'Registration' attempt a success
By Jeff Renfro
Kanye West's sophomore album "Late Registration" is both completely brilliant and maddeningly inconsistent. West continues to be the most innovative and interesting artist in mainstream hip-hop.
His tracks are packed with musical and lyrical details that are on a different level of sophistication than his peers. It is this attention to detail and perfectionism that causes the album's few failures.
West's personal story is the stuff of music industry legends. Dropping out of college in order to concentrate on producing beats. Through little more than sheer force of will, West was able to obtain an audience from Jay-Z and Damon Dash, who used his beats in what would become hit songs.
In very little time, he became one of the most sought after producers in hip-hop. Riding this momentum, West released his debut CD "College Dropout," which became an unqualified hit and won innumerable awards.
The factor that separates this album from all others is West's decision to bring on Jon Brion as co-producer. Brion is best known for his recent work as the score composer of movies such as "I Heart Huckabees," "Punch Drunk Love" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Brion compliments West's sampling, playing beautiful piano and string melodies giving each song a richer tone.
In light of recently well-publicized events involving West's opinions of President Bush, West has become the voice of a silenced demographic. It is this side of West that creates the album's most successful songs. "Late Registration's" unquestionably great track is the incendiary "Crack Music." "Crack Music" is hip-hop at its finest. Opening with the line, "How we stop the Black Panthers? Ronald Reagan cooked up an answer," the song is an unapologetic criticism of the federal government and the music industry.
West describes the birth of hip-hop as the desperate attempt of a marginalized group to succeed. The awful experience of life in the slums becomes the lyrical weapon of choice. The popularity of hip-hop allows the artists to "repo everything we owed."
A major theme of "Late Registration" is West's duality. He is able to write a song like "Crack Music," but also recognizes that he is a member of the wealthy class. He is accepted by the hip-hop community, but a majority of his records are purchased by suburban, white teenagers. It is this duality that creates his appealing songs with emotional depth and an "everyman" quality.
It is this duality that causes him to invite Maroon 5's Adam Levine to sing on the track 'Heard 'Em Say.' Levine is out of his league on the album, and West's attempt to appeal to a broader audience ends in a slow and uninteresting song.
Although West is clearly brilliant, he falls victim to a few pitfalls of modern hip-hop. There are skits throughout the album that are banal political criticism combined with flat humor. West also features the now ubiquitous ode to the woman in his life on the track "Hey Mama."
One day, Kanye West will create a classic hip-hop album. It is inevitable. Before then, he needs to decide who exactly he is, and who exactly his audience is. Once this occurs, West will be a seminal musician and artist.
Grade: B+