Graduation indeed...

Buy Kanye West--Graduation from Amazon!

Despite temper tantrums and a bigger than life ego, there's no denying Kanye West is one of hip hop's premier talents. In the past couple of months, he and 50 cent turned Sept. 11th into one of the most anticipated music release dates in recent memory. Finally after the lame ass faux beef marketing scheme, it's time to hear some music.

Graduation opens with "Good Morning", a minimalistic intro that displays just how much Kanye has grown as a MC from his first album and even has a well placed Jay-z sample. However it lasts just a little bit too long. The next track, "Champion", features typical Kanye-esque production complete with a sped up sample but the chorus has a cool reggae vibe. While that's all well and good, it doesn't tell what Graduation is really about.

Things don't really get interesting until the single "Stronger" comes on. This song is very much a representative of the album as a whole. Futuristic, sonic beats which is a complete departure from the soulful beats Kanye built almost his whole production catalog on. The song brilliantly swagger jacks the Daft Punk song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. While the lyrics and the beat are nothing new when put together the whole sounds extremely refreshing.

Other stand out tracks include "Good Life" featuring T Pain and a creative sample of Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". Of course the single "Can't Tell Me Nothing" kind of featuring Young Jeezy but not really. (The ad-libs are fresh though). "Barry Bonds" contains the obligatory Lil Wanye feature that's pretty much required of every rap album these days.

The only thing that could be viewed as the misstep of the album would be "Drunken Hot Girls" which sounds like a good idea at first solely because Mos Def's on it. But after a few listens you get the joke.

The album's true show of brilliance is "Flashing Lights" featuring Dwele. The beat nothing short than futuristically beautiful. The only blemish is that it doesn't showcase Dwele's singing ability. But the whole's greatness far outweighs any part of the song.

The album closes with "Big Brother" a touching tribute to Jay-z. It's perhaps the most honest song in Kanye's catalog. All the pompous attitude and punchlines aside, it's a song about his idol. It's definitely rare for a rapper to blow up somebody else for a whole song and that's something that deserves some respect.

The Report Card:

Production: A+
Okay first of all, it's Kanye West one of the greatest producers in hip hop. He also employs help from DJ Toomp and Timbaland who are equally as great so of course the production's gonna be hot!

Flow/Lyrics: B
Kanye is not the best rapper but I guarantee you he's better than a lot of clowns that make it on the radio these days. And he's pretty damn funny.

Originality: B+
Most of the album's content isn't anything new but production wise it's new and refreshing.

Overall: A
Seriously, not to sound like a Stan but this album is great. Definitely worth paying for which is say a whole lot.