The Lincoln Log

Wake up Mr. West, Mr. West, Mr. Fresh! That’s right he’s back. Grammy award winning hip hop artist Kanye West is on the rise again. His newest album, “Graduation“, was scheduled to come out in retail stores on September 18th. Kanye has now changed the release date from September 18th to September 11th. This is the same day that 50 Cent’s newest album, “Curtis“, is scheduled to come out.

Recent sources say that 50 cent claimed he would stop putting out solo albums if he sold less copies than Graduation but he later took back his comments. I know that most people will expect me to say “I loved Graduation or It has to be Kanye’s best album yet.”

I honestly didn’t feel that way. Graduation has to be my least favorite of all three albums. After tracks like “Hey Mama” and “Roses” off of his second album Late Registration he had some big expectations to fill for his fans. This album definitely had a different feel to it and was definitely different from College Dropout and Late Registration. College Dropout, his debut album, set the bar for hip hop challengers back in 2004. His sophomore album, Late Registration, was long anticipated and it definitely delivered, debuting at number 1 . It sold over 900,000 copies in its first week.

However, I will say that Graduation’s album cover has to be Kanye’s best one so far. It is far more animated and colorful than his other releases.

He credits Takashi Murakimi, the designer of the Album cover, greatly. The album has guest appearances

from Mos Def, Chris Martin, T-pain, and DJ Premier. This album is very mellow and laid-back with tracks like “I Wonder” and “Everything I Am“.

A few tracks have already been played not only on the radio, but also on television. The tracks “Stronger” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” already have videos on MTV’s Total Request Live . Kanye’s mom, Donda West, told the world how she thought this was her son’s best album so far both musically and lyrically. I have to disagree with Mrs. West. But on a side note we should all check out Mr. West’s new album because we all know he is talented on many levels. Just because it’s different it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give the album a play through. My favorite track on the album has to be “Champion.” To me the track’s message is saying everybody is a champion, but we just don’t realize it. It’s one of those upbeat feel good tracks you blast on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The beat is simple and flows well. I definitely liked the album, but I am nowhere near loving it. Out of 5 stars I would rate it a 3.5.