I'm still digesting the whole record.
It's ballsy as hell. To be one of the biggest names in mainstream hip-hop and be this adventurous with a record...that's why the phrase instant classic keeps getting thrown around. Though, I suppose if it was edgy, different and sucked...nobody would have said that.
Progressive is the first word that comes to mind, for a lot of reasons. He's obviously digging in the prog-rock crates for some inspiration and samples (see King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man") but he's still rooted in pop sensibilities. I'd say it's out there in spots for a hip-hop album, but in the pop world it's no more progressive than anything off of Genesis' "Invisible Touch" record in '86. You know...when they were at their least progressive, where Phil Collins wrote these big poppy hooks, but still had some darkenss to it, but then the band had like two extra minutes on each song, for keyboardy vamps and dancability.
The extended piano intro on "Runaway" is unheard of...and is almost too long to where I thought my iPod was fucked up, until that beat comes in and it just KILLS! Fucking brilliant. The outro of the same song gets to be a bit much, but I understand why he did it, and it's cool. Of course, it's going to spawn all kinda of meandering bullshit copycats who think they're good enough to play distorted orchestra melodies with their mouth over somebody else's track. No thanks.
The production overall is a bit gritty. He's not clear and upfront like the College Dropout days. He's either back in the mix a bit, or if he is upfront, he's got some filtering on him. It's not anything new, considering "Ill Communication" was made 15 years ago, but it's still kind of refreshing to hear it come back just a little bit.
This is one of those records that is different and progressive, but has just enough of a foothold in classic hip-hop that the hip-hop audience might actually be ready to accept it. They definitely need it, and Kanye's maybe the only artist who could deliver it to them who has enough sway to make it matter.
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