Graduation

No, I am not talking about graduating from college. I am referring to Kanye West’s third album, Graduation. In simple terms, I think it is by far his best one.

Kanye’s songs are not like most artists in the industry. He writes about life issues and not about drugs, cars, fighting, or killing.
When comparing Graduation to his previous albums, College Drop Out and Late Registration, you can hear the artistic growth with each verse. Each album is unique in its own way.

College Drop Out stems from his decision to drop out of college and pursue his dream of becoming a well-known and respected lyricist. Late Registration, metaphorically, is West’s way of picking up the pieces and getting back to work. Finally, Graduation is success.

On Graduation, West tried to assess the problems his first two albums had. He cut out all the skits that would plague his previous albums and kept everything short and simple.

“This is an album that you first like, then love. “Good Morning” elevates from a gentle hook to a perfectly chosen Jay-Z sample; “Barry Bonds” is a mix-tape song with a moaning groove that you could listen to for weeks; and on “Flashing Lights” and “Stronger,” West single-handedly takes hip-hop back to its pre-Run-DMC disco days.” -Nathan Brackett, Rolling Stone.

In my opinion his best song in the album is “I Wonder.” He tries to express how people have no idea as to what they really want, and they never act on fulfilling their dreams/goals. As a result life just passes them by without them finding their dreams.

Graduation is exactly that, it is Kanye’s graduation. I, for one, stand up and applaud him for a job well done. Hopefully the next graduation I’ll talk about will be my own.




“On that independent shit,
Trade it all for a husband and some kids,
You ever wonder what it all really means?
You wonder if you'll ever find your dreams?” –Kanye West, “I Wonder”.


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