Kanye has had things such as the saviour of hip hop, the most original force in hip hop etc planted firmly on his shoulders by the media.
The truth is Kanye is a phenomenal and formidable talent, as a producer and musically he is total genius, lyrically he is very clever, humorous, he knows how to sell to the masses and he knows how to keep it street. “Jesus Walks”
will go down in music history thanks to his genius and originality. But as far as rhyming is concerned I think it's fair to say he is more than competent, he's good, but he isn't a KRS One, Tupac, Biggie, Jay Z or Nas. This second album has some
breathtaking gems on it the most notable being the Curtis Mayfield “Move On Up” sampled “Touch The Sky” produced by Jus Blaze and featuring Lupe Fiasco. This track shows all of the Kanye strong points, simply stunning.
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The second single lifted from this set is the powerful “Gold Digger” featuring Jamie Foxx on vocal chores, considering this is a Ray Charles inspired cut, Jamie's inclusion was a no brainer. The haunting
“Drive Slow”, the awesome “My Way Home” featuring Common as guest, a track that samples legend Gill Scott Heron for good measures and the near marching drum driven “Crack Music” (a track that could be this albums “Jesus Walks”) featuring Game will
keep the real hip hop heads more than happy. More deep biz comes in the shape of the haunting “Roses”.
Brandy features on the edgy hard hitting lyrical “Bring Me Down”. Nas features on the dope as f*c! “We Major”. The smooth n silky “Celebration” features John Legend on additional vocals and melts in the ears from your speakers.
Finally the UK bonus cut “We Can Make It Better” finishes this set off in fine fettle. Is this as good as his first album well to be honest the jury is still out, it's good but I think the debut album was a part of hip hop history because of it's
originality.
BIGGER
4/5
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