) disagree, but who knows. although my college dropout experience was compromised by hearing most of the tracks a lot before it came out.
4) ditto

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:46 (twenty years ago)

Wow, you DO like to argue!
1) Maybe so, but I'm still listening to and discovering new depth in B. Coming; I rather doubt I'll be doing the same with LR in six months.
2) I don't even know where to begin with you on that one.
3) ditto on the early release tip; but I think at least two-thirds of College Dropout still bears listening, which doesn't seem to balance for me.
4) And that's the name of the game.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 August 2005 23:51 (twenty years ago)

I dunno. B. Siegel is just a.n. other rapper to me. Maybe I'll download B. Coming.

I actually grew to like the first half of Love Below. But ultimately the fact that a lot of is half-completed ideas for songs that are trying desperately hard to sound like experimental Prince is unavoidable. but that thread's already been done...

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:54 (twenty years ago)

TS: Kanye "Roses" vs. Andre "Roses"

― bugged out, Friday, 19 August 2005 23:58 (twenty years ago)

Aw, see you're stacking the deck!

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 20 August 2005 00:01 (twenty years ago)

Beanie is definitely more than "another rapper."

― deej.., Saturday, 20 August 2005 00:11 (twenty years ago)

Incidentally, that IS Cee-Lo on Roses, ain't it?

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 20 August 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

All I heard so far is "Diamonds" - did Brion work on that one as well?

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Saturday, 20 August 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

so excited

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Saturday, 20 August 2005 02:15 (twenty years ago)

in retrospect, i bet brion probably did work on diamonds. all the intricate stuff happening around the guts of the beat on some of the verses is of a piece with the more obviously showy things he does on the album.

― bugged out, Saturday, 20 August 2005 03:28 (twenty years ago)

Yeah he worked on it.

― deej.., Saturday, 20 August 2005 05:08 (twenty years ago)

Ok I listened to this once through and ... Drive Slow is *the* *jam*.

― asl, Saturday, 20 August 2005 05:50 (twenty years ago)

This is probably a stupid question, but here it is anyway: I still haven't bought College Dropout, but becoming familiar with the singles and a few tracks from Late Registration, I'm really starting to warm up to Kanye's stuff. Browsing around at the local record store, there are two different CDs of Dropout, the regular brownish one and one with a weird white/pink color scheme. Is there any actual difference beyond the covers (ie, is one a post-Grammy rerelease with a bonus track or something of that ilk)?

― telephonething etc, Saturday, 20 August 2005 06:11 (twenty years ago)

Lupin the III reference!

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 20 August 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

the white/pink Dropout is the remastered version that came out circa the Grammys, I don't think there's any bonus tracks, but I haven't heard from anyone about to what degree the mix on that version is different.

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 20 August 2005 15:20 (twenty years ago)

Thanks- I'll keep looking about online for a comparison or something.

Incidentally, what version of "Diamonds" is on Late Reg.? With Jay-Z or without?

― Telephone and so on, Saturday, 20 August 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

both versions are on it - the original is a "bonus track"

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Saturday, 20 August 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

This is the first time I really LISTENED to the Jay Z rap; I've always gotten so tired of K's verse in Leone that I switch off prior.
The Memphis Bleek pseudo-dis kills me.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Saturday, 20 August 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

To join the fray...
after about 10 listens, the Beanie Sigel album is better than this - agreed as per above.

The main problem is that we all know *all about* Kanye by now (remember last time there was that mystery about what he actually represented?). Now we know: a cocksure (dropped out) frat boy. He lacks memorable lines entirely on this. What exactly does Kanye even want to say? The words come out, but they're all just lame puns, arrogance about his rap game, and a line or two about sex (how many other people have scoped the fact that when he uses the word "head" in any rhyme, something about giving head is following right behind?).

and as for his sing songy delivery style where he acts like each end-of-line rising intonation in fact represents a punchline...leave that to luda.

6/10.

― paulhw (paulhw), Saturday, 20 August 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

so somebody fill me in on what these amazing depths of the B. Siegel persona are that i've been missing out on all these years

people seem to say they're tired of kanye, fed up with his schtick, a lot. i find that a bit odd, given he's only just dropping his second album. short attention span syndrome, or something.

― bugged out, Saturday, 20 August 2005 22:00 (twenty years ago)

i don't really like this v. much.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 21 August 2005 03:41 (twenty years ago)

its easy to get fed up with something or tired of it when its around you a lot and doing its best to let you know its there. i think the biggest thing that bugs a lot of people about kanye is his tireless self-promotion. i know it grates on me. xpost

― jmeister (jmeister), Sunday, 21 August 2005 04:09 (twenty years ago)

I like "Gone" and the Paul Wall track and "Gold Digger" better than anything on College Dropout. I like Kanye's lack of memorability here - he kind of just fades into the production a lot of the time. Now if we could just get him to stop rapping altogether.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 21 August 2005 05:40 (twenty years ago)

this is kinda gilded lily territory. except more like a gilded daffodil or something.

― jermaine (jnoble), Sunday, 21 August 2005 09:03 (twenty years ago)

yeah, an instrumental album would be good...i agree with jmeister - it's only his "2nd album" to people who have only listened to his first / don't listen to hip hop radio, etc. He's been unavoidable for 3-4 years now...he's had guest spots everywhere, etc.

Part of my response to this record is down to personality - it's hard to like a record when you think the person behind it is a dick.

As for Beanie, he's passionate, funny, tortured, has a fantastic voice, and comes hard on the beat. He attacks the track...Kanye has only 2 sides:
1. cocky dude who does the whole "look at me now / dropped out of college / bought a chain at jacob's / ladies be giving me head now / dudes want my beats now..."
2. sentimental schmaltz on the last few tracks where he talks about his mama / hospitals / jigga.

― paulhw (paulhw), Sunday, 21 August 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

Paul I think thats really reductive. His persona is the whole tribe called quest thing, goofy rhymes, goofy jokes, talking about human shit....I don't think dividing his work up into that weird dichotomy works well because even on serious songs he'll have silly jokes and shit like that. I like Kanye's rapping. He is funny.

― deej.., Sunday, 21 August 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

i am getting little disturbed reading different opinions about this album :) i liked it very much first, but soon my interest wore off. if you compare it with Blueprint (soulful samples, rap about personal matters), Kanye just isn't Jay Z, he doesnt have neither his lyrics nor his skills on mike. its a shame there is no great rapper these days able to presuade Kanye to work with him on entire album. maybe jay-z comeback album...

― karl76 (karl76), Sunday, 21 August 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

The album is great. I simply adore West's innovative use of classic soul samples, it is such a breath of fresh air after so many years of "bling bling".

― Robin R. Tricic, Sunday, 21 August 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

I'm familiar with Kanye's other production work, mixtapes, etc. etc. I've been listening to him since before College Dropout. I don't think he's exhausted his style/persona yet at all. Doing something like working with Jon Brion, for instance, is a pretty gutsy move, whether it works or not, that shows you he wants to keep growing.

I don't really care about him being self-promotional. It doesn't bother me when people get successful and want to milk it. That's the whole point of being an artist. Wanting people to hear your stuff.

And sure, he's not a good a rapper as Jay-Z. Not many people are. He's probably not as good a rapper technically as Beanie either. But you're not listening to him purely for his rapping. It's the total package. Which is a lot more than cocky/sentimental (I mean jeez paulhw, you forgot the other really obvious thing that he's always praised for---guilty/conflicted--for starters.)

― bugged out, Sunday, 21 August 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

(Bitching about his rapping is kind of like dissing Bo Jackson because he wasn't as good at baseball as football!)

― bugged out, Sunday, 21 August 2005 21:52 (twenty years ago)

I just saw the video to "Gold Digger" this morning; it was my first exposure to the song as well.

So. Fucking. Awesome! Holy shit.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Sunday, 21 August 2005 21:54 (twenty years ago)

Kanye looks like he's having a seizure in the side/profile shots

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 21 August 2005 22:23 (twenty years ago)

Jesus, two songs in and I'm absolutely buying this the day it comes out.

― James.Cobo (jamescobo), Monday, 22 August 2005 05:28 (twenty years ago)

"Gone" is fucking BREATHTAKING

― James.Cobo (jamescobo), Monday, 22 August 2005 06:21 (twenty years ago)

bitching about kanye's rapping is NOT "like dissing Bo Jackson because he wasn't as good at baseball as football" - Bo Jackson was arguably the best player in baseball when he got injured. Kanye's not even the best rapper on his own albums.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 22 August 2005 06:28 (twenty years ago)

a remastered edition after... a year??

wtf!

― fandango (fandango), Monday, 22 August 2005 06:33 (twenty years ago)

Is this really ILM? Since when does this 'best rapper' shit matter? Yeah he's not Rakim dudes, you're the ones who taught me that doesnt mean shit. He's still a funny dude and he makes interesting music. I mean, unless you're just saying he's boring in which case I disagree.

― deej.., Monday, 22 August 2005 06:47 (twenty years ago)

("You're the ones who taught me" should be taken w grain of salt, I wasnt total raving rockist lunatic prior to ILM exposure) :)

― deej.., Monday, 22 August 2005 07:01 (twenty years ago)

"Kanye's not even the best rapper on his own albums."

Since Jay-Z is on his albums, this isn't saying very much.

― bugged out, Monday, 22 August 2005 10:41 (twenty years ago)

blasting someone for being a bad rapper = rockism

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 22 August 2005 12:11 (twenty years ago)

i really hope you're being sarcastic

― bugged out, Monday, 22 August 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

haha I'm not sure if he is but I was SORT OF suggesting just that. Although with an important caveat - I feel like when people say Kanye is 'not a good rapper' they mean 'he has no flow, he's not lyrically complex etc' rather than 'i don't like his rapping.' Even if I'm interpreting them wrong, saying 'kanye is a crappy rapper' is confusing because it suggests they might not be aware that, you know, a rapper can be goofy and awkward and still be endearing and enjoyable and therefore GOOD. Just for communicative purposes I think saying "I dont like Kanye's rapping" might be clearer than "Kanye is a bad rapper" as if this is some sort of established 'fact.'

― deej.., Monday, 22 August 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

what i don't like about him is the *same*ness of his "bad" flow. he has this one trick where his lines are slow and long and bounce up and down approximating "melody" but like "melody" via kazoo like oneANDtwoANDthreeee FOUR. And that's like all he does. Alter the rubatos only slightly to account for syllable differences and change the speed maybe 10bpm in either direction and you have 90% of his songs.

oh yeah he also has the gei-CO gag which is the other way to be all "look ma! i made a rhyme!"

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 22 August 2005 14:42 (twenty years ago)

Eh I like the smarmy wise-ass-ness of it.

― deej.., Monday, 22 August 2005 14:53 (twenty years ago)

ok, i could see that...but his "wise-ass-ness" just isn't smart. Like he plays with words in such an obvious way that you can forecast his "gags" before they arrive.

OK, here are the first lines of "Out the Game"

Naw I'm talking bout Linda, from last September
Now Linda love lace like Linda love lace
LaFace says she like Mase but she love Face
And I know that Linda was a hip-hop-head
And I know that Linda gave Hip-Hop head

Geddit!!! love lace and love lace! hip-hop-head and Hip-hop head!

And all with that sucking sing-songy thing he does...it's not goofy, it's just plain bad. And if you can ignore all that and still like his beats, fine, but I'd rather listen to something where I'm not cringing every other line...

― paulhw (paulhw), Monday, 22 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

His "ah ha hah ha hawww" bits and the deliver on the "two dykes that look Christina Milian-like" verse on "Late" actually sound like MC Paul Barman. I don't mean that as an exaggeration. They do.

But the fearlessness is kind of admirable, no?

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:15 (twenty years ago)

"We Major" is so so so lush.

― Behold I will do a New Thing Chapel JESUS IS LORD (Matt Chesnut), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

i think everyone can agree that his technique is not so great.

and we can disagree about how important that is in the grand scheme of things.

― bugged out, Monday, 22 August 2005 18:26 (twenty years ago)

actually i thought that recent times profile of him was pretty interesting in light of all this... it basically talked about how his composition process is different from other rappers precisely because he is actually composing the music he will rap over, rather than just coming in and flowing over a pre-made beat. which suggested to me that he actually couldn't just take the music he does for himself and give it to another rapper in order to "improve" it. i mean, if you compare the stuff on this new album, or even on college dropout, to the stuff he does for other artists, i think its clear the stuff he gives to other people is simpler and more straightforward, ie made precisely to be given to someone else.

― bugged out, Monday, 22 August 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

'it's like senior citizens pissin' cause it all depends'

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Monday, 22 August 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

I'm sorry but I'm from backpackerville U.S.A. so I think those goofy puns are awesome. I remember the all-city MC battle three years ago where my favorite rapper was named "Encyclopedia Brown" and he rapped about belky from perfect stranger and how you have one ball like a gym program on a budget! He got too drunk though and succumbed to an MC named 'Flaps' who rapped about making you floss your teeth with his anal hairs.

Point is, I like Kanye's goofy puns!

― deej.., Monday, 22 August 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

Two and a half years ago, actually.

― deej.., Monday, 22 August 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

Decrying a rapper for awkward flow is akin to attacking a guitarist for his slopppy technique, for god's sake.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 22 August 2005 21:34 (twenty years ago)

Alfred, it's like attacking a funk guitarist for his sloppy technique. Hip hop is rhythmic. "Sloppy" guitar (Pavement, etc) is a whole lot more suited to indie bands than Kanye's sloppy flow is to hip hop.

― paulhw (paulhw), Monday, 22 August 2005 21:39 (twenty years ago)

it's more like not seeing the wood for the trees

― bugged out, Monday, 22 August 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

did everyone see kanye in i-D? he mentions wanting to do a track w/ MIA and drops this gem

i-D: "you mentioned portishead earlier in the studio. it sounds like kind of a wonky influence, but that was a huge hip hop album, right?"

kw: "it's my favourite type of music. i always thought that their music was a whole 'nother level from this average hip hop shit. we havce the same theory about what we want out of music ... i want people to be amazed over and over and over and i want this music that i'm making to be a soundtrack to their life."

dude must have paul wall blogosphere envy

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 00:54 (twenty years ago)

He's got the innanet goin nuts.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:04 (twenty years ago)

i did see that ID piece. classically bad English style mag writing. my favorite bit is where the writer claims that def jam stock skyrocketed when jay-z became boss.

― bugged out, Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:18 (twenty years ago)

is there like a law that all articles in brit style mags must be written in a 4am coke haze? seriously, if i am paying $10-$15 an issue i expect a little better (for serious LOLz please see the arena homme+ article on pete doherty / babyshambles) ... oh well, it's worth it for the gorgeous terry richardson photos of teairra marie + jay-z (maybe he's charging so much they have to cut back on editing talent?).

there's also a funny part where the writer worries about kanye ("a man who has been in a life! threatening! carcrash!") (!!!s mine) wanting to put a marble dashboard in his car - so tacky! (of the writer, i mean)

oh yeah i think the new kanye album is the jam. comments like

Like he plays with words in such an obvious way that you can forecast his "gags" before they arrive.

isn't forecasting and telegraphing, like, the essence of comedy?? charlie chaplin, loveable fuckup, master of forecasting? like - i knew it! i knew he was gonna walk through that plate glass window! how OBVIOUS and LAME!

and i hope by obvious you don't mean "so obvious anyone could do it". cause you can't. if anybody on ILX says or does anything that clever i will paypal them the $8.99 i spent on "college dropout".

sterling's point about sameness is well taken, but again, how much variation do you want from the guy after two albums? how short of an attention span is that?

― vahid (vahid), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 03:48 (twenty years ago)

Ok I listened to this once through and ... Drive Slow is *the* *jam*.

OTM. It's so beautiful and simple; I can't get over the "Chi-Town version of Baby/And I was just a virgin, a baby" line.

― d4niel coh3n (dayan), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

yeah the photos were the only reason i bought that ID. although i didn't have to pay import prices.

I will say I don't think the lyrics on the new album are as interesting as College Dropout, at least not that I've noticed yet. Jesus Walks and Self-Conscious were pretty original in terms of subject matter for hip-hop; that long track at the end of College Dropout where he talks about how he made it is fly-on-the-wall compelling; Slow Jams is clever and witty. Nothing like those on the new one. But the music compensates.

― bugged out, Tuesday, 23 August 2005 18:48 (twenty years ago)

vahid good point regarding kanyes rhymes but as far as challenging someone to be as clever around here...dont let jermaine know about it. his rhymes on the ghostface/doom thread were great and quite clever.

― jmeister (jmeister), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 19:05 (twenty years ago)

I can't think of a single performer since the beginning of this century that has bored me as mercilessly as Kanye West*... AND I FUCKING LOVE "GOLDIGGER"!!! It was running neck and neck with "Stay Fly" (3-6, 8Ball/ MJG, Young Buck) as my own personal single of the year, but this just takes it. Kudos, Mr. West.

*I should mention that I'm only familiar w/ his singles. I'm sure someone could point me to some excellent production work or album tracks by the man. Oh, and "Through the Wire" was pretty ok, too.

― Will(iam), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

"Drive Slow" is my favourite, makes me reach for the 2Pac, who'da thunk (sample choice and lyrical theme are taken from 2Pac's "Shorty Wanna Be a Thug").

― JoB (JoB), Tuesday, 23 August 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

as always, the best Kanye tracks are *made* by the guest talent - Drive Slow is worth it for Paul Wall (kanye's forgettable), Gold Digger has the Jamie Foxx vocals,

I don't know enough about 'flow' or whatever to make a 'he can't rap well' argument but I know he always sounds mush-mouthed and forced (except for Gold Digger, really), his personality is grating as well as boring (oooh, he's conflicted. Get in line with about four million other MCs, thanks.) and it ruins a lot of well-produced tracks.

What I notice most about the album is how much I love his drum sound - his drums are so big and warm but just the right amount of tight, with the bass drops every so often to rattle your trunk.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 00:22 (twenty years ago)

first paragraph, I skipped saying "Gone" is worth it for Cam'ron's verse, Diamonds is forgettable until Jay gets on the track.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 00:23 (twenty years ago)

wildly uneven after a few listens. kanye's talent lies in his total outlandishness, his willingness to collide personal/cultural/political/spiritual in one giant messy lump of genuine personality (see: the two versions of "Diamonds").

way too many "formula" tracks on this one - the mama song, the addiction song, the dying family member song. these are cliches that can really work in the hands of someone more lyrically gifted and with more of a refined presence (ie. that new Young Jeezy album isn't very original but he's very forceful and compelling at what he does).

when kanye falls back on these tropes he's just dull and his flaws overwhelm him (at his best he makes them his strengths).

without 7-12 and 15-18 you've got something really on par with College Dropout - but you've also got a much shorter album.

it's a shame too, b/c 1-4 are unfuckwithable, but "Crack Music" is painfully unconvincing (thanks for being sparing with the Game though!) and "Bring Me Down" and "Celebration" are the kind of utterly forgettable you didn't really have on College Dropout.

"Gone" is great though (I don't think it's quite as world-beating as some of y'all) and like I think bugged out said "Late" is a wonderful chipmunk-soul tease at the end - as much as I hate to say it I woulda like to have heard more of that

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 00:42 (twenty years ago)

Golddigger has a great beat, but it sounds like it could easily be a Black Star track and get about 1/10 as much attention round these parts. And the chorus feels like a throwaway to me.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 02:08 (twenty years ago)

by "be a Black Star track," I meant the beat, not the lyrics.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

Ditto on the light Game moment; the few seconds where he and Kanye bark "that's that CRACK music nigga! that's that BLACK music nigga!" torpedo that track like Gina Davis hittin' bullseyes.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 04:19 (twenty years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/Kanye.jpg

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

Golddigger has a great beat, but it sounds like it could easily be a Black Star track and get about 1/10 as much attention round these parts. And the chorus feels like a throwaway to me.

-- Hurting (Hurtingchie...), August 24th, 2005.

this is basically what im always tryna say about kanye, like yeah he made some aight beats and all but just cuz he raps like the nerdy son of ma$e and chino xl that gets him the cover of time magazine instead of shawn j period??

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

I think we all know what gets him on the cover of Time -- he's "defying the rules of rap", "more GQ than gangsta," etc. Jay does get a picture inside...

(that Time article is actually not bad, all things considered)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

haha i just tried really hard to find the newsweek "RAP RAGE" cover w/ tone loc but it looks like they wrote that shit out of history

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

I must not have heard the right Black Star tracks, cuz I haven't heard anything that sounds like "Gold Digger" - always less energetic and forceful (in the beat).

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 16:26 (twenty years ago)

there is no Black Star that sounds like Kanye. I liked them but their beats were fairly weak. Kanye's beats are not the hardest, but they're harder than Black Star and Gold Digger is pretty tough.

it's pretty frickin' obvious why shawn j. period isn't on the cover of time and kanye is.

― bugged out, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

I feel like I'm dropping into asshole mode here since I know I'll probably like and buy this album, but...

Isn't this the guy who wrote part of that Diamonds song about being a petulant child and walking out of some awards show when he didn't get best new artist? I hate to turn this into a class issue, but really, when someone who came from nothing hits the top of the game and acts all introspective it's interesting in a Horatio Alger story way, but when a middle class son of a college professor is all introspective and is having trouble placing himself in life? Maybe the collective consciousness has learned that pretending to be hard and from the streets isn't the only way to look "authentic," but that doesn't mean that we have to take an interest in the trials of Kanye West from a story standpoint.

― mike h. (mike h.), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

Actually, the Time story gets into all that, including the class stuff.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

I'll definitely have to pick it up. I love how random college kids I talked to at a couple parties were latching on to his themes. But really, half of his first album boiled down to "I want to pick up some girls, some girls are dumb and after my money, I wouldn't have made my money if I didn't pursue my dreams, I know some girl who is drifting aimlessly through college, college wasn't for me, college is worth dropping out of." Really, I think it's great that he is good at what he does (producing!) but that doesn't mean that everyone is so lucky. I mean, maybe in Kanye's world we all get to be Kanye, but things work in other ways. Aww, I'm getting all Al Bundy up in here.

― mike h. (mike h.), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

and your point is...?

― bugged out, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

there is no Black Star that sounds like Kanye

you don't think "gold digger" could've been a hi-tek beat?

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:51 (twenty years ago)

NO VAHID THERE IS NOT ANY PRECEDENTS SET FOR KANYES REVOLUTIONARY INNOVATIVE STYLE OF HIP-HOP

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

ESPECIALLY NOT LATE 90S JAZZY UNDERGROUND LIKE HI-TEK SHAWN J PERIOD JAY DEE UMMAH ETC

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

but just cuz he raps like the nerdy son of ma$e and chino xl that gets him the cover of time magazine instead of shawn j period??

anyway DUDE it's time magaine! it's like the journalism defn of aspirational lower-middlebrow. kanye raps to their class!

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

mos def didn't get a time cover for topdog?

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

I CAN SEE WHY THE NEWS MEDIA AND ROCK CRITICS LOVE THIS DUDE CUZ HIS SHIT SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE L-FUDGE REMIXES OFF A QUARTER-BIN BUSH BABEES 12"

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

they would never give mos a cover cuz he doesnt self-produce!! now lauryn hill thats more like it....

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

i mean what kinda rapper are you if you BUY BEATS from OUTSIDE PRODUCERS and earned your rep thru RAPPING ALONE

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

andre too

― 3, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 18:00 (twenty years ago)

Kanye says he ripped off his signature speedy gonzales chipmunk samples from RZA. So which RZA tracks is he talking about?

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

whatever 3. you don't have to like kanye. but why he's successful does involve something other than bitter conspiracy theories about the mainstream media, and it isn't hard to "get" for anyone who doesn't have their head up their caps-locked ass.

― bugged out, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 18:33 (twenty years ago)

I think if he had signed to another label and didn't have the rocafella connections and guest spots he might have ended up in a different place. Pretty obvious, now that I think about it.

― mike h. (mike h.), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)

ESPECIALLY NOT LATE 90S JAZZY UNDERGROUND LIKE HI-TEK SHAWN J PERIOD JAY DEE UMMAH ETC
-- 3 (...), August 24th, 2005.

The difference of course being that Kanye can, you know, make hits.

And Milo, I think its absolutely insane you like Paul Wall's verse more on "Drive Slow," its good but its still a generic houston verse about candy paint. Kanye's verse is a lot more interesting to me. I also think Jay's Diamonds verse is pretty boring.

― deej.., Wednesday, 24 August 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

Wall's laid-back drawl works so much better with that beat than almost any other track I've heard him on, though. Maybe the actual story isn't as interesting as Kanye's (though I don't even agree with that), but Wall sounds so much better.

I've never actually made it past "that's that crack music, nigga/ that's that black music, nigga" on "Crack Music."

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

(apparently Kanye didn't wanna say nigga on that track so he tried with homey first. But homey sounded corny. So he said nigga.)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

Is the sample on "My Way Home" a new thing (ala the Foxx-as-Charles vocals) or is it an old soul song?

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)

I'd really appreciate a sample list for the album. Anybody want to start?

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 19:08 (twenty years ago)

ok turns, out that one's a Gil Scott-Heron song, "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 19:12 (twenty years ago)

"I think if he had signed to another label and didn't have the rocafella connections and guest spots he might have ended up in a different place."

It's true. If he didn't make a bunch of hits and most of a classic album for the best rapper of his era, plus loads more hits for anyone else who's any good, then go on to make a virtually unprecedented transition from producer to rapper and put out a classic album of his own while bridging the mainstream/alterna hip-hop dive in a way almost noone else has.... he might have ended up in a different place.

― bugged out, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

dive=divide :)

― bugged out, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

I'm saying that if he were to make a bunch of hits and most of a classic album for the best rapper of his era, plus loads more hits for anyone else who's any good, then attempted to transition from producer to rapper on a random label, got guest stars like Common, GLC, Consequence, and Twista (no Jay, no Freeway, maybe even no Mos Def, etc) and didn't have the promo push or music video budget out the gate, then it might have been different, but maybe not. It's a really small constituency that I think he might have lost, but it's worth noting.

I think there's something to be said for the playfulness you get when someone raps over their own production. That might be the best part of Kanye's rapping, actually. I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here, but I think Kanye's rapping is really just a sideline to everything else going on with his albums and it works best when he's not trying to consciously write something meaningful.

― mike h. (mike h.), Thursday, 25 August 2005 02:44 (twenty years ago)

Golddigger has a great beat, but it sounds like it could easily be a Black Star track and get about 1/10 as much attention round these parts. And the chorus feels like a throwaway to me.

-- Hurting (Hurtingchie...), August 24th, 2005.

-- 3 (3...), August 24th, 2005.

Ok 3, I'm witchu. Sorry I told you to fuck off on the other thread.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 25 August 2005 03:02 (twenty years ago)

Mos Def is also kind of a goofy, sunny rapper, but I guess that's the point here, isn't it (and frankly Mos Def does it better).

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 25 August 2005 03:05 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://www.blender.com/includes/popup.aspx?imgLoc=/gallery_photos/1670/sep_2005/kaynewest_l1.jpg

Kayne West.

― mike h. (mike h.), Thursday, 25 August 2005 04:04 (twenty years ago)

ouch!

― jmeister (jmeister), Thursday, 25 August 2005 05:51 (twenty years ago)

Kanye West always seemed to me like one of the first, if not the first, post-Napster music nerds to make it really big in America. Someone I know on this hardcore gaming website knew him growing up (geek points?) and his knowledge of pop music for samples reeks of someone who's spent years doing some downloading online. I've read other things that seem to imply that he's really just a nice middle-class kid. He seems like he's they type of guy who took the Napster benefits of free music to 11 and now has a large knowledge of pop music for sampling. I attribute that revolution to a lot of his success.

― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 25 August 2005 06:43 (twenty years ago)

That and the fact that at the 2005 Grammy awards he was the only person I saw awkwardly answer questions about file-sharing and how to solve the problem. Where others often times take a "STOP ALL THE DOWNLOADIN'" stance (or used to prior to Itunes) Kanye talked a bit about the benefits of it and how we should work with the people doing it.

― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 25 August 2005 06:48 (twenty years ago)

"I think there's something to be said for the playfulness you get when someone raps over their own production"

Mannie Fresh to thread.

Also, Deej. OTM about Jay's "Diamond" verse, the "business, man" riff is great but the rest is pretty forgettable. Maybe it's just me, but I like Nas' "We Major" verse alot more (esp. the "Jesse Jackson standing next to MLK when he got shot" bit).

I also really dig Paul Wall's verse too, just for how he says, "I'm on a mission for dime-pieces and sexy ladies" - it sounds so charmingly innocent or something

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Thursday, 25 August 2005 16:24 (twenty years ago)

After digging on College Dropout, it's sad to really be unsure whether or not to get Late Registration; discussion on this thread and the lukewarm singles released thus far (well, Gold Digger sounded okay the first time I heard it but the overblown Diamonds turns me off even after like 10 listens) makes me think I should save the dough I was gonna spend on it on something else.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 25 August 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

Wasn't Kanye producing well before the Napster craze? I assume he must have made the Blueprint beats sometime in 2000 and had a body of work before that to even get noticed.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 25 August 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)

yeah, his first major label productions were around 98/99 and he did some local Chicago stuff before that.

― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 25 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

also I know a lot of sample-happy producers are pretty stubborn about only sampling from vinyl, i dunno if Kanye is that way but you can hear the crackle of vinyl on most of his samples.

― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 25 August 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

Does "Touch The Sky" sounds pretty close to "Encore" minus the chorus ("what the hell are you waiting for") to anyone else?

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 25 August 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

Actually listening to this now after waiting for release day. What's the strongest guest on here? My vote is Jon Brion.

― mike h. (mike h.), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 15:24 (twenty years ago)

Gah! "Gone" is making my eyes get big with its awesomeness.

― Hillary Brown (Hillary Brown), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 18:38 (twenty years ago)

Just to piss everyone off, here's Rob Sheffield's 5-star review in Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/7569017/kanyewest?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=triple1

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

"But if they ever flip sides like Anakin/ You will sell everything, including the mannequin/They got a new bitch, now you're Jennifer Aniston."

― 3, Tuesday, 30 August 2005 20:31 (twenty years ago)

He calls in the heavyweights: Jay-Z, Common, Brandy, Cam'ron, Consequence, the Game, Paul Wall.

― 3, Tuesday, 30 August 2005 20:33 (twenty years ago)

I can't believe the hype this mediocre, shitty album gets. This is not much better than 50 Fuckin Cent or The Fuckin Game.

― zeus, Wednesday, 31 August 2005 08:53 (twenty years ago)

Kanye says he ripped off his signature speedy gonzales chipmunk samples from RZA. So which RZA tracks is he talking about?

-- gypsy mothra (meetm...), August 24th, 2005.

GZA - Shadowboxin'

Im sure there are others but I can't remember them

― splates (splates), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 09:43 (twenty years ago)

SUPER CUTE!!!1

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009WPKY0.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

― Captain Sleep (Captain Sleep), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 09:48 (twenty years ago)

Album art is gorgeous.

― Hillary Brown (Hillary Brown), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

On my third listen now. So far the production and arrangements surpass The College Dropout's.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

hi i have a question about the kanye west album cover. on the front there is that teddy bear coming into the building--it shows his front and the doors are going away from him.
on the back is the teddy bear is shown from the back---if he is entering the building the doors are going the wrong way.. if he is leaving the building the doors are right but a light seen in first photo is missing in second. maybe it is sup pose to be like that-but it bothers me anyway.

― michelle morris, Wednesday, 31 August 2005 15:56 (twenty years ago)

maybe the dude (Mayer) isn't the date-rape-rock fucker he's been promoted as

that is awesome.

― Cunga (Cunga), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 16:15 (twenty years ago)

Maybe it's a clue

― michael burble, Wednesday, 31 August 2005 16:26 (twenty years ago)

Is Kanye now favored to become the first back to back Pazz & Jop album winner since--what?--the Clash?

― M. V. (M.V.), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)

I still can't take him too seriously with lines like "even your superficial raps/ are SUPER OFFICIAL" - super official?!?!

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

Musically, this album is phat.

― Barbara Handleross, Wednesday, 31 August 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

Do schools still actually look like that in America? Or is Kanye going to university in Hungary?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 19:00 (twenty years ago)

not read (most of) thread yet (will do so now), so sorry if this has already been said:

'Side 1' = dud
'Side 2' (i.e. from "Roses" onwards) = classic

in fact the very best stuff is right at the end

question: what's the sample on the last, hidden track, "Late"? sounds lovely

― zebedee (zebedee), Monday, 5 September 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)

"Ride Slow" is dud? "Touch the Sky" is dud?

― deej.., Monday, 5 September 2005 18:23 (twenty years ago)

crack music is definatly dud.

― jonathan - stl (jonathan - stl), Monday, 5 September 2005 19:10 (twenty years ago)

I like Kanye's rapping on it a lot, the beat is not so great until it gets all weird at the end. Also Game's verse was removed at the last minute so Crack Music is very weird.

― deej.., Monday, 5 September 2005 19:14 (twenty years ago)

Anybody know why Game's verse was removed? It does seem a very odd decision to get him on and then give him so little to do, not that Kanye hasn't done that before ('Breath In Breath Out').

― Flyboy (Flyboy), Monday, 5 September 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)

Finally a good review:

http://www.playlouder.com/review/+late-registratio/

― zeus, Thursday, 8 September 2005 08:35 (twenty years ago)

I love this album, nothing more to say right now as have only listened to it twice, but it definitely pushes all my buttons the whole way through.

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 8 September 2005 08:42 (twenty years ago)

his raps are pretty crappy though, aren't they, really? it's started to really get in the way of the AWESOME TOONZ for me.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Thursday, 8 September 2005 09:17 (twenty years ago)

Actually I love his rapping pretty much throughout. He has the best verse on "Drive Slow"

― deej.., Thursday, 8 September 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

"Drive Slow" is probably my favorite track so far.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 8 September 2005 18:30 (twenty years ago)

Finally a good review:
http://www.playlouder.com/review/+late-registratio/

-- zeus (zeuszk...), September 8th, 2005.

anyone invoking the gift of fucking gab as some kind of paragon of emceeing prowess is plain drunk off the stupid juice. zeus, i want my two minutes back for reading that review. hit me up on paypal.

― martin turenne, Thursday, 8 September 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

paypal. gab. prowess. 3 words which are completely new for me.
but this album is still bad.

― zeus, Thursday, 8 September 2005 22:23 (twenty years ago)

"Gold Digger" and "Drive Slow" are both genius, especially the latter ... wonderful sample, plus Paul Wall and Kanye match up really, really well. The thing at the end is STUNNING! Both an ode to S & C and to the psychedelid spirit of the song to begin with. "Crack Music" kinda blows, though.

The Jon Brion inclusion is inspired!!

― Chris O., Thursday, 8 September 2005 23:18 (twenty years ago)

Haha, the "OH NO!!! JOHN MAYER!!!!" outbursts at the start of this thread are really funny now.

I never thought Kanye as an artist was very innovative, but I always saw it more as "he's just doing what him and Just Blaze have been doing for years". I admit I really don't know much about the niche Trife is referencing, kinda want to check it out, but I'm afraid the rapping will all be Guru-esque and not silly at all. :(

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 9 September 2005 11:42 (twenty years ago)

There's a couple miles distance between Jay Dee's late 90s stuff and what Kanye's doing. Enough miles that Kanye's at #1 on billboard and Jay Dee will never leave his little distinctive-snare city.

― deej.., Friday, 9 September 2005 13:18 (twenty years ago)

I mean Kanye's not 'innovative' but he's not some reactionary throwback either. And he makes hits, which is the main difference.

― deej.., Friday, 9 September 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

Paul Wall and Kanye match up really, really well

OTM!!!!!!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 9 September 2005 13:23 (twenty years ago)

(Point is, just because Kanye was clearly influenced by late 90s rawkus lyricist lounge shit doesnt mean he's derivitive or a pale imitation of such. No matter how much I like "Universal Magnetic" its wasnt about to follow "Gold Digger" up the charts.)

― deej.., Friday, 9 September 2005 13:28 (twenty years ago)

kanye is good to great on the mic
the album is dope

kanye the yakker certainly colors most of our opinions of his work.
-nothing wrong with that; turn-offs are absolutely valid.

but for me, kanye's commitment to style doesn't close my eyes to his underlying skill. kinda reminds me of when i first 'got' slum's fantastic vol 2 and realized they weren't wack rappers, they were the dopest wack rappers ever. camron/juelz have that effect too. same with odb. too poetic from gravediggaz had it. b-real...

RBX, Party Arty, and silkk the shocker do not have it

sticky fingaz had it/sonee seeza did not.

storytelling, punchlines, pointless rhymes for rhyme's sake, an edge and urgency in his voice (which folks find unacceptable in hip hop nowadays); kanye is nice with his...

― natlawdp, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

Hi! I have a ridiculous question. Does Jay-Z care that Kanye brought in Nas for a guest spot? No, right?

― Lukas (lukas), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)

natlaw otm in general re: kanye, and re: cam/juelz, i agree as well, and sorta hinted at that on another ye thread, but deej was havin none of what i was sayin, and didnt respond to my question as to (cams) appeal if it wasnt some sort of weird / "dopest wack" thing going on... oh well... its not like i appreciate him in some sort of solely ironic sense, id hate myself for it, and he's an awesome MC on the most base level... but what makes him one of my faves is how he skirts the line between completely "wack" and absolutely genius....

and, yes, when he found out about the nas appearance, jay took ye's chain, bitchsmacked the motherfucker in his steel jaw (if a steering wheel wouldn't bust his face for good, tha roca ice'll do it) and gave it to lady sov.... but then he had to take it back cuz them diamonds weigh more than a little british gal, rit?

― capnkickass (gloriagaynor), Thursday, 22 September 2005 00:24 (twenty years ago)

Kanye is a genius. I love all of his work. I'm looking to get signed myself. If your reading this Kanye hit me up on MCLife5@aol.com. I'm just an Emcee trying to bring back hip hop. Yo! Anybody know what's up with the track listing? Someone hit me back if they have a complete listing. Kanye, keep it up. F@#k what these non hip hop cats are saying. They don't know sh@t!

― M.C. Life, Friday, 23 September 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

kinda reminds me of when i first 'got' slum's fantastic vol 2 and realized they weren't wack rappers, they were the dopest wack rappers ever. camron/juelz have that effect too. same with odb. too poetic from gravediggaz had it. b-real...

RBX, Party Arty, and silkk the shocker do not have it

two east coast rappers have it. same with 90s east coast rapper. and other 90s east coast rapper had it too.

cali rapper did not have it. south rapper did not have it.

― , Friday, 23 September 2005 21:49 (twenty years ago)

RBX was sweet.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 24 September 2005 15:13 (twenty years ago)

know what's up with the track listing? Someone hit me back if they have a complete listing.

Dude wants Kanye to sign him but hasn't bothered to buy the album.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Saturday, 24 September 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

haha

This album is good. I like Gold Digger a lot.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 24 September 2005 18:56 (twenty years ago)

The use of the sample in it really bothers me, maybe because I'm too familiar with it. I keep wanting to hear the next lines and the 'I Got a Woman' chord progression, and I can't make it all the way through the song.

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 24 September 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

I like the subtle reference in Gold Digger to Louie Anderson in Coming to America...the "this week he's washin' dishes/next week it's the fries"...i wish he coulda used "washing the lettuce" though

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 24 September 2005 19:41 (twenty years ago)

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