Kanye West: album genius

Kanye West is the greatest album rapper of all time. The Life of Pablo, despite its many names, iterations and last minute changes, makes him an incredible 7/7, a record unrivaled by his peers. What makes his albums so incredible is the depth of each tracklist and commitment to that record’s sound. They aren’t just vehicles for singles, but tapestries of sound stretching from beginning to end. West hasn’t had a number one single since 2007’s Graduation, but continues to create consistently groundbreaking work, seizing Hip-hop’s attention with each release and sending aural shockwaves that sculpt the genre’s direction until West decides to change it again. To highlight this fact I’ve made a playlist of a deep cut from each of West’s first six releases, songs that were never singles, but capture each album’s spirit. The playlist can be found on Tidal here, Apple Music here, and Spotify here. The choices are explained below.

The College Dropout (2004) “Family Business”

The College Dropout was a revolution, a resurgence of soul and sampling that breathed life into Hip-hop. The second to last track on West’s debut album, “Family Business,” tells some of his best stories, all filled with the sepia-toned nostalgia of familial life. It marks just how different his sound was from the rap world around him, dominated by Gangsta rappers like 50 Cent and still under the shadow of Jay Z’s (alleged) final project The Black Album.

“I woke up early this morning with a creative way to rhyme without using knives and guns”

Before he ever signed to a record label, West’s middle class upbringing was considered an impediment. Labels were worried a rapper in a pink polo just wouldn’t sell, and it took West a botched deal with Capitol Records to finally land at Roc a Fella. “Family Business” reminds listeners that West was never guaranteed, and in order to fulfill his stardom, he had to create his own lane. The stories he details aren’t from his own family, but from one of his singers, Tarrey Torae, relaying her experiences growing up in a large family.

Late Registration (2005) “Addiction”

Late Registration represented the distillation and perfection of West’s early career soul sound. A number of the songs had already been written and finished when The College Dropout was released, making the two albums the most sonically similar of any of his releases. “Addiction” details West’s struggles with money, girls and weed.

“Why’s everything that’s supposed to be bad make me feel so good?”

Layered throughout the track is a sample of Etta James’ rendition of “My Funny Valentine,” a sharp contrast to the song’s tone and message, and a reminder of West’s brilliant sampling roots. It’s one of the tracks that challenges his public persona as a black hole of shameless ego, which is what makes it so compelling. It’s also the song where West asks his girlfriend about having a threesome, which doesn’t challenge many public perceptions about him.

Graduation (2007) “I Wonder”

Graduation was a major symbolic victory for West. Before the album’s release, 50 Cent publicly stated that if Graduation outsold Curtis, he’d retire. Both albums released on the same day, and West’s dominated charts. The sound that nearly shut him out of Hip-hop was now a distant memory. “I Wonder” has some of West’s best bars on the album, both in a stutter-step flow and a cascade of internal rhyme.

“I’m a star, how could I not shine?”

“I Wonder” samples British singer Labi Siffre’s “My Song” from 1972, another testament to West’s crate-digging legacy. The song sounds anthemic, meant to be played in stadiums and shouted from mountaintops. West incorporates the sample into his added 808 beats and strings, and the lyrics converse with an unknown “you” to perfection.

808s & Heartbreak (2008) “Street Lights”

808s & Heartbreak was never meant to happen. West had always planned a tetralogy of education-themed albums with the final installment named A Good Ass Job. But life got in the way. An album cleaved out of the death of his mother and the end of his engagement, West used stripped down production and autotune to dehumanize himself and expose his own profound losses. “Street Lights” can hardly be called a rap song, with a single short verse playing preamble and a repeated hook.

“See I know my destination, but I’m just not there”

The beauty is in the production. Instruments and the choir join in midway through the song, building a scaffold on the first half’s sparseness. Throughout the song, a solitary West paints a simple and somber image, the phosphorus glow of streetlights whipping past his taxi window as he tries to get somewhere, never made clear if that place is inside him or out.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) “Lost in the World”

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is peak Kanye West. Molded in the self-created crucible that was the 2009 VMA’s, West returned from his exile with a masterpiece, an ornate luxury of an album, teeming with collaborators and orchestral production that shattered minds. “Lost in the World” features one of the more unlikely collaborators, Bon Iver’s frontman Justin Vernon, under a heavy dosage of autotune.

“Let’s break out of this fake-ass party, turn this into a classic night”

Even with its alternative collaborator, the song fits perfectly into West’s opus. What starts muted and sparse explodes into drum breaks, a choir, and West’s own autotuned singing. His bars on the song are quick and compact, couplets ringing paradoxically before giving way to “Who Will Survive in America” an abridged rendition of a Gil Scott-Heron poem.

Yeezus (2013) “Hold My Liquor”

Yeezus was an aggressive deconstruction of West’s own production work, an assault on the orchestral beauty that preceded it. In the weeks leading up to the album, he took it to legendary producer Rick Rubin, who slashed instruments, verses and entire songs from the project. What was left is a 10-track, 40-minute delve into sin and debauchery, a purging of past exploits released just days after becoming a father. “Hold my Liquor” is another Vernon collaboration, but considerably darker. The track details his inner demons and frustrations with women, relapsing in a hookup with a woman who broke his heart.

“One more hit and I can own you, one more fuck and I can own you”

West only does one verse, describing that “cold night in October.” The song is bolstered by Vernon’s feature and one from Chicago’s Chief Keef, with the former crooning for self-control and the latter representing the indulgence that ultimately wins. It’s a brilliant exploration of the contradictions that define West, and what happens when he finally lets his demons win.