Top 10 Favorite Albums of the 00's: # 8

Kanye West- Late Registration (2005)

Genre: Hip hop

Label: Roc-a-Fella, Def Jam

Producer: Kanye West, Jon Brion,  ect.

What separates Kanye West from his contemporaries is that he has an incredible drive for being the best.  The best compliment I think an artist can be given is that they’re art has consistent quality. That means, for instance, director / screenwriter Christopher Nolan is gifted enough to write scripts and direct movies that seem to always captivates it’s audience throughout the entire film. Akin to this, Kanye West has the ability to capture a listener’s attention throughout any of the albums in his catalog.

This brings me to Late Registration, which in my opinion was his best album of the last decade (maybe his whole career if he hadn’t released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010).  The album is filled with excellent beats, witty lines, and variety that make this album a special one. What sets this apart from other albums released by Kanye West is that he teamed up with Jon Brion (a film composer) to make a hip hop album that has a very large sound by using orchestration (something he sort of moved away from with Graduation by making it more electronic but came back to with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). Kanye’s sophomore album was certainly not a sophomore slump. He created an album with great artists featured and awesome songs.

The album starts out with an amusing skit by Bernie Mac (R.I.P.) who reprises his role as an “old teacher” like he was in Kanye’s debut album “The College Dropout”.  This rolls into “Heard ‘Em Say”, which features Adam Levine of Maroon 5. Kanye raps about how life is hard and nothing is ever promised:

“And I heard ‘em say, nothin ever promised tomorrow today.”

Adam Levine sounds amazing on the track. It basically uses a snip-it from the Maroon 5 song “Nothing Lasts Forever” which is a beautiful break-up song. It is probably one of my favorite songs by Maroon 5 too. Next up is “Touch The Sky”, featuring and pretty much introducing Lupe Fiasco to the world.  They both sounds great on the track with the background horns beat making it a winner. This goes into the most successful single off the album, “Gold Digger.” This amusing and incredibly catchy song is really fun to listen to. Jamie Fox’s vocals emulating Ray Charles in the background make the track and it’s beat very memorable.

            The album slows down with the song “Drive Slow” (featuring Paul Wall and GLC). Its head bumping beat and amazing flow by all three rappers make this song so great. The song is also really fun to drive around to:

“My cars like the movies my cars like the crib
 
I got more TV’s in here then where I live,”

 raps Kanye West. To sum it up, it’s just a laid-back and fun track to listen to especially when driving. The song “Roses” is dedicated to Kanye West grandmother’s death. It is a very passionate and soulful song. Following is the song “Bring Me Down” (feat. Brandy) where Kanye West addresses his frustration and how human nature is people trying to “bring down” people who are rising up. Brandy’s vocals are very beautiful and the song as a whole has a lot of emotion.

            A little later the song “Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)” (feat. Jay Z) comes on. The song kicks off sampling the James Bond theme song for the movie Diamonds are Forever:

“Diamonds are forever
They won’t leave in the night
I’ve no fear that they might
Desert me,”

hooking the listener in. Both Kanye and Jay Z raps passionately about the “blood diamond” conflicts that occur in Africa. There are many witty lines, such as:

 “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man
Let me handle my business, damn!”

 Jay Z and Kanye West sound great when they’re on the same track together (“Hate” off of Jay Z’s Blueprint 3 is the exception) and “Watch the Throne” was a great collab album.

            “We Major” (Feat. Nas & Really Doe) comes next. It’s a cool sounding, almost 7 and a half minute, jam and it’s really cool to hear Nas and Kanye West on the same track. The song “Hey Mama” is a passionate ode from Kanye West to his mother. She had a huge impact on his life and music career so one could only imagine what Kanye West felt like when she abruptly died in 2007. It is a very beautiful song. The album closes with “Gone” (Feat. Consequence & Cam’Ron), which is a fun track with a cool beat. It’s kind of a let down compared to the rest of the album though.

Overall, Kanye West accomplished his goal by making a better album than his debut album. From fame (“Touch the Sky”), to drug addiction (“Crack Music” ft. The Game and “Addiction”), to family (“Roses” and “Hey Mama”), to diamond conflict (“Diamonds from Sierra Leone”), to celebration (“Celebration”), the lyrical content is one of the most varied from a hip hop album that I ever heard.  Kanye also uses elements of humor by incorporating 4 skit tracks which combine to make an amusing story regarding college frat life.For all of Kanye West’s flaws he is a genius when it comes to making good music. His latest album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of the best albums I have ever heard. Late Registration is an excellent album that has top-notch production and passion.

 Standout Tracks:

“Heard Em’ Say” (ft. Adam Levine)

“Touch the Sky” (ft. Lupe Fiasco)

“Gold Digger” (ft. Jamie Foxx)

“Drive Slow” (ft. Paul Wall and GLC)

“Bring Me Down” (ft. Brady)

“Diamonds from Sierra Leone” (remix ft. Jay Z)

“Hey Mama”