NEWS

Alex Orchard
January 22, 2009
English II

Graduation

On September 11, 2007, the Graduation album was released and sold over 1 million copies. This beat out rival and competitor, 50 cent who had only 691,000 copies sold. In the Graduation album by Kanye West, he portrays a great emotional perspective on how his life was, how it is, and how it will be. This is an exceptional album for people who drown their ears in hip-hop music.

Many songs on this album contain lyrics that pertain to his life and talk about the struggles to “making it big.” One song for example, Good Morning, is a song about the struggles he had before graduation from college. This next verse explains how distracted he was during school and how real it is when you’re in college.

Wake up, Mr. West, Mr. West, Mr. Fresh

Mr. by-his-self-he-so-impressed

I mean, damn, did you even see the test

You got D's mother …, D's, Rosie Perez

And yes, barely pass

any and every class

Looking at every …

Cheated on every test

I guess

this is my dissertation

Homie, this is basic

Welcome to graduation

Another song on this album, I Wonder is a song about a step in the path to becoming a phenomenon and the struggles making it. There is a lyric that portrays this theme and it is,

Do you even remember what the issue is?

you just trying to find where the tissue is
you can still be who you wish you is

It ain't happen yet, and that's what the intuition is

When you hop back in the car

Drive back to the crib

Run back to their arms

The smokescreens

The chokes and the screams

You ever wonder what it all really mean

This lyric really speaks to me because it explains how life was back home and if people knew what it meant to find your dreams through those struggles.

The mood of this album is to speak to the listeners to let them know that he had a rough life and you can be who you want to be. For example, he became famous through music and being persistent at what he did. Mostly all the songs on this album provide a sincere and uplifting experience listening to his lyrics.

The beat and tone of this album is unique in many ways. Kanye West hired about 5 producers to create beats for his lyrics. The album contains over 50 styles of drums in the songs that bring forth the rhythm and flow. He also incorporates the tune of old songs into his music to bring an authentic but still fresh and modern flow. This album, to whoever listens to it, will all be moved by the beat and mood of the songs while West’s stories are told throughout.