Kanye West's "Graduation"

What is up everybody CAN I GET A WHOOT WHOOT?! No? Aight that’s fine. So here we are with the first week of April and I figured that today listen to one of the albums I’ve been wanting to listen to for a very long time: Kanye West’s “Graduation”. Now, before I get the “bro, how did it take you this long to listen to that album”, I say CALM DOWN. To explain this lack of focus, let’s go back to when I was a lil lad. So, I never listened to a lot of rap music that was circulating around the time I was going through school. I remember from middle school to early high school I would just listen to the popular Drake songs and maybe some of Bruno Mars’ classics. I never really had any tools to help me see what music was out there, so I just listened to whatever I found. By that I mean mostly 80s music and some Coldplay due to my mother’s fabulous music tastes. It was until I was in sophomore year in Spanish that I had a fellow water polo classmate Chris tell me to listen to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” by Kanye West. I knew of that artist, but I always associated him with the news circulating around him, not the music he made. I laughed off the suggestion, but that album honestly became a huge step in me finding my love for music, and from there I never turned Chris down on music nor did I look at Kanye the same. However, it was until my later years of high school and early college moments did I realize Kanye had a full set of albums waiting for me that came before MBDTF. And today, I finally finished the college dropout trilogy.

First off, I gotta say this. There are few albums that make me go overtime in my head and spark imagination to the degree that “Graduation” did. As soon as I heard the first four songs, I knew I was in for a ride. This album to me captures the goodness of the 2000s and I finally understand what’s so addicting about Kanye’s music. The production in this album is godlike, and it’s so fascinating to see how many different samples and sounds are used to create different energies yet showcasing the same persona that is KANYE WEST. This album captures simplicity yet complexities as we have lyrics that are just riding the fantastic sounds I heard in this album. Songs like ‘Stronger’ and ‘I Wonder’ capture the essence of their samples yet add a unique flavor to show that classics still have an opportunity to go head to head with modern marvels. Speaking of ‘I Wonder’, that song honestly made me rethink life. Here I am as a 21-year-old man listening to this song and feeling like a kid all over again as I analyzed what dreams I had growing up. My head was full of childhood memories and moments of happiness, and I praise this album so much because it’s been a while since I’ve felt like this with music. From the cover art to the last song, I felt like I was being transported to another time when things were just… better. I know I’m rambling, but this was me throughout listening to this entire album; a collage of thoughts and philosophies as the tracks kept coming.

I also wanted to say that this album does an amazing job at proving to me just how powerful a beat can be in the hip hop genre. The lyrics from Kanye were clever at times, but almost every time I was just zoned out from the words and instead forced to handle the amazing sounds that came at me. Songs like ‘I Wonder’, ‘Flashing Lights’, ‘Homecoming’, ‘Big Brother’, ‘Barry Bonds’, and ‘The Glory’ create musical experiences few can do in hip-hop, and it’s no surprise now understanding how revolutionary Kanye West has been in modern music.