iconocaust (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} iconocaust) wrote,@ 2007-09-06 02:16:00 |
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Album Rack
KANYE WEST - GRADUATION
Repeating the grade.
With his reputation as a producer now secure, Kanye West seems hell-bent on building up an entirely new reputation as hip-hop's most tiresome blowhard. The warning signs came early and often: as early as 2006, he was showing up on the cover of Rolling Stone dressed as Jesus and claiming he was important enough to be "in the history books already." Most memorable, however, was his giant hissy-fit at the MTV Europe Music Video Awards after "Touch the Sky" was pipped for Video of the Year, an embarrassing display more in keeping with a spoiled toddler than an up-and-coming hitmaker.
And now it's 2007 and we're faced with Graduation, arguably best seen as a concept album about just how many back-pats one man can give himself before his recording equipment commits seppuku out of sheer despair. A hell of a lot, apparently; when Kanye isn't rattling on about his Louis Vuitton swag ("Stronger," "Can't Tell Me Nothing," "The Glory") or shamelessly calling himself a genius ("Barry Bonds") or champion ("Champion," natch), he's droning the mic into submission with mind-numbing tales of his lavish lifestyle or furthering his persecution complex by whining about unnamed "haters." In terms of actual content, it's empty calories; with the surprise factor gone and the underdog story now a distant memory, West edges uncomfortably close to one-trick pony status, the scrappy gravitas of cuts like "Through the Wire" now replaced with wordplay that would barely pass muster on a Juelz Santana record. "Flashing Lights" rhymes "paparazzi" with "Nazi", but "Big Brother" handily tops that with the memorable refrain "My big brother/Was BIG's brother/Used to be Dame and BIG's brother/Who was hip-hop, brother?"
On the production end, it's vintage Kanye, dominated by heavy sampling and all the helium-voiced soul vocals you can handle. Occasionally, the style gels into something genuinely great; in "Flashing Lights," canned strings rub up against boisterous synth to luxurious, moody effect. Mostly, though, it's just plain predictable, with even oddball sampling choices (Steely Dan?) relentlessly hammered into formulaic submission. The status quo is briefly pierced by the Daft Punk-biting "Stronger," but that's something of a red herring; in terms of creativity, Graduation is dead in the water. Even a guest appearance from Coldplay's Chris Martin fails to raise any eyebrows due to the fact that Jay-Z pulled this exact same trick -- and better -- on Kingdom Come, a fact explicitly acknowledged on "Big Brother."
For somebody who takes great pains to distance himself from the gangsta scene, it's oddly ironic how much of gangsta rap's tired braggadocio and insight-free monotony has bled over into Kanye's work here. Even the faux-Christian rhetoric has evaporated, leaving tracks like "Drunk and Hot Girls" and distasteful lyrics like "I would do anything for a blonde dyke/And she'll do anything for the limelight." Were this 50 Cent's album, it'd be perfectly in character, but Kanye was supposed to be above all this; as it stands, the one-time maverick has become just another face in the pack.
2
KANYE WEST - GRADUATION
Repeating the grade.
With his reputation as a producer now secure, Kanye West seems hell-bent on building up an entirely new reputation as hip-hop's most tiresome blowhard. The warning signs came early and often: as early as 2006, he was showing up on the cover of Rolling Stone dressed as Jesus and claiming he was important enough to be "in the history books already." Most memorable, however, was his giant hissy-fit at the MTV Europe Music Video Awards after "Touch the Sky" was pipped for Video of the Year, an embarrassing display more in keeping with a spoiled toddler than an up-and-coming hitmaker.
And now it's 2007 and we're faced with Graduation, arguably best seen as a concept album about just how many back-pats one man can give himself before his recording equipment commits seppuku out of sheer despair. A hell of a lot, apparently; when Kanye isn't rattling on about his Louis Vuitton swag ("Stronger," "Can't Tell Me Nothing," "The Glory") or shamelessly calling himself a genius ("Barry Bonds") or champion ("Champion," natch), he's droning the mic into submission with mind-numbing tales of his lavish lifestyle or furthering his persecution complex by whining about unnamed "haters." In terms of actual content, it's empty calories; with the surprise factor gone and the underdog story now a distant memory, West edges uncomfortably close to one-trick pony status, the scrappy gravitas of cuts like "Through the Wire" now replaced with wordplay that would barely pass muster on a Juelz Santana record. "Flashing Lights" rhymes "paparazzi" with "Nazi", but "Big Brother" handily tops that with the memorable refrain "My big brother/Was BIG's brother/Used to be Dame and BIG's brother/Who was hip-hop, brother?"
On the production end, it's vintage Kanye, dominated by heavy sampling and all the helium-voiced soul vocals you can handle. Occasionally, the style gels into something genuinely great; in "Flashing Lights," canned strings rub up against boisterous synth to luxurious, moody effect. Mostly, though, it's just plain predictable, with even oddball sampling choices (Steely Dan?) relentlessly hammered into formulaic submission. The status quo is briefly pierced by the Daft Punk-biting "Stronger," but that's something of a red herring; in terms of creativity, Graduation is dead in the water. Even a guest appearance from Coldplay's Chris Martin fails to raise any eyebrows due to the fact that Jay-Z pulled this exact same trick -- and better -- on Kingdom Come, a fact explicitly acknowledged on "Big Brother."
For somebody who takes great pains to distance himself from the gangsta scene, it's oddly ironic how much of gangsta rap's tired braggadocio and insight-free monotony has bled over into Kanye's work here. Even the faux-Christian rhetoric has evaporated, leaving tracks like "Drunk and Hot Girls" and distasteful lyrics like "I would do anything for a blonde dyke/And she'll do anything for the limelight." Were this 50 Cent's album, it'd be perfectly in character, but Kanye was supposed to be above all this; as it stands, the one-time maverick has become just another face in the pack.
2
