The anticipation is over! Kanye West’s long awaited follow up to 2005’s Late Registration was released yesterday. Aside from his production credits, Graduation is Kanye’s third album release as a solo rapper.

As a perfectionist, Kanye West pulled out all the stops to make sure this album release could be as perfect as possible. To start, one of the main reasons the album kept getting delayed was because the album’s art work was not complete. Kanye enlisted artist Takashi Murakami to create the incredible artwork you see to the left. Those unfamiliar with Takashi Murakami should know that he is considered to be the Andy Warhol of Japan. Secondly, even after his hit “Stronger” was released to radio, Kanye West was still not satisfied with the end result. After hearing Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” in the clubs, Kanye was convinced “Stronger” could be better. So he asked the maestro himself, Timbaland, to redo the drum programming on “Stronger” for the Graduation album release. Now if that’s not perfectionism, I don’t know what is!

Upon first listen, I have to admit I was not initially impressed. However after continuous listens, I have grown to love this album and respect it as an art form. There are albums that you love upon first listen, then there are those that take a few listens to appreciate. I guarantee you, if you do not love Graduation at first, you will after the second or third listen. I guess it’s just that good that it takes a minute to comprehend and appreciate. With all that said, let’s get on to the track by track review…

1. “Good Morning” - produced by Kanye West (10/10) - this is a good opening song, although I do miss the presence of Bernie Mac. Bernie Mac brought a little bit of humor to Kanye’s previous albums and melded each song together nicely with his skits. Sadly, he’s absent from Graduation. Having said that, this is a great album opener; nice and mellow. It samples Elton John’s “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”, which is a great song in itself.
2. “Champion” - produced by Kanye West & Brian “Allday” Miller (10/10) - this is probably my favorite song on the whole album! Kanye killed it with the “Kid Charlemagne” sample from Steely Dan. It’s a nice upbeat song and Kanye definitely showcases his lyrical skills here also. I would definitely recommend releasing this as a single!
3. “Stronger” - produced by Kanye West (additional programming by Timbaland) (10/10) - I loved this song when I first heard it a couple of months ago. The sample of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” is genius! Definitely a great choice as the second single. Kanye says he had Timbaland redo the drums for the album version, but I don’t really hear the difference. Anyone else?
4. “I Wonder” - produced by Kanye West (10/10) - another great song!! This one has a mellow feel to it, but Kanye really brings it with the beats and his lyrics!  Contains a sample from “My Song” as performed by Labi Siffre.
5. “Good Life (feat T-Pain)” - produced by Kanye West & DJ Toomp (additional programming by Mike Dean & Timbaland) (10/10) - this is the third single off the album and is also a great song! T-Pain does his thing again! Kanye premiered the video on “106 & Park” yesterday, so you should be hearing it on radio soon. I first heard it a few weeks ago when they played a little bit of the song in an episode of “Entourage”. That immediately hyped up the album for me. Kanye uses a real slick sample from Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)“, which was the jam back in the day! This song is gonna be bigger than “Stronger”!
6. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” - produced by Kanye West & DJ Toomp (9/10) - this was the first single released back in May of this year. It was an interesting choice as it was everyone’s first taste of Graduation, but didn’t rely on the same Kanye West style that we’re all used to. I’ll have to admit, I wasn’t crazy about it initially. But it has definitely grown into a banger. Check out the remix with Young Jeezy!
7. “Barry Bonds (feat Lil’ Wayne)” - produced by Nottz (co-produced by Kanye West) (8/10) - nice to see Lil’ Weezy helping Kanye out on a track, but why did he have to get Nottz on the production? I’m not a huge fan of this song, but it has grown on me a bit. Lil’ Wayne definitely kills his verse! This track contains a sample from “Long Red” as performed by Mountain.
8. “Drunk & Hot Girls (feat Mos Def)” - produced by Kanye West & Jon Brion (6/10) - we definitely got an experimental song from Kanye right here. Hey, they can’t all be hits! I though this was a drunk, hot mess when I first heard it, but slowly it’s becoming listenable.
9. “Flashing Lights (feat Dwele)” - produced by Kanye West & Eric Hudson (10/10) - I REALLY like this song. No sample credits are listed, so big props to Kanye & Eric Hudson for writing a killer song! Dwele does his thing on the chorus. This song is just really catchy and chill. I don’t think it’s single-worthy, but definitely an album gem.
10. “Everything I Am (feat DJ Premier)” - produced by Kanye West (9/10) - at first listen, I thought this track was kind of boring, but I’m really feeling it now.  Premo does his thing by scratching in Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise”. The song also contains elements from “If We Can’t Be Lovers” by Prince Phillip Mitchell.
11. “The Glory” - produced by Kanye West, Gee Robertson & Patrick “Plain Pat” Reynolds (9/10) - this here is a classic Kanye West production!  Kind of reminds me Jay-Z’s “I.Z.Z.O. (H.O.V.A.)” or Talib Kweli’s “Get By” as far as the beat goes.  Contains elements from “Save the Country” by Laura Nyro and a sample from “Long Red” by Mountain.
12. “Homecoming (feat Chris Martin)” - produced by Kanye West & Warryn Campbell (10/10) - this is probably the first Chris Martin collaboration that I enjoy listening too.  Loving the piano on this joint and chorus is hot too!
13. “Big Brother” - produced by DJ Toomp (10/10) - Kanye dedicates this song to his big brother, Jay-Z. It’s another great song, if you can get over the corny lyrics. Props to Kanye for not being ashamed to put his feelings out there.  I’ve actually had this song in my head all day!
14. “Goodnight (feat Mos Def)” (UK/Japan Bonus Track) - produced by Kanye West (7/10) - why do they always get all the bonus tracks overseas?  You can actually get this off iTunes when you purchase the album over there.  Nothing too amazing here though, just an average track; but it’s still Kanye!
15. “Bittersweet Poetry (feat John Mayer)” (iTunes Bonus Track) - produced by Kanye West (10/10) - this is the song that everyone was talking about back when Late Registration was released. It was supposed to be the hottest collaboration — and it is!  This is a HOT song!! Not sure why it wasn’t included as a main cut on Graduation. I guess Kanye felt the song had gotten old. At least it got released as a bonus track.  I just checked iTunes and for some reason they are not offering it any more.  Maybe it was just a pre-order bonus track?
16. “Us Placers (feat Lupe Fiasco & Pharrell)” (iTunes Pre-order Bonus Track) - produced by Kanye West (10/10) - another worthy bonus track, we first heard this song on the “Can’t Tell Me Nothing Official Mixtape” back in June. Supposedly Kanye, Lupe, and Pharrel have created this supergroup that they call CRS and they plan to release a whole album of material. I can’t wait for that. This song is an excellent example of the great chemistry they have together.  I don’t think it really fits in well with the flow of the rest of the album, but it’s nice iTunes offered it up as a bonus.

Runtime:  1 hour 2 minutes
Overall Score:  9.25/10

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