One last word about Kanye...

So it’s 9/12, just about the height of Kanye/50-mania and I’m here to take your last shreds of interest in reading anything Graduation related real quick. I wanna talk about the one thing that really sets Graduation apart from 99.9% of hip hop albums this year: AMBITION. Whether you like the album or not, you can’t give it a fair listen and not notice that this dude Kanye West is putting 110% into every song; creatively, production wise and vocally. I can only imagine how dope hip hop would be right now if everyone involved was so ambitious.

Seems like that whole goal of setting out to create a classic/monumental/timeless album went out with the 90s. You know, an album where every song on the album sounds different, but the album has a consistent sound. Where there’s not a guest rapper on every song or paint by number concepts from start to finish. Where nothing on it seems forced or formulaic (not even the guest spot from the R&B robot Thaddius Pain), nothing on it sounds like a mixtape track and nothing sounds like obvious filler. An album that’s exciting, honest and interesting (not just technically “good”) to listen to. Hopefully other artists are taking notes.

Now I’m not screaming at the top of my lungs that Graduation is a 5 mic classic (Blu & Exile’s Below The Heavens is the only album I’m doing that for this year), but it’s a great album and you can hear a rare ambition and passion in it that’s all but lost these days. Hopefully the crazy numbers that Kanye’s doing as you read this can help inspire more acts to be so ambitious.

Anyways, here’s a link to “Good Night” with Mos Def and Al B from the Japanese version of Graduation as a reward for reading another Kanye article and don’t forget to cop the album, it’s definitely worth your $12.

Lastly, if anyone’s been wondering why I haven’t been doing guest sets on Basementalism as much as I used to lately, it’s because I’ve got a job spinning every weekend at Guess (yep, Guess at the Cherry Creek Mall even, haha) right now. Don’t be surprised if you hear a Tanya Morgan exclusive or a Devin The Dude track the next time you walk by on a Saturday afternoon. I’m working on taking some time off to get back to Basementalism more regularly though (feel free to download my mixtapes at djlowkey.com in the meantime). Also, Fizz if you’re reading this, my Spitkicker blog is on its way, there’s no way I’d forget about that.