In hindsight, they are the optical equivalent of being a douchebag. If you don’t know what stunner shades are, consider yourself lucky. I am rather ashamed to admit that I also brought my trusty pair of stunner shades to accompany me. If this wasn’t dedication enough, upon my first ever Kanye West concert, I donned a Chicago Bulls jersey (I thought reppin’ his home town would somehow draw more attention to myself in the pathetic hope of being noticed amongst the sea of screaming fans in the mosh). In my first year of university I graced the campus with a sweatshirt emblazoned with the “Dropout bear,” the mascot that served as the icon for the trilogy of West albums that highlighted his own trials and tribulations of seeking an education. The iPod I still carry with me everywhere has the lyrics from the Graduation track Homecoming engraved on the back, “ Reach for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud”, a permanent reminder of the confidence and motivation that Kanye has created in his music, and a sentiment has affected my own personal motivations and desires. It was not long after hearing this album for the first time that I became a devotee of Mr West. Kanye showed me the depth that the hip-hop genre had to offer, there were stories to be told, commentary to be made, and infectious sounds to be created. The College Dropout changed those expectations I began to view rap music as a chameleon, a soulful expression, a genre moulded for purpose and message. 2003 saw 50 Cent’s debut Get Rich or Die Tryin’, and introduced me to a hard-hitting genre, while the work of Eminem had demonstrated a violent, angry delivery. I was eager for anything gangster, unsure of how a rap song was supposed to sound, but naively I thought I was starting to get a fair understanding. I remember myself as a budding hip hop head in high school, getting my feet wet for the first time in the rap world. This album is a stellar example of production, and introduced the trademark Kanye West sound fans have grown to love, and that the industry itself has used as a benchmark for lyricism, production and beat-making. Not only did it introduce me to a side of hip-hop I was unaware of, it granted me a fascinating insight into one of the most gifted musicians of our time. His 2004 release The College Dropout serves as one of the most influential, monumental and personally heartwarming albums that I have ever had the pleasure of lending my ears to. My respect and admiration for Kanye is entirely on a musical level. He is depicted by the media as a selfish, egocentric jerk, who enjoys belittling paparazzi, flaunting his self worth and making the world cringe as he throws verbal barbs at Beck. To me, Kanye West will always be a musician first and foremost no matter how big he may end up within the fashion world, or how many radio rants he embarks on declaring that he is the Shakespeare and Walt Disney of our generation. Kanye West gets a pretty bad wrap these days. “ Do the fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest? But all they got left is this guy called West.”
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