Revisiting Kanye West "The College Dropout"...

[Lunatic]

Over six years after the debut of Kanye West whose become 1 of the major forces in hip hop, I thought I'd revisit his debut album that started it all..

1. Intro - N/A
2. We Don't Care - 4.25/5. A great start to the album. Flows well with the intro. Very album opening appropriate.
3. Graduation Day - N/A. Comes in great placement after track 2. Beat/singing at the end is very dope.

4. All Falls Down - 5/5. Syleena Johnson is dope on here. Great single. Have always loved this record. Still gets constant play!
5. I'll Fly Away - N/A. Another great musically rich skit that leads perfectly into the next song.
6. Spaceship - 4.5/5. Love the beat/hook/concept. All three verses are dope.

7. Jesus Walks - 5/5. Probably my favorite joint on here. A classic hip-hop song. Glad it did SO well as a single. U just feel this shit came from the heart.
8. Never Let Me Down - 5/5 Dope beat and Jigga ripped it. "I'm home on these charts y'all visiting, back to claim pole position" lol. Kanye spit some powerful ass shit too.
9. Got 'Em High - 4.25/5 Beat is so tight. Of course Kanye/Talib/Common all smashed it too. Kanye flow especially on this beat was tight.

10. Workout Plan - N/A. Plays great into the next track as usual.
11. The New Workout Plan - 3/5. Never really felt this one. It's pretty funny though.
12. Slow Jamz - 5/5. Dope ass single. Really revived Twista's career too. Still bump this shit on the regular.

13. Breathe In, Breathe Out - 4/5. Beat is tight. Luda does good on the hook. Great album cut. Kind of gets lost in the shuffle but a dope listen.
14. School Spirit Skit 1 - N/A. Well played again.
15. School Spirit - 4/5. Beat is tight. Again, great concept following. Love the soulful voice in the background.
16. School Spirit Skit 2 - N/A. Good track follow up skit. Very suddle lol.
17. Lil Jimmy Skit - N/A. Very intelligent skit with a message yet again.

18. Two Words - 5/5. Real hip hop! Beat is banging. Mos Def killed it. Choir is dope too. Kanye spazzed out, maybe his best verse on the album. Freeway was nice too.
19. Through the Wire - 5/5. My 2nd favorite track on here. Remember the first time I heard this was seeing the video on BET and was like woah, this is dope! Classic.
20. Family Business - 4/5. Beat is tight. Concept is straight. Dude singin hook fits it perfectly. Also this is the perfect spot on the album for a track like this.

21. Last Call - 4/5. Beat is tight. Another great cool, good closer. Usually don't like tracks this long though. Everything about this song is dope though.

Overall: 9/10

Whether you think he's an asshole or not, you can't deny how dope this guy is, and how fuckin dope this debut album was. A modern day hip hop classic. With a concept that flows all the way throughout and all. I think the concept is actually it's biggest accomplishment. It manages to stay on topic without getting boring either.

21 songs long, 14 actual songs and 7 skits well placed all throughout. Usually hate skits but they work here. And if they still not ya thing and u just bump the 14 tracks straight, shit is still a classic. Good music all the way throughout.

Gotta love it! Album ain't overrated at all.

Now I might have to revisit Late Registration & Graduation..

[The-Leak (aka) kingwell (bka) JULES]

It's a classic.  I think Two Words my personal fav, but every song on here dope.  Through the wire, jesus walks, All falls down, never let me down....

[The Watcher]

too many damn skits on this album

[Lunatic]

too many damn skits on this album

Really? 7 is a lot but the skits work. And as I said, if the skits are THAT much of a problem, skip them, just bump the 14 actual tracks (which is enough) and u still have a classic album.

[m-b]

I think that Jesus Walks is arguably his best track to date.

[GangstaBoogy]

I agree the skits killed it for me. This came out back when I was still in high school with a portable cd player so I hate skipping every other track.

I always wished he would've re-released it without the skits. "Never Let Me Down", "Jesus Walks", and "2 Words" = OMG amazingly dope!

[Chamillitary Click]

LOL, I was just thinking eariler of making a thread for "Graduation", which is probably my favorite Kanye album.

College Dropout is dope.

"Through The Wire" is my favorite song, but all in all, I kinda feel this album is overrated. Maybe just because it isn't my favorite Kanye album, but Kanye was real nice throughout this.

"Late Regisration" was so good too, I hope he keeps up his trend of great Hip Hop albums for his next one.

[Skeptic]

just listened to this the other day, classic fo sho!!!

theres not one song on it I don't like

[Sir Petey]

good album but probably my least fave. out of his discography.

i dont count 808 and heartbreak.

[Triple OG Rapsodie]

A sick album. Definitely one of the classics of the 2000s

Am I the only one who thinks Freeway was absolutely useless on Two Words?

[Sir Petey]

i agree@ 2 words

this album was alot of cats intro to hip hop.

[Action!]

It's a dope album.  I don't bump it much today but I respect it for shifting the focus back on Chicago.  Ye's done a lot for other MC's like Common & Consequence. 

I enjoy Late Registration the most but it was probably a track or two too long.

Graduation was dope but seem incomplete.

808s was ill. 

[Sir Petey]

It's a dope album.  I don't bump it much today but I respect it for shifting the focus back on Chicago.  Ye's done a lot for other MC's like Common & Consequence. 

I enjoy Late Registration the most but it was probably a track or two too long.

Graduation was dope but seem incomplete.

808s was ill. 

agreed on all that shit...except i dont share your level of enthusiasm for 808s...i like it but not that much.

[Chamillitary Click]

808's wasn't intended to be Hip Hop & it wasn't. So if you tell yourself even though it's Kanye, but not Hip Hop & try to enjoy it for what it is, it's actually pretty dope.

[LodiDodi]

The two songs I could have done without:

-New Workout Plan.............sure it's original and somewhat creative, but I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever listened to it without hitting fast forward/  Just too cheesy for my tastes, and doesn't fit well with the rest of the album.

-Breathe In Breathe Out.............so how does a lyrically-rich collabo between Kanye and Luda not meet expectations?  It's the horn riff/sample on the beat.  I don't know, something about it.  Just sounds dull and annoying. Anti-climactic.  Whenever I hear that three-note horn riff I cringe.  Thankfully, 9th Wonder remixed it years later on one of his mixtapes, so it sounds hundreds of times better.



And if you recall, there was a pre-release bootleg floating around the net that had some choice cuts which missed the final product (sample clearances, bootlegging, label decisions, whatever).  And that's why I added a few to my custom copy. So......my classic-status version of College Dropout is like this:

1. Intro - N/A
2. We Don't Care
3. Graduation Day
4. All Falls Down
5. I'll Fly Away
6. Spaceship
7. Jesus Walks
8. Never Let Me Down
9. Got 'Em High
10. Keep The Receipt feat. Ol Dirty Bastard
11. I Need To Know
12. Slow Jamz
13. School Spirit Skit 1
14. School Spirit
15. School Spirit Skit 2
16. Lil Jimmy Skit
17. Two Words
18. Through the Wire
19. My Way
20. Family Business
21. Last Call