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Not only does he create a unique role model, that role model is dangerous--his arguments against education are as market-targeted as other rappers' arguments for thug life.
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There will be few better albums released this year.
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Throughout The College Dropout, Kanye subverts cliches from both sides of the hip-hop divide, which again isnt unprecedented, but still refreshing and revelatory coming from someone who could have just as easily stood pat on his massive Midas-producer stacks.
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Entertainment WeeklyWest delivers the goods with a disarming mix of confessional honesty and sarcastic humor, earnest idealism and big-pimping materialism. [13 Feb 2004, p.71]
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UrbManages to be both visceral and emotive, sprinkling the dancefloors with tears and sweat. [Mar 2004, p.111]
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With sterling quality to match its massive advance hype, The College Dropout is one of those wonderful crossover albums that appeal to a huge audience without sacrificing a shred of integrity.
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That level of "realness", the way that the songs ring true whether he's bragging or self-criticizing, joking or praying, is what makes The College Dropout more than worthy of all of the attention that it's getting.
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College Dropout contains some of the most intelligent and clever lyrics hip-hop has produced in a while, be it mainstream or underground.
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2004's first great hip-hop album. [9 Feb 2004]
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Prior to this album, we were more than aware that West's stature as a producer was undeniable; now we know that he's also a remarkably versatile lyricist and a valuable MC.
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West magically sledgehammers home his opinions on taboo topics over beats that are equally daring.
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A flawed, overlong, hypocritical, egotistical, and altogether terrific album.
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Delivers both ass-shakers and contemplative cuts.
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Q MagazineHis production is masterful enough to demonstrate just why he is hip hop's hottest new property. [May 2004, p.111]
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West's witty, self-produced solo debut, College Dropout, frolics in this space between should and can, between playful hyper-awareness and young, willful naïvete.
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BlenderHe has his own personality: not a gangsta or a player but a diligent pragmatist. [Apr 2004, p.124]
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MojoThis is manna for hip hop fans starved of basic but ballistic beats-and-breaks fare in an increasingly litigious age. [May 2004, p.102]
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UncutWest's rhymes are wry, witty, warm and unswervingly self-aware. [May 2004, p.106]
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West is at his best the higher the lyrical stakes get, and the more they contradict hip-hop orthodoxy.
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Los Angeles TimesWest does tend to overextend his songs.... But it's a forgiveable sin for a man whose music and message is so powerful. [12 Feb 2004, p.E16]
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Feb 17, 2011Like every hip-hop album (even the great ones), Kanye West's The College Dropout is marred by too many guest artists, too many interludes, and just too many songs period. (I challenge every hip-hop artist working today to record just one album with 12 tracks or less-no skits, no guests, no filler.)
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Feb 17, 2011Most producers who approach the mic do so at their peril, but on Dropout, West turns out to be a full-service hip-hop artiste.
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A sprawling and undisciplined mess... but its fully attuned to what made West so compelling in the first place, namely chunks of samples that feel raw and convey an underdog sensibility.
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His ace in the hole is his signature cozy sound -- dusty soul samples, gospel hymns, drums that pop as if hit for the very first time.
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College Dropout is a competent if overlong debut, which serves up solid but by no means groundbreaking production work a little too dependent on familiar hooks from '70s R&B staples.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 1,285 out of 1443
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Mixed: 23 out of 1443
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Negative: 135 out of 1443
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Aug 14, 2010
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Aug 8, 2011
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Jan 4, 2013