Kanye West - Late Registration

He's Major

Often, we see an MC drop consecutive albums. Rarely do we see an MC drop consecutive hot albums. Never do we see a producer moonlighting as a rapper drop two consecutive vials of crack. Damn Kanye. I was sleeping. I was waiting for it to drop, but I knew it couldn’t have touched the quality and completion of The College Dropout. I listened to it once and was interested. I listened to it twice and was impressed. I listened a third time and was sure that the same lightning had struck on two different track lists. Musically, the album is as close to flawless as one can achieve. With the blend of hip hop and cinematic score, Kanye has carved out a niche that can’t be copied by others or reproduced by him. Lyrically, there are many better MCs, but no one sounds better on a Kanye beat than Kanye. And he continues to prove that with Late Registration.

“Wake up Mr. West!” We open to Bernie Mac sounding something like a constipated old man. He blends into a somewhat primitive beat that introduces us to the sweet sound of the old ivory keys. From here on out, Kanye keeps your ear to the speaker. Touch The Sky gets the head moving with the blaring horns and newcomer Lupe Fiasco. Drive Slow jumps on the Houston highway employing the talents of Paul Wall and the legendary screw sound. I can’t help but imagine how much better Crack Music would be if The Game had an actual verse, regardless, it’s one of my favorite tracks on the album. Kanye also gets some help from Nas on We Major by dropping one of the hottest verses of the year. Every song is solid and whenever you put it in the stereo; you’re going to want to listen to it from beginning to end.

Although feature-heavy, this album is undeniably all Kanye all the time. Most of the guests contribute just the right piece that makes the track complete. How many people can boast that two of the greatest rappers ever (Nas and Hov) were on their album? For this reason, Kanye West has emerged as a musical genius in the world of hip hop. For the hip hop ignorant, he sounds like much more than noise on beats. For the hip hop savvy, he has raised the bar for every beat head on the planet. Leaving Late Registration only leaves you anticipating his next LP.

Hot Trax: All…except Addiction