Graduation: Kanye Passes With All A's.......And a D in P.E.

Graduation is many things in life; it is the marker for a new chapter of an individual’s life, a door to college for some, and for others, it is the bridge between high school and the job world. In short, it represents the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood, and the maturation of youths. For Kanye West, Graduation is his heavily anticipated third studio album that could have monumental consequences on today’s hip-hop landscape. 50 Cent's beef with him aside, this album could become 2007's standard bearer for greatness in an industry where flavor of the month emcees have come to prominence. Given the success of his previous effort, Kanye has the world on his shoulders as far as pressure goes: deliver an album that tops his last, and expectations only go up for his next work. Drop an album that doesn't sell as well as his last one, and he'll be considered washed up. All things considered, he's in an untenable situation, but does Graduation meet the challenge?

Track Listing and Ratings:
Good Morning (4 Stars)
Champion (4 1/2 Stars)
Stronger (5 Stars)
I Wonder (4 1/2 Stars)
Good Life Ft. T-Pain (5 Stars)
Can't Tell Me Nothing (5 Stars)
Barry Bonds Ft. Lil Wayne (4 Stars)
Drunk & Hot Girls (3 Stars)
Flashing Lights Ft. Dwele (5 Stars)
Everything I Am Ft. DJ Premier (5 Stars)
The Glory (5 Stars)
Homecoming Ft. Chris Martin (5 Stars)
Big Brother (5 Stars)

After listening to this album, one thing is apparent: Kanye has grown as a producer and rapper. He may not be the best to ever pick up a mic, but he's always been one to try his hand at new concepts, whether it be tackling religion ala "Jesus Walks" or getting political along the vein of "Crack Music". However, on his previous two efforts, West's serious moments were outweighed by his light-hearted and uplifting tracks. For Graduation, the scale shifts, as there are an equal number of solemn and fun tracks. The album gets off to a good start with "Good Morning" and "Champion", but it's the album's first two singles—"Stronger" and "Can’t Tell Me Nothing" that are its first true standouts. Both are brag tracks, as the former borrows from Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" while Kanye gives himself some more self high-fives. The latter, while sharing similar subject matter, features oddly glum production, complete with a blend of Connie Mitchell vocals and Young Jeezy ad-libs for the hook. Obviously, though, albums can't be made on swagger (the new seven letter epithet of Epinions) alone, and Kanye is sure to bring his A game to remedy this. The first departure from his bragging, "I Wonder," may leave listeners scratching their heads, though, as his sporadic rapping throughout doesn't leave much in the way of lyrics. However, the Labi Siffre sample is downright beautiful, and the strings and snares that accent it are more than enough compensation for the off-kilter rhymes. And then there's the third single, "Good Life," which has the sunniest beat of the entire album. The track is exactly what it sounds like, with Kanye spitting about living it up while mainstream sensation T-Pain sings the hook. With the Michael Jackson sample in tow, it's a good break from the self-congratulatory tracks in the first half of Graduation.

It isn't until the latter half of the album that we get to see a more serious West, a stretch which starts with "Flashing Lights." With underrated R&B crooner Dwele on the hook, the Chicago emcee details a strained relationship, while also taking shots at the paparazzi and speaking on the difficulties of being a celebrity. Over a melancholy synth-laden beat and Dwele's singing, it's a 180 from the more upbeat first part of the album. Another highlight along this path is "Everything I Am," which is his everyman image incarnate; the moody piano keys provide a perfect backdrop for him to acknowledge his imperfections, all while admitting that they've made him what he is today. DJ Premier does scratches for the hook, lending the track a nice touch as West defends his eccentric approach to his music. It's a breath of fresh air in an industry where cookie cutter emcees are the norm and stepping out of one's comfort zone is rare. Skipping past "The Glory," Kanye steals a page from Common's playbook on "Homecoming" (which is a holdover track from Late Registration), delivering his own version of the former's "I Used to Love H.E.R." as he talks about his home town, with a little help from Coldplay's Chris Martin who sings the hook perfectly. The moody atmosphere of the album's latter half continues to pervade throughout, as the hard-hitting drums and piano keys give the Chi-town native the perfect sonic landscape to rap over. However, even taking notes from a legend can't lift this track above the outstanding closer, "Big Brother," which details his relationship with Jay-Z while also acting as a tribute to him. Here, Kanye covers every aspect of the two's bond, starting with him being the background guy to Jay at the peak of his career, to slowly breaking away from the Brooklyn native to gain solo success. More interestingly though is Kanye's third verse, which touches on the two having a falling out over Jay's decision to feature the aforementioned Martin on Kingdom Come:

"Heh, y'all know
I told Jay I did a song with Coldplay
Next thing I know he got a song with Coldplay
Back in my mind I'm like "Damn, no way"
Translate, espanol "No way, Jose"
Then I went and told Jay Brown
Shoulda known THAT was gon' come back around
Shoulda talked to you like a man, shoulda told you first
But I told somebody else and that's what made sh!t worse…"

Despite their tiff, the respect he holds for Jay is still evident; even the fact that he refers to him as his big brother shows how West regards him. The honesty over throughout, along with the rock-driven beat, make this Graudation's centerpiece and the best track Kanye West has done in his career.

Unfortunately, though, this album just misses the mark of perfection due to two main reasons. One is undoubtedly Lil Wayne's guest spot on "Barry Bonds" (which doesn't benefit from Kanye getting even more mileage from the Long Red sample he utilizes, either). Kanye brags his way through the first two verses over a foreboding beat, providing the perfect set up for Wayne to shine, only to have the New Orleans native absolutely fumble his opportunity with a laughable closer. He's already a love/hate type emcee, and he isn’t going to win over his detractors with lines like, "Stove on my waist turn beef to patties," or his uninspired flow. Kanye would've been better off leaving this track on the cutting room floor, or at least editing Wayne's verse out entirely. The other drawback is "Drunk and Hot Girls", which definitely shouldn't have made the album. The beat, while not the worst ever crafted, just plods along and the track itself never goes anywhere; is this supposed to be a "pick up the girl" track or was Kanye just messing around in the studio when he made this? I honestly can't tell what his intentions were, and really, this song bores me to the point that I couldn't care less. On a side note, though, Mos Def's vocals in the middle of the song are nice and make things interesting for a few seconds.

These small flaws aside, Graduation is Kanye's best album to date. Outside of one track, there's no fat to be cut from the album, as he does away with the numerous skits that held back his previous two efforts, leaving the listener with 13 tracks and 51 minutes of musical goodness. While his previous two efforts were built around the school concept, they restrained him production-wise to an extent. Free of that barrier on this album, he's able to flex his musical muscle, drawing on everything from house music acts (Daft Punk on "Stronger") to 70s rock (Steely Dan on "Champion"). For someone who felt tremendous pressure to take it to the next level from Late Registration, Kanye West falls short of making the perfect album, but he comes damn close in doing so. With his willingness to push himself harder with each subsequent release, there's no reason that he won't reach that plateau in time; for now, though, he'll just have to settle for making one of the best albums of 2007.

Final Rating: 4.75 Stars

Standout Tracks: Everything I Am, Good Life, Flashing Lights, Big Brother