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:::Music Review:::
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Kanye West - "Late Registration"
by William Ashanti Hobbs
author and co-owner of Meroen Press
September 2005
This Music Review is sponsored by:
1102 S. Adams St., ste.#5 - Tallahassee, FL 32301
850.222.6940 - www.flavamusic.net
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This Music Review is
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It must be hell trying to breathe life into the ethos
of Bill Cosby’s intelligent, educated black middle
class, champion Michael Eric Dyson’s offensive, yet
resilient ‘hood contingent and rescue the fate of hip
hop all at once. Let Kanye West's reportedly gargantuan
ego tell it, he’s the only one for the job. Coming out
of its first week after being released within pissing
distance of platinum status, "Late Registration" is
destined to give Kanye’s argument even more
credibility. "Heard 'Em Say (featuring Adam Levine of
Maroon 5)" is a fine example, as it features Natalie
Cole’s endearing "Someone that I Used to Love." Gone
are the sped up soul numbers that began to wear thin
on the ears. "Late Registration" ushers in a new grade
of musicianship. The song’s introspective, cerebral
ending shows this as the beat grumbles and fades into
the landscape of West’s narrative of the life for the
have nots.
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There’s no way you cannot have heard "Gold Digger
(featuring Jamie Foxx)" by now. Foxx goes to the Ray
zone as West gives an amusing take mostly on the
vicissitudes of women that, for various reasons, live
the credo that "romance without finance is a damn
nuisance." Though the skits, all-focused on the
educated poor, are repetitive and completely
expendable, they do little damage to songs like "Drive
Slow (featuring Paul Wall & GLC)." The song is about
the most rugged ode to abstinence you’ll ever find.
West comes with a compelling history lesson on the
destruction of the black neighborhoods thanks to crack
with "Crack Music." A fitting parallel is made to how
kids push music with the same desperation as drugs to
attain some sense of success. West coast rider Game
makes the CD’s range coast to coast with his throaty
chorus. The unsettling chords and sluggish horns add
depth and texture to the way crack distorts. "Roses"
surprises with commentary on how health care sucks for
those of us who aren’t in the NBA. Def Soul Classics’
first artist Ms. Patti Labelle, who lost her mother,
three sisters and best friend to diabetes and cancer
within ten years, ad libs with authority behind the
track, adding that soulful auntie vibe over Kanye’s
lyrics.
"Bring Me Down" resurrects Brandy from the greatest
hits cemetery. She flies over the track as
unrestrained as LeBelle while Kanye gives his best
shot at the world understanding the drive behind that
ego. "Addiction" is unsettling but intriguing. Be it
weed, ass, liquor… It will have you questioning even
the mildest things you jones for. "Diamonds From
Sierra Leone (Remix) featuring Jay-Z" brings awareness
to the irony of African Americans lusting for the same
diamonds that Africans get arms and hands cut off for
not unearthing enough of overseas. Jay-Z touches the
mic for apt damage control on the Roc-A-Fella
implosion. English historian H. G. Wells once said
that human history is "more and more a race between
education and catastrophe." West’s remarkable new
treatise is a banger that genuinely yearns to hip us
to both our genius as well as the subtle ways we help forces
around us destroy ourselves as a people. If that
doesn’t make you want him to sign your yearbook under
his "Most likely to get another Grammy" title, nothing
will.
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