Late Registration

The next record on my list I will review is Kanye West’s second album, Late Registration.  At the time West released this record, he was enjoying great success commercially and critically from his first release, College Dropout.  His status as a successful rapper was beginning to eclipse his status as a successful producer.  He was guesting on a number of other R&B and rap albums and was on TV frequently on awards and videos (“Jesus Walks” won a Grammy for Best Rap Song and was just an all-out tour-de-force of a video).

With Late Registration West wanted to conquer the idea of the “sophomore jinx”, which typically happens to artists that enjoy great success on their first release only to fall off on the second.  College Dropout was such a wildly successful record that West knew he needed more than what he brought on that record.  To that end West knew that he wanted to broaden his horizons musically and lyrically.

#199 – Kanye West, Late Registration (Metascore = 85)

To overcome any jitters regarding the “sophomore jinx,” West sought out the help of film score composer Jon Brion as co-executive producer, who helped facilitate the sonic transition he was seeking.  Brion, like West, did not confine himself to one musical genre, which immediately sparked Brion’s relationship with West.  West incorporates orchestral arrangements within the many beats and other live instruments to provide him the sonic background to build his lyrics.  Not only did West want to conquer the rap world, he wanted to conquer the pop and R&B worlds all together.

This growth in sound is evident from the very beginning with tracks “Heard ‘Em Say” and “Touch the Sky”.  Lyrically he goes from reflecting on himself and who he is as a man (“Heard ‘Em Say”) to sounding like a conqueror who revels in his success after an accident nearly took his life but which ultimately inspired him to put together the record that made him so successful.  “Gold Digger” borrows from Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman” while capitalizing on the success of the movie Ray, the Jamie Foxx biopic about Charles (Foxx sings behind West’s lyrics in the song).  “Gold Digger” was a popular single that won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Regardless of who collaborates with West, he always brings his “A” game to the song.  He is able to tell stories with such lyrical dexterity and clarity that you can visualize the story going on.  “Crack Game” with The Game is an example of this, where West joins the Game in tales about inner-city violence and crimes.  “Diamonds of Sierra Leone” features Jay-Z and Kanye rapping not about the blood diamond issues in Africa but the fall and subsequent reboot of Roc-a-Fella Records.  “Gone”, one of the final tracks on the record, is also one of the better collaborations, featuring Cam’ron and Consequence.

Late Registration was not as critically hailed as College Dropout, and I can understand why.  The first half of the record is as good as, if not better than, College Dropout.  However, the second half is a substantial drop off (in my opinion) in terms of sonic and lyrical quality.  I really felt underwhelmed after listening to the album because it just wasn’t interesting to me.  While it is still a great record overall, I almost wonder if he would have been better off trimming some of the weaker tracks off in favor of a tighter record.  But when you write as well as he does, does that really matter?