2003's College Dropout, while far from being the classic that he makes it out to be, was certainly a damn good album and one of the more memorable releases of 2004. While his rhymes were weak quite often, Kanye's soulful sampling behind the boards and ability to make actual "songs" very quickly makes up for it. Is he as great as he says he is? Absolutely not... but his new album Late Registration can easily provide more fodder for his ego...

"Touch the Sky" should've been the intro because it's flaming hot. The production is a jazz-influenced melody that is sure to rock not only clubs, but headsets. The beat has that nice crossover appeal that anybody can really love and it's ironic that it sounds like something Rawkus Records would've put out in the mid-90s. Thank Just Blaze for this one. The saxophones and strings lace the track nicely for Kanye's charismatic rhyming about his success within hip-hop. Kanye's just having fun on the track, and hey, that's alright.

Thusfar, Kanye has demonstrated he's quite good at crafting loud, epic music meant to jam out to, but he's certainly NOT a one trick pony. The sombre "Drive Slow" is slowly becoming my favorite song on the album. Production-wise, this has a familiar jazz sample which was also sampled for Eminem's underground hit "No One's Iller" from his second EP. (If you can find me the sample, you get 10 points). The slow, dark trumpets, bassline, and piano loop is eerie and spine-tingling, but man is it incredibly hot. GLC and Paul Wall arrive on the track to drop a pair of admittedly dope verses, but Kanye West is the man on the song with his opener. The singing at the end adds a nice touch and proves that Kanye is out to make this album musically superior to anything out there, not JUST hip-hop. Don't you dare skip this one. "My Way Home" finds the great Common Sense dropping knowledge in his very own solo track. Kanye opted to stay behind the boards on this one and give us one last look at what we heard on Be. When is Common whack? Never, and this song is yet another intelligent and powerful piece.

One thing you will quickly notice about Late Registration that retreads from the last album is the fact that Kanye is more talented at making songs than actually ripping up mics. Kanye's not a complex lyricist by any means and although he's improved a lot since the last album, but that's not his plan. He just wants to polish good music and have people enjoy it. Hey, I can respect that. Songs like "Crack Music" is a good example of this. Game and Kanye are both relatively decent rappers, but it's the background crooning and everlasting trumpets that really makes you remember the song. The only real drawback is that the trumpets get annoying after a while. "Bring Me Down" finds the Chicago native collaborating once again with R&B superstar Brandy. Brandy has talent for sure, and a distinct sound, and more often than not, Kanye's collabos with R&B artists are definitely successful and craft great songs just because his style fits the mold for their singing almost seemlessly. Speaking of which, Kanye's powerful pianos are simply riveting on this track and completely outshine Kanye's rhyming to the point where I had to rewind the track twice to listen to the punchlines. Once again: that's his goal.

Two versions of the lead single are found on Late Registration. "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" is probably the most powerful beat on the album and perfect for a lead single. The incredibly expansive keyboard, biblical trumpets, and the dangerous violins provoke a thousand emotions in fans of not just rap, but all music. Of course, the Shirley Bassy sample will simultaneously add a much-needed texture to the song while bring back memories of 007. The original version pretty much finds Kanye using the "Diamonds" metaphor to describe the downfall of Rocafella Records after Jay-Z retires as Kanye vows to take his place and continue bringing financial success to the label, as well as a few lines about a lot of the public events he's been involved in, going so far as to call himself "the international asshole". True dat. The remix of the song finds Jay once again coming out of retirement to duet with Kanye. The intro to the song is indeed extended, but the beat is thankfully the same. Kanye's rhymes here once again revolve around his label while mixing in some commentary about society and the road we're apparently heading down. Jay just brags... but he's good at it.

"Hey Mama" is a throwback to "Family Business" from the first album where Kanye big-ups his family about his success. As expected, this is a dedication to the love and care that Kanye's mother gave him as a child. The song is light-hearted, fun, but also passionate and with lots of substance and meaning. Kanye's brings some incredibly emotional violins and soulful samples on "Celebration", which as the title implies, is Kanye's rags to riches story. Kanye not only raps quite skillfully, but he throws singing into the mix. Surprisingly, West is quite good at crooning. It's best to view the song as just music rather than hip-hop music. The same can be said for the rest of the album. "Gone" finds him going back to the fun, energetic, bragging tracks. Joined by Consequence (remember "Spaceship"?) and Cam'Ron, this is yet another dope showcase. The production is a bouncy, riveting, rollercoaster ride which is fun to listen to regardless of who you are. Cam'Ron is surprisingly dope on the track as well as Kanye, but Consequence steals the show with a retrospective, true hip-hop verse.