Kanye West - The College Dropout

The New Workout Plan - Kanye W...

When The College Dropout, ahem, dropped in 2004, it was met with enormous success from the public and the critics alike, the latter giving it almost universal acclaim and proclaiming it as the savior of hip-hop. The album's status as a christ-like figure for rappers in the second half of the decade is still up for debate, but it remains a crowd favorite, a turning point in the genre, and stands as a template for what was to come.

Upon listening to the album for the first time, it becomes hard to deny West's wit and downright talent as both a rapper and a lyricist, whether you're a hip-hop fan or not. His rhymes are as clever as they are catchy, and his lyrics create the perfect blend of stupid and cunning, mixing bleak tales of family and urban life with dark, twisted humor that's literally laugh out loud funny.

While it can be a bit heavy on interludes at times, they act as perfect pit-stops between the more striking tracks ("Get 'Em High", "Family Business") and inject some fresh banter into what would otherwise be a gargantuan chunk of music to take in.

I still firmly believe that much of the appeal of this record lies in its incredible power to grab you from your very first listen, and only gets sweeter each time you hear it. Some of the hooks are just so damn tasty and memorable (namely the chorus of "We Don't Care"), and the grooves are too sweet to resist (see "Slow Jamz"). Perfect as either a whole experience or broken down as individual songs, The College Dropout is unarguably a benchmark of hip-hop with a few minor flaws that keep it from being a perfect album from start to finish

Final Score: 91/100