The Imperfect Innovation of Kanye Wests Graduation
Graduation, which turns ten today, probably isn’t the worst Kanye West LP, but even if it were, that would hardly be cause for shame. In keeping with its title, Kanye’s third album puts on a weird costume and participates in a ceremonious procession, but behind the ordered facade something disheveled invariably peeps through. Graduation marks the first work from the artist that isn’t entirely cohesive. The flow between songs is interrupted by variances in production: Instead of the unified, mural-like soundscape of The College Dropout and Late Registration, the impression left by Graduation is more of a collage.
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