Kanye West – Late Registration

I still remember when people would talk about Kanye West’s rapping as something that was decent, never amazing but promising and always improving. I’m not sure how much I agree with that kind of thinking but when The College Dropout came out, a lot of the purists bashed its rhymes and MCing while many, loved its production. So I love how even that album’s big triumphs, Kanye is still optimistically down and slumbering at the beginning of Late Registration. Like always, feeling behind, always running late, the album’s dark tones run a gamut through times where everything still seemed ominous. It’s not quite like Graduation’s tight and concise way but perhaps, his hungriest and grittiest (well, that was until My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) album and maybe, his best.

The simplicity of “Roses” was always the most endearing to me. It’s like Kanye’s basically speaking to the crowd while a vibe gently lulls behind him. The soul samples and the choir of voices that come through take over at the end with an over-pouring of sounds; while at the beginning it was the lonely keys and Kanye’s genuine, “he’s stttrrrroooong” words. I’ve always appreciated the honesty and the earnest sincerity behind his music and how everything almost feels relatable in many ways and this song is a slamming basher that kills with grace.


I really like the middle section of this album so I was trying to pick a song between either “Crack Music” or “Bring Me Down” and I wanted to mention the latter mostly because it’s still minor and I think Kanye’s choice of Brandy to sing the hook and chorus is surprising but definitely awesome. There’s so many great things about a Kanye West album and while the samples is a personal fave, just his list of guests is never without class either. On “Bring Me Down”’s sour and uplifting mood, Brandy sounds raw and somehow, there was an injection of great singing done all throughout the song. It sounds so nice right before “Addiction” and its rhythm-heavy, stunningly beautiful sounds. Man, maybe that’s the best song in the end. – Bryan