Kayne West - Late Registration
Rating
RIYL
Jay-ZDr.Dre
Cam’Ron
Label
Roc-A-Fella RecordsTracklist
1. Wake Up Mr. West2. Heard 'Em Say featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5
3. Touch The Sky featuring Lupe Fiasco
4. Gold Digger featuring Jamie Foxx
5. Skit #1
6. Drive Slow featuring Paul Wall & GLC
7. My Way Home featuring Common
8. Crack Music featuring Game
9. Roses
10. Bring Me Down featuring Brandy
11. Addiction
12. Skit #2
13. Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix) featuring Jay-Z
14. Hey Mama
15. Skit #3
16. We Major featuring Nas & Really Doe
17. Celebration
18. Skit #4
19. Gone featuring Consequence & Cam'Ron
20. Diamonds From Sierra Leone
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Kanye West is an egotistical, self important, hubris-ridden idiot. That needs to be said. He’s not winning himself any fervent adoration (at least from me) by running around proclaiming he’s the hip hop messiah, however, to quote everyone’s favourite diminutive toydarian, Watto, “The boy’s good, no doubts there…”
Here it is then folks, the “triumphant” return of hip hop super producer, college dropout and recently, part time political activist, Mr. Kanye West. After the monumental commercial success of 2004’s The College Dropout, West found himself in the inherently transient position of hip hop’s hottest property. Being hailed as the most invigorating artist/beatsmith in the relatively foetal genre, West found himself in the unfamiliar position of being the jewel in Rocafella’s crown, due in no small part to Jigga’s (Jay-Z) premature yet graceful departure. This coupled with West’s rapidly burgeoning popularity created an unprecedented aura of anticipation that was left swirling around Kanye’s sophomore release like a suspense-filled cyclone. The question, was whether or not Kanye could speedily usurp Jay’s position as champion of the Roc’s staff. The answer, is no. Late Registration is perhaps the most unfulfilled album that will be released this year, hip hop or otherwise. It is filled with moments of pure genius but is incapable of sustaining them for the full length of the record.
Musically, this record is truly astounding. In his quest to attain what he himself describes as "that Coldplay, Portishead, Fiona Apple style" Kanye has enlisted the assistance of producer Jon Brion (Fiona Apple). Despite Jon being a veritable hip hop virgin, together the pair have given birth to some of the most operatic, monumentally grandiose hip hop ever heard by human ears. The scope of West’s musicality is finally given free reign and together with Brion, he fashions rap music that is not scared to dabble in live orchestral arrangements, and a plethora of instrumentation from the sublime to the absurd, that’s all effortlessly tied together in an oh-so funky manner. While tracks such as “Gone” showcase Kanye’s newfound operatic tendencies, “Gold Digger” shows that West has by no means forgotten his ability to create a piece of simple, infectious groove. The track is positively swimming in old and new school cool, Foxx’s singing combined with Kanye’s Midas touch behind the boards adds up to a premium piece of pop hop and my favourite track on the album. The sample lovers among you will be thrilled to hear that Kanye has not turned away from his use of classic snippets. He endows us with an abundance of the aforementioned, from the Otis Redding fuelled grooves of “Gone” to the James Bond themed, Shirley Bassey sampling “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”, West is once again in his sample-happy element.
Music aside, Kanye is not a rapper, he is a producer. He has been unfortunately inflicted with a disease that all too frequently befalls rapper-producers. Case in point, Dr.Dre, perhaps the finest producer hip hop has ever known, but hardly capable of the kind of stellar flow we have come to expect from rap’s finest exponents. West also falls victim to this curse, and while it is clear his emceeing has developed since Dropout, his delivery is still laboured and lacks the punch of a Freeway, or the fluidity and grace of a Method Man or Mos Def. The guest list for Late Registration is a long and distinguished one, which is truly a representation of the ever escalating influence and respect that Kanye holds in the world of hip hop. However, appearances from Jay-Z, NaS and Common (among many others) only serve to further illuminate the deficiencies in West’s rhymes, with each of his guests proceeding to steal the show on their respective tracks.
Despite his apparent downfalls West is one of the few (commercially at least) rappers whose doctrine extends beyond how much money he makes (a lot), how big his rims are (big) and how much weed he smokes (a lot), and that alone is applaudable. He favours us with heartfelt, personal accounts of his mother (“Hey Mama”) and grandmother (“Roses”), bestows some abhorrent denouncements of the plight of African slave labourers (“Diamonds from Sierra Leone”), details his misgivings pertaining to addiction (“Addiction” and “Crack Music”) and wittily sings the praises of pre-nuptial agreements (“Gold Digger”). All this while still finding the time to address more staple hip hop matters on “Touch the Sky”.
On Late Registration, Kanye fully delivers on his musical promise, creating an ear-smoochingly beautiful album of hip hop, that’s only real detrimental aspect is his own vocal contribution. Love him or loath him, the self proclaimed “Luis Vuitton Don” is going to be around for some time to come, and despite his (well deserved) reputation as one of the most arrogant assholes in the music industry, it is impossible to deny that Kanye West is both a hugely talented producer and the “it” man in hip hop right now.
--Rhys Duggan
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alrite review, a mite too long
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I believe he is referring to rolling stone, not you.
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interesting question for us reviewers though, would you fudge a review for moolah? WOULDJA?
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