BG's Top Ten Albums of 2004 - Number Ten

Kanye West – The College Dropout

As hard as it may be to believe, this album came out officially in February, which means I’ve had a lot of time with it and it’s flaws. Make no mistake, this is a flawed album. It’s overloaded with skits, the juvenile antics of "The New Workout Plan" weren’t all that funny the first time I heard and have only gotten more annoying, many of the guest spots leave much to be desired and Kanye’s constant "you don’t need college" advice is somewhat irresponsible. However, in spite of all these problems, The College Dropout is one of the best hip hop debuts to come out in a long time. Though he’ll never make it onto a list of the top ten MCs of all time, West’s use of cleaver wordplay and humor help to smooth over whatever weakness there might be with his flow. It also goes without saying that his beats are in a class by themselves. But what really makes this album shine is the subject matter of his songs. Kanye talks about issues no one else is concerned with, like religion and self consciousness (not self hatred like Eminem). And even though it has been completely run into the ground thanks to commercial radio, the unrestrained joy of being alive found in "Through the Wire" is unlike anything I’ve ever heard in all my years of listening to hip hop. Chi-town’s finest has certainly raised the bar for any other producer looking to crossover to the other side of the boards.