Late Registration Review

[Frenetic]

After listening to it like 10 times a day, i've spent the last days really analyzing the lyrics and flow. Here comes a review, without hype or anything, just some objective views:

I said in a debate about kanye that his punchlines sometimes hit you over the head, they're hard and complex, and sometimes they hit you perfect, and sometimes (alot in his early work) it hit's just wrong being wack. This is one of the things i'm gonna handle during this review:

1. Wake Up Mr West -/10 - The intro is some plain talking with a pianosample.

2. Heard Em Say 8,5/10 - The piano on this is incredible, love it when beats include real instruments and not samples, big up jon brion! The drums are a mix of his old bassfilled with a bit of the pattern of old Timbo beats. Don't take it for granted is basically the message, but we'll try to do it anyway if we fail. Lyrics are well done and performed, nice slow flow.

3. Touch The Sky 8/10 - The song that reminds a bit of Will Smith on his first solo album. About being int he top how he got their, feel good! Controversiel sample of move on up. Matter of taste, i don't give a damn what song he samples as long it's groovie. It is.

4. Golddigger 6,5/10 - Good topic, not so good lyrics. Here he punches with the punchlines that are wack. I love the beat, dude has sampled windows xp.

5. Skit 1 -/10 We can't afford no gas.

6. Drive Slow 9/10 - Kanye's first verse in really, really good. Really nice tellinstyle (not storytelling). It isn't about hoes, it's about you can chill down with having the girls, you got the whole life to grow up, don't rush, pump ya breaks. It's about hoes in the girl way not prostitute way. That's the conclusion after listening a couple of times. Beat is really nice, sample has been used before by 2Pac, but it is better used here.

7. My Way Home 9/10 - A guy told me i couldn't give ths a high score cause Kanye ain't innit. Why not? it's on his album and is a part of it, it feels like the album is a movie, and common drops the underline meaning of the album, somebody's trying to find his place. Verse is incredible. Beat is Incredible.

8. Crack Music 9/10 - He talked about using the word nigga in the chorus. He said it was the best word even though he tries to use so little profane words as possible. I agree, Nig*a give the chorus a finishing touch and completes the genius chorus. Some raw hiphop overhere deabting on goverment putting crack, diseases and so on in the black community. Increcible poetry at the ending accoding to my poetry slam champion friend.

9. Roses 10/10 This is it. This song gave me the same feeling as I got when I heard tell me why the first time, or the rain, or summertime, afro angel or Jesus Walks. It smashes your heart, it turns your world upside down. Musically incredible beat and two, incredible, incredible verses by Kanye. Gotta be a single.

10. Bring me down 7/10 - Lazy by Kanye not using a whole new verse, a really good song. Bits of the verse is from wack Niggas feat Talib & Common. Nice concept though, "hater niggas marry hater bitches and get hater kids". Brandy is really good. A good song, but it feels unnescessary. He could've skipped the song.

11 Addiction 10/10 - " You make me smiiilee with my heart". Gotta be the best sample ever. The second of the three albumhighs. About addictions and his: A girl. but it ain't easy being addicted..

12. Skit 2 -/10 - hihihi...

13. Diamonds from Sierra Leone 8,5/10 - The two verses don't make sense together, but the beat and flow and everything else is flawless. Jay's verse is like: WOW, but if it would've been on We Major... wouldn't it have been better?

14. We Major 9,5/10 - Bragging is a part of Hiphop, do it in a way that is nice though, Kanye got it, Really Doe got it, Nas got it. The understand it. They perform it really good. If u listens to this and don't smile afterwards you should check you ass up. Less talking, more beat on the end would've given this a ten.

15. Skit 3 -/10 - hahaha....

16. Hey Mama 10/10 - My mom's angry at me cause I don't make songs like this to her. I hate Kanye for that. AAAHh.. this is genius. wonderful. DAMN! check it out on Oprah soon.

17. Celebration 9/10 - Just forget all the troubles and celebrate. This the **** I pump in my room before I go out.

18. Skit 4 -/10 - busted...

19. Gone 9,5/10 - Cam'Ron should skip the whole dipset **** and focus on making music were his skills are shown. This is really good. Something lacks from it being one of the huge on the album.

20. Diamonds Are forever 8,5/10 - He raps about the situation in the Roc. What a flow! What a beat! Too long second verse even though "throw your hands up like you're bulimic" is one of 2005's funniest punchlines.

21. Late 9/10 - Sorry, but I got a musical orgazm when I heard the beat. Don't be late!

Whole Album: 9,5/10.

Song for Song: 8,5

Now you're like why did he give it so high score? Cause it may have flaws in song for song, but it's the best well puttogether album I've heard. You don't skip anything, cause it feels like your gonna miss something in the album. You enjoy following the albums as it develops, you just enjoy listening to it, cause the more you listens, the better it gets cause some of the lyrics need that. They need to be listened a couple of times. It could've skipped one or two skits and dropped golddigger. It would've been a ten.

My year rank:

1. Kanye West - Late Registration 9,5

1. Common - Be 9,5

3. Will Smith - 9

3. John Legend - 9

5. Little Brother - 8,5

6. The Game - Documentary - 8

This doesn't mean i'm disssing WIll, but were this and commons album got at most one less good song, L&F got 2-3. They're more solid. But These are all albums that are going to rememberd as big moments in hiphop, in our fans eyes they're all classics. More good albums dropped right now then thru all 2004.

Edited August 31, 2005 by Frenetic

[Fresh-Ta-Def]

nice review man i think the documentary deserves more then a 8 but good review otherwise

[Lerkot]

One more topic about Late Registration and I go crazy.