ARTIST: Kanye West
TITLE: Graduation
LABEL: GOOD Music/Island Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella
GENRE: Hip-Hop
GRABBER: EAC (Secure Mode)
ENCODER: Lame 3.98b5 / -V2 --vbr-new
QUALITY: 176 Kbps Avg / 44.1 KHz / Joint Stereo
PLAYTIME: 0h 59min 23sec total
SIZE: 72.86MB
RELEASE DATE: 09-10-2007
RIP DATE: 09-11-2007
Track List
----------
01. Good Morning (Produced By Kanye West) 3:15
02. Champion (Produced By Kanye West & 2:47
Brian "Allday" Miller)
03. Stronger (Produced By Kanye West, 5:11
Timbaland & Mike Dean)
04. I Wonder (Produced By Kanye West) 4:03
05. Good Life (Feat. T-Pain) (Produced By 3:27
Kanye West, Toomp, Mike Dean &
Timbaland)
06. Can't Tell Me Nothing (Produced By 4:31
Kanye West & Toomp)
07. Barry Bonds (Feat. Lil' Wayne) 3:24
(Produced By Nottz & Kanye West)
08. Drunk & Hot Girls (Feat. Mos Def) 5:13
(Produced By Kanye West & Jon Brion)
09. Flashing Lights (Feat. Dwele) 3:57
(Produced By Kanye West & Eric Hudson)
10. Everything I Am (Feat. Scratches By DJ 3:47
Premier) (Produced By Kanye West)
11. The Glory (Produced By Kanye West, Gee 3:32
Roberson & Patrick "Plain Pat"
Reynolds)
12. Homecoming (Produced By Kanye West & 3:23
Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell)
13. Big Brother (Produced By Toomp) 9:47
14. Good Night (UK Bonus Track) (Produced 3:06
By Kanye West)
Release Notes:
Graduation's pre-leak talk wasn't as substantive as it was with Kanye West's
first two albums. As with just about any other artist's third album, it had to
be expected. The College Dropout was one of the most anticipated debuts of the
early 2000s, while Late Registration had people wondering why Kanye would feel
the need to work so extensively with multi-instrumentalist rock producer Jon
Brion (the J Dilla of the chamberlin) and whether or not Kanye's hubristic
tendencies would get the better of it. With Graduation, there was Takashi
Murakami's artwork, a silly first-week sales competition with the decreasingly
relevant 50 Cent, and chatter about synthesizers running wild. That was about
it, but it all seemed loud and prevalent, due in part to a lack of high-profile
rap albums released in 2007. Graduation is neither as bold nor as scattered as
The College Dropout, and it's neither as extroverted nor as sonically rich as
Late Registration. Kanye still makes up for his shortcomings as an MC and
lyricist by remaining charmingly clumsy, frequently dealing nonsense through
suspect rhyme schemes: "I never be picture-perfect Beyoncé/Be light as Al B. or
black as Chauncey/Remember him from Blackstreet, he was black as the street
was/I never be laid-back as this beat was." The songs that are thematically
distanced, introspective, and/or wary -- there are many of them -- are, in turn,
made more palatable than insufferable. That his humor remains a constant is a
crucial aspect of the album, especially considering that most other MCs would
sound embittered and hostile if they were handling similar subjects, like haters
new and old, being a braggart with a persistent underdog complex, getting
wrapped up in spending and flaunting, and the many hassles of being a hedonist.
Those who have admired Kanye as a sharp producer while detesting him as an inept
MC might find the gleaming synth sprites, as heard most prominently throughout
"Flashing Lights" and "Stronger," to be one of the most glaring deal-breakers in
hip-hop history. Though the synthesizer use marks a clear, conscious diversion
from Kanye's past productions, highlights like "I Wonder," "The Glory," and
"Everything I Am" are deeply rooted in the Kanye of old, using
nostalgia-inducing samples, elegant pianos and strings, and gospel choirs. So,
no, he's not dreaming of fronting A Flock of Seagulls or joining Daft Punk. He's
being his shrewd, occasionally foolish, and adventurous self.
There's a period of approximately 3 minutes of silence following 04m47s in track
13; that's how our retail came. We didn't edit it out to keep this rip as close
to the retail version as possible. They probably wanted to make the bonus track
appear 'hidden' or whatever.
Beautiful artwork deserves scanning. Lame 3.98b5 encode. We strongly urge the
rules changed to allow Lame 3.98 when the final version hits. Higher bitrates
(ala 3.90 rates), and the not-so-rare distortion that came with 3.97 for the
most part is fixed. Consider it 3.90 with --vbr-new speeds, with better high
end.
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