Every year, especially in hip-hop music, a rapper comes along and proclaims to be the best emcee in the world. He claims the best flow, the best beats and the best image. But rarely do those assertions ever become realized. However, a few exceptions like Eminem, Jay-Z and 50 Cent actually back up their claims, and for periods, they are the best: Emcees who come along at the right time with the right beats, the perfect flow and a message that taps into the sentiment of what the audience feels.
Kanye West is the next in line to fulfill his duty as the best emcee in the world right now. And more so than the others, Kanye West is probably the most in tune with today’s popular culture. He raps about his insecurities and arrogance with equal emphasis, and his love of vices and his adherence to religion in the same song. These contradictions are what make West so irresistible to the culture of today, which wants the good and the bad, the sinful and the spiritual, without sacrificing one for the other.
On Late Registration, West’s sophomore effort, those contradictions are amplified and dug into deeper by West’s ongoing search for his place atop the hip-hop Mt. Olympus. What Kanye touched on with College Drop-Out, his debut CD, he delves into with more ambition and swagger and hotter beats on Late Registration.
“Touch the Sky” blasts off with horns blaring, courtesy of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” beside frantic bass and West’s rhymes about his own notorious greatness: “Jay’s favorite line: ‘Dog, in due time’/Now he look at me, like ‘D***, dog, you where I am’/A hip hop legend/I think I died in an accident, cause this must be heaven.”
Ray Charles is resurrected via Jaime Foxx’s husky tenor on “Gold Digger,” which samples Charles’ classic “I Got A Woman.” Pounding chords and digital zips transform Charles’ sample into a classic West banger about being weary of trifling women: “If you ain’t no punk holla ‘We Want Prenup!/It’s something that you need to have/’Cause when she leave yo a**, she gon’ leave with half!”
Slinky piano and jazzy horns lend the feel of a laid-back evening on the streets in “Drive Slow,” which aptly talks about cruising on the streets: “Allow me to introduce you to my CL Mercedes/It’s a star-studded event when I valet park/Open up my mouth and sunlight illuminates the dark” with appropriate guest appearances from Southern emcees Paul Wall and GLC.
The Game adds some street grit to “Crack Music,” which deals with drugs and how they affect the way of life for blacks: “When our heroes and heroines got hooked on heroin/Crack raised the murder rate in D.C. and Maryland/We invested in that it’s like we got Merrill-Lynched/And we been hangin’ from the same tree ever since.” While on “Addiction,” West deals not only with drugs, but women, money and every other vice people obsess over: “Why everything that’s supposed to be bad make me feel so good?/Everything they told me not to is exactly what I would/Man I tried to stop man I tried the best I could/But you make me smile.”
West samples Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds are Forever” song from the same named James Bond film for “Diamonds (from Sierra Leone)” and its remix with Jay-Z, which goes deeper into the story of conflict diamonds, diamonds that were harvested by slaves. West adds new life to the track, using Bassey’s sophisticated voice, bombastic horns and haunting rhythms to create the most unique hip-hop song in recent memory.
The best track on Late Registration is “Hey Mama,” West’s soulful tribute to his mother, in which he promises to always be there for her because she always supported him: “I said mommy I’ma love you till you don’t hurt no more/And when I’m older, you ain’t gotta work no more/And I’ma get you that mansion that we couldn’t afford/See you’re, unbreakable, unmistakable.” Donal Leace’s “Today Won’t Come Again” is sampled for its playful “la-la” refrain and deep organ rhythms that give a happy feeling to this touching song. When West sings, “Mama, I’m so proud of you,” he sings with so much conviction and earnestness, you feel his emotion harder than any outlandish beat he cooks up.
Late Registration officially affirms the claims Kanye West has been making since his debut came out: That he is the best, and we all better start paying attention, as if you haven’t already.