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My "Late Registration" review...
I miss the nerdy Kanye who looked like Urkel...
Pros:
Hey Mama, Some of the beats...
Cons:
Kanye should hire a ghostwriter, most of the guests, Camron..the DRUMS...
The Bottom Line:
Maybe if Kanye's skills on the mic would be as big as his ego....
Full Review:
Some call it irony, some poetic justice. In 2004, Kanye West released his debut album Collage Dropout. I (and a bunch of other people) loved it, the production was mostly beautiful, the guests were amazing, and the lyrics (except for Kanye’s) were mostly good. The album was successful and it was getting some very good reviews, even though nobody called it an instant classic…except Kanye himself of course. Kanye’s ego grew faster than…something that grows fast. Everywhere I looked, Kanye West was there talking about how he was a Hip Hop legend and how his album was the only album that deserved 5 mic rating in the Source…except of course Jay-Z’ s Blueprint.
Well, to make a long story short, Kanye then released this album, Late Registration, and claimed that it was even BETTER. Lets see…
1. Wake Up Mr. West (Not Rated)
2. Heard ‘Em Say F/ Adam Levine (3 stars)
3. Touch the Sky f/ Lupe Fiasco (2½)
4. Gold Digger f/ Jamie Foxx (3 stars)
5. Skit #1 (Not Rated)
6. Drive Slow F/ Paul Wall & CLG (3 stars)
7. My Way Home F/ Common (2 stars)
8. Crack Music f/ The Game (2½ stars)
9. Roses (3 stars)
10. Bring Me Down F/ Brandy (3 stars)
11. Addiction (2½ stars)
12. Skit #2
13. Diamonds from Sierra Leone REMIX f/ Jay-Z (4 stars)
14. We Major f/ Nas & Really Doe (2½ stars)
15. Skit #3
16. Hey Mama (4½ stars)
17. Celebration (3 stars)
18. Skit #4
19. Gone (3 stars)
20. Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Bonus) (3½ stars)
21. Late (Hidden) (3 stars)
Just like Collage Dropout, the album opens up with a skit featuring Bernie Mac. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love both Bernie Mac the comedian and his show, but I do not love when people talk with strange accents that are supposed to be funny but are just annoying.
If you were awake, even for just one day, in 2004 I know you’ve heard a man called Adam Levine and his band Maroon 5 sing with his semi-annoying voice “THIS LOVE…” or “SHEEEEEEEEEEEE WIIIIIIILL BE LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED”. Well, anyways, that Adam Levine joins Kanye West on the opening track Heard ‘Em Say (haha…Adam and West…you do the math). The production is above average, the piano sample is lovely, but the annoying drum loop is NOT. Then again, Kanye has ALWAYS had a bad ear for drum sounds.
I kid you not, as soon as I heard that Kanye west had a song called Gold Digger I knew, based on my knowledge on how wack lyricist Kanye is, that he would rhyme “gold digger” with “broke n*gger”, I KNEW IT. Which proves to me that Kanye Wests lyrics are as predictable as a romantic comedy.
Well, looking past the horrible lyrics we get a fine a*s beat (besides the drums of course). One of the albums finest moments.
After a very useless skit, we get Drive Slow which samples Hank Crawford’s “Wildflower” (which is something, Eminem, Tupac and myself did way before Kanye). The song itself is not that bad, Kanyes lyrics are above average (which is an achievement for him) and the guests, Paul Wall & CLG, are not bad.
The two biggest stars on this album, Nas and Common, both do horrible on this album. My Way Home is NOTHING like the tracks on Common’s “BE”. The beat is badly produced, the chorus is annoying and Common is DEAD-ON BORING. Things don’t get better with Nas’s We Major, even though Nas does an above average job on the track, the beat is horribly overproduced and annoying and this Really Doe character is straight up wack.
The sad thing is, these were the two tracks both me and probably most other people were looking forward to and they STINK.
Crack Music suffers the same fate that mostly all of the other tracks do; the beat is hot but Kanye sounds horrible. Plus, the chorus doesn’t even make sense.
Talking about a hot beat but wack lyrics, the lead single Diamonds From Sierra Leone is featured here in two versions. The former is the remix with Jay-Z, while the other is the original one. At first, I didn’t understand why he had the remix on the actual album but the lead single as a bonus…now I understand. The remix is ten times better, even though it’s more of a braggory track than the lead single.
You see, the lead single is a unsuccessful mixture of bling bling-lyrics and some-what conscious lyrics about blood diamonds. Unfortunately for Kanye, he is just to wack of a lyricist to handle such a subject matter.
Hey Mama reminds me VERY much of P.Diddy’s I’ll Be Missing You. Because even though the rhymes are somewhat wack, the subject matter and the subject make up for it. Hey Mama is the album’s best track, without any doubt.
The Big Final:
Beats: 3½ star
Lyrics: 3 stars
Creativity: 3 stars
Guests: 2½ stars
Overall rating: 3 stars.
My Personal Tracklist:
1. Wake Up Mr. West
2. Heard ‘Em Say
3. Diamonds From Sierra Leone f/ Jay-Z
4. Roses
5. Skit #1
6. Skit #2
7. Drive Slow
8. We Major
9. Diamonds From Sierra Leone
10. Gold Digger
11. Crack Music
12. Late
13. Skit #3
14. My Way Home
15. Skit #4
16. Gone
17. Celebration
18. Bring Me Down
19. Addiction
20. Touch the Sky
21. Hey Mama
Recommended
No
Great Music to Play While: Going to Sleep
Pros:
Hey Mama, Some of the beats...
Cons:
Kanye should hire a ghostwriter, most of the guests, Camron..the DRUMS...
The Bottom Line:
Maybe if Kanye's skills on the mic would be as big as his ego....
Full Review:
Some call it irony, some poetic justice. In 2004, Kanye West released his debut album Collage Dropout. I (and a bunch of other people) loved it, the production was mostly beautiful, the guests were amazing, and the lyrics (except for Kanye’s) were mostly good. The album was successful and it was getting some very good reviews, even though nobody called it an instant classic…except Kanye himself of course. Kanye’s ego grew faster than…something that grows fast. Everywhere I looked, Kanye West was there talking about how he was a Hip Hop legend and how his album was the only album that deserved 5 mic rating in the Source…except of course Jay-Z’ s Blueprint.
Well, to make a long story short, Kanye then released this album, Late Registration, and claimed that it was even BETTER. Lets see…
1. Wake Up Mr. West (Not Rated)
2. Heard ‘Em Say F/ Adam Levine (3 stars)
3. Touch the Sky f/ Lupe Fiasco (2½)
4. Gold Digger f/ Jamie Foxx (3 stars)
5. Skit #1 (Not Rated)
6. Drive Slow F/ Paul Wall & CLG (3 stars)
7. My Way Home F/ Common (2 stars)
8. Crack Music f/ The Game (2½ stars)
9. Roses (3 stars)
10. Bring Me Down F/ Brandy (3 stars)
11. Addiction (2½ stars)
12. Skit #2
13. Diamonds from Sierra Leone REMIX f/ Jay-Z (4 stars)
14. We Major f/ Nas & Really Doe (2½ stars)
15. Skit #3
16. Hey Mama (4½ stars)
17. Celebration (3 stars)
18. Skit #4
19. Gone (3 stars)
20. Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Bonus) (3½ stars)
21. Late (Hidden) (3 stars)
Just like Collage Dropout, the album opens up with a skit featuring Bernie Mac. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love both Bernie Mac the comedian and his show, but I do not love when people talk with strange accents that are supposed to be funny but are just annoying.
If you were awake, even for just one day, in 2004 I know you’ve heard a man called Adam Levine and his band Maroon 5 sing with his semi-annoying voice “THIS LOVE…” or “SHEEEEEEEEEEEE WIIIIIIILL BE LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED”. Well, anyways, that Adam Levine joins Kanye West on the opening track Heard ‘Em Say (haha…Adam and West…you do the math). The production is above average, the piano sample is lovely, but the annoying drum loop is NOT. Then again, Kanye has ALWAYS had a bad ear for drum sounds.
I kid you not, as soon as I heard that Kanye west had a song called Gold Digger I knew, based on my knowledge on how wack lyricist Kanye is, that he would rhyme “gold digger” with “broke n*gger”, I KNEW IT. Which proves to me that Kanye Wests lyrics are as predictable as a romantic comedy.
Well, looking past the horrible lyrics we get a fine a*s beat (besides the drums of course). One of the albums finest moments.
After a very useless skit, we get Drive Slow which samples Hank Crawford’s “Wildflower” (which is something, Eminem, Tupac and myself did way before Kanye). The song itself is not that bad, Kanyes lyrics are above average (which is an achievement for him) and the guests, Paul Wall & CLG, are not bad.
The two biggest stars on this album, Nas and Common, both do horrible on this album. My Way Home is NOTHING like the tracks on Common’s “BE”. The beat is badly produced, the chorus is annoying and Common is DEAD-ON BORING. Things don’t get better with Nas’s We Major, even though Nas does an above average job on the track, the beat is horribly overproduced and annoying and this Really Doe character is straight up wack.
The sad thing is, these were the two tracks both me and probably most other people were looking forward to and they STINK.
Crack Music suffers the same fate that mostly all of the other tracks do; the beat is hot but Kanye sounds horrible. Plus, the chorus doesn’t even make sense.
Talking about a hot beat but wack lyrics, the lead single Diamonds From Sierra Leone is featured here in two versions. The former is the remix with Jay-Z, while the other is the original one. At first, I didn’t understand why he had the remix on the actual album but the lead single as a bonus…now I understand. The remix is ten times better, even though it’s more of a braggory track than the lead single.
You see, the lead single is a unsuccessful mixture of bling bling-lyrics and some-what conscious lyrics about blood diamonds. Unfortunately for Kanye, he is just to wack of a lyricist to handle such a subject matter.
Hey Mama reminds me VERY much of P.Diddy’s I’ll Be Missing You. Because even though the rhymes are somewhat wack, the subject matter and the subject make up for it. Hey Mama is the album’s best track, without any doubt.
The Big Final:
Beats: 3½ star
Lyrics: 3 stars
Creativity: 3 stars
Guests: 2½ stars
Overall rating: 3 stars.
My Personal Tracklist:
1. Wake Up Mr. West
2. Heard ‘Em Say
3. Diamonds From Sierra Leone f/ Jay-Z
4. Roses
5. Skit #1
6. Skit #2
7. Drive Slow
8. We Major
9. Diamonds From Sierra Leone
10. Gold Digger
11. Crack Music
12. Late
13. Skit #3
14. My Way Home
15. Skit #4
16. Gone
17. Celebration
18. Bring Me Down
19. Addiction
20. Touch the Sky
21. Hey Mama
Recommended
No
Great Music to Play While: Going to Sleep
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