Run That Back: Kanye West - College Dropout

Kanye West's career turbulence would be foreshadowed by College Dropout, but more importantly, this album represents Kanye West embodying the Rocky Balboa of the music industry.

The Dropout Reaching His Potential

Before Swift, prior to Kardashian, and pre Trump, back in 2004, Kanye West was a true underdog who’s story and music earned the general public’s rooting interest. Back then, West encapsulated the persona he based his debut album after, the college dropout. The charismatic rapper fit that archetype of the ex-student with potential out the ass that had a low floor, but if everything broke right for him, could have the highest ceiling. Kanye West admits it himself in the auto-biographical track, Last Call. “Ain't nobody expect Kanye to end up on top. They expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop. Then maybe he stop savin' all the good beats for himself.”

“Ain't nobody expect Kanye to end up on top. They expected that College Dropout to drop and then flop. Then maybe he stop savin' all the good beats for himself.” - Last Call

College Dropout encapsulates a mindset that any listener can cherish, the realization your effort and hard work has a chance to flourish. The album is a mixture of Kanye West reminiscing the struggles, celebrating the success, mocking the doubters, and thanking his loved-ones. From a re-listen, its apparent West recognizes this album is only an opportunity for success, and leaves nothing unsaid in case this is his only musical chapter. It leads to him composing a charming album filled with impromptu shout-outs, enjoyable anecdotes, and personal songs. Despite the defined theme and tone, College Dropout offers plenty of range from humorous dorm room bangers to emotional ballads.

Backround

To record labels and underground hip-hop, Kanye West was no stranger. He had produced several beats for artists, most notably, Jay-Z. Yet, the general public couldn’t identify West, until he released his first commercial track, Through the Wire. Following the debut single’s rise up the charts, stories by Rolling Stone and MTV broke identifying West as a Rock-A-Fella producer, who in 2002 was involved in a near-fatal crash from falling asleep at the wheel. Listeners were enamored after finding out that Kanye West rapped Through the Wire two weeks after his accident with his jaw wired shut.

With such a unique underdog story that sounded like the plot of a Rocky movie and on the back of two successful singles, Slow Jamz and All Falls Down, Kanye West’s College Dropout debuted on the Billboard album charts at number two, selling almost half a million copies in it’s release week. The album would eventually hit triple-platinum, the public would adopt West as a Balboa-like figure, and 2004 would start West’s trajectory toward being a music influencer for the next decade.

High Note: Never Let Me Down

This song features West and Jay-Z trading boastful verses documenting their rise to the top. Accompanied by a choir singing a motivational chorus, both rappers spit an intoxicating flow over a dynamic Kanye beat that makes this song the perfect mixture of cockiness, emotion, and determination.

Under the Radar: Family Business

This piano driven track is the most emotional song on College Dropout, where Kanye West mourns a family member that is wrongfully locked-up. Family Business is one of the few songs without a featured artist but perfectly mixes a bass filled beat with an intoxicating sample of The Dells. Despite the production values, West’s emotion translates well on the track.

Very Vintage: Breathe In Breathe Out

This track features Ludacris singing a bland hook between some uninspired Kanye West raps that sound like Soulja Boy outtakes. For a song featuring two of the wittiest rappers of the time, the biggest misstep was not having Ludacris trading verses alongside West on the song.

“Y'all don't know my struggle. Y'all can't match my hustle. You can't catch my hustle. You can't fathom my love. Lock yourself in a room. Doin' five beats a day for three summers. That's a different world like Cree summers. I deserve to do these numbers” - Spaceship

Hitting the Point Home

Kanye West raps the above quote on the blues inspired track, Spaceship. These lyrics perfectly define the essence of West on College Dropout and that same philosophy would carry throughout his career both for better and for worse. It was apparent on his debut album that Kanye West loved music and worked on it meticulously to feed his passion. It was his passion and work ethic that listeners respected, making Kanye West a beloved music figure in 2004 and the three years following. Recognizing his own passion and work ethic also made West feel entitled to command the public’s attention and share his opinion for the next fifteen years.

Top of the Charts

College Dropout will be Kanye West’s best selling album at 3,400,000 copies and will be the launch point for a storied but embattled career. College Dropout is not West’s best album, and does not mark the peak of his pop culture relevance. What this album does represent is a critical evolution of rap music to expand into other genres. West’s debut also marked a return to sampling, which hadn’t been prominent in rap since Puff Daddy’s glory days. This album also represented an artist translating their personal style into music, which would influence artists such as B.o.B., Wiz Khalifa, and Kid Cudi.

The Crescendo

As can be heard on We Don’t Dare, College Dropout represented a description made famous by T.I., “the spirit of a hustler and the swagger of a college kid”, which Kanye West flawlessly communicated in the album’s lyrics and tone. Today, saying the name “Kanye West” evokes plenty of reaction, but College Dropout was the purest version of West, and it was refreshing to revisit his music at a time where Kanye carried no baggage, no expectations, and little influence.

The 2004 sound encapsulated West’s realization that his music had the chance to pay off, and spoiler alert, it will. Even though fifteen years later, we learn Kanye’s story hits plenty of turbulence, listen to College Dropout and forget the destination. It is pretty damn fun to get lost in the album and just live with West in his 2004 moment.