Graduation [PA] by Kanye West

Pros: Excellent production. "Good Life" is the best single released this year.
Cons: Kanye's not as great an MC as he thinks, "Drunk & Hot Girls"

Make one great album, people take notice. Make two great albums, you've got some serious bragging rights. Make THREE great albums, consecutively, in a space of three and a half years? Can't blame that on dumb luck. So let's face facts. Kanye West is ...

Pros: Beautiful production, a song for everyone
Cons: Lyrically, he'll never be great, but he's good enough

With his first album, Kanye West had to prove that he could hang with the big boys. After all, he only bugged the heck out of Jay-Z to give him a chance to rap. Failure was no option. On College Dropout he called all of his friends and put ...

Pros: Kanye continues to evolve as a producer; strong songwriting still in place; more disciplined format
Cons: The conceptual album feel is missing; Kanye is still learning to be a great MC

Don’t be fooled by what others tell you: The showdown between hip-hop’s bad boy (50 Cent) and hip-hop’s oddball (Kanye West) is a big deal. Never in history has the “gangsta” and the “conscious” side of rap music - ...

Pros: Blazing, soulful, reconciling, invigorating beats and amazing atmosphere
Cons: Kanye still isn't above spitting some really wack lines, but they're the minority

I'm gonna stop short of calling "Graduation" a concept album. But there is definitely a constant stream of mood followed throughout the conclusion to Kanye West's academic album title trilogy. It all begins with a yawn on the Good ...

Pros: West knows the value of production, the teddy bear is uber-cute
Cons: Enough shameless ripping off to be considered plagiarism, and loads of terrible lyrics about egotism

"I need you to hurry up now / Cos I can’t wait much longer!!" So goes the call to Kanye West’s hugely catchy single "Stronger", from his third album Graduation. This is my first album of West’s, so maybe ...

Pros: This album is bananas like a banana smoothie. No bad Weezy simile.
Cons: A song disrespecting one of the Bay Area's finest!

Just to be clear, my trying-too-hard-to-be-clever byline here's a bit of a misnomer. Timbaland's contributions are limited to makin' the drums knock harder on a coupla singles, and Kanye's former best friend forever Jon Brion only contributes to one ...

Pros: Magnificent production, Kanye's growth as an emcee, good contributing guests
Cons: Lil Wayne, "Drunk and Hot Girls", some corny lines

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 ...

Pros: More great production/tracks with assistance from other producers, one of the best of 2007
Cons: One wack song (only a fluke.) A surprisingly low amount of guests and skits.

Kanye West has passed by the competition lately – ever since 㤌, he’s been one of the most in-demand producers around and definitely one of the best in the mainstream eye, not to mention the fact that he beat 50 Cent in their sales battle ...

Pros: Kanye is the best artist in rap right now.
Cons: Wayne sucks on "Barry Bonds"

Believe it or not, Kanye West has grown up. Ever since he went from semi-known producer to rap superstar with two incredible albums, he's been probably the most arrogant and ridiculous persona in the music industry. Whether it was his award show tantrums ...

Pros: useless
Cons: useless

As the normal monologue of unusable and uninteresting facts were being presented on the current state of the economy and its recession, Charles sat with his notebook opened, pencil idle, eyes focused on the chaos of frizz and split-ends that made-up the ...

Pros: Repeatedly engaging production
Cons: sloppy wordplay; mono-dimensional angst and braggadocio; a slew of pointless guest spots

During my very first listen to the latest exploits of the unconquerable id of Kanye West, a reactionary surge of irritation overcame me as profound disappointment fired from all of my synapses upon the realization that I had sleepwalked through the ...

Pros: Steady groove tracks with a soulful vibe in each.
Cons: The Cover!

When I heard that Kanye West was coming out with a new album, my intention was to go out and pick it up. I am a fan and I really think his tracks are hot. He has this way of putting them together and adding this soulful element to his music that makes ...

Pros: Kanye's continued improvement as a rapper, Fantastic production, No skits and virtually no guest appearances
Cons: Lil Wayne's guest appearance, "Drunk and Hot Girls"

It might be difficult to believe for some people but at the moment Kanye Omari West (his full name for those who don’t know!) is quite possibly the only rapper who can push the boundaries of hip hop but still get the all-important sales figures. Sure ...

Pros: Kanye continues to excel as a producer and emcee; more cohesive than previous records.
Cons: He's still only average as a lyricist; a few missteps, notably "Drunk & Hot Girls".

Anybody who really knows me knows I'm not too big into Kanye West. Don't get me wrong, it's not that the guy isn't talented; he's one of the best Hip-Hop producers out there today. But as he grew from the no name producer to supernova-sized celebrity, ...

Pros: Production, Homecoming, songs are mostly above average
Cons: Drunk and Hot Girls, weak braggadocio attempts, a little bit irritating voice and flow

OK, so I'm back to writing on Epinions as some of you could have seen on my public profile page. I was here all time to read new hip-hop reviews but now they are very rare so I'll try to express my opinion as often as I can, and that is more often than ...