Reviewing Kanye's Graduation Album (and not stealing Madden's idea)

 

Hello fellows, the books I've been reading recently I already mentioned in my previous blog (Bark, not meow or bear), so I decided to write about one of Kanye's albums. I chose graduation because I enjoy it, and it's pretty popular. Let's get right into it!

1. Good Morning - I reviewed this one in my previous blog about Kanye, but the main idea is making the correct decisions. He's talking about what seems to be his younger-self in college before he dropped out, but he talks about how he wasn't focused in his work, cheating on tests and not paying attention in class. 

2. Champion - It seems like a big transition from the previous song, as he talks about his success and being a champion. Outside of this, it seems Kanye is showing his appreciation for his dad, talking about his dad getting him new clothes and other things he wanted even when they weren't the richest during Ye's childhood. 

3. Stronger - Ye seems to be talking about his championship over others, acting like everything is not good enough for him, or made too poorly compared to him. Talking about working harder and doing it better, which makes him stronger shows that his success wasn't just from luck or riches; he made himself rich, and earned it by putting in the work to get better.

4. I Wonder - Also wrote about this one in my previous blog on Kanye, but Kanye talks about how it's not just having dreams, it's following them and not giving up. Knowing what you want, and taking action on it, which won't always be easy, but will make life better.

5. Good Life - A good sequel to I Wonder, as it talks about the good life after following his dreams. He talks about all the things he does in his free time because of his success, meaning he doesn't have to work at all times. Some of the examples of this aren't the cleanest, but the message is there (trust).

6. Can't Tell Me Nothing - A mix of the previous songs, waiting till he gets his "money right," sounds like he's in the process of chasing his dreams and goals. He mentions the struggles of the efforts, showing it's not easy to stay consistent and not chose dumb decisions. On the other hand, he also let's people around him know where they will/are when he succeeds.

7. Barry Bonds - Kanye talks about the whole road of success. He talks about how he started really low, and mentions how people didn't believe in him, but he ignored the comments and did what he had to do, and became successful. He shows how frustrated at his haters, but he didn't need their help to achieve everything he's done.

8. Drunk and Hot Girls - Maybe a little less to analyze, but it connects with Good Morning, mentioning all the stuff they do for things (or someones) that probably isn't the most important thing for their life. On the less serious side, he talks about the problems of dealing with drunk girls and taking them home without also having to take anyone else, singing "I don't wanna drop your friends off, I just want you," but moving on...

9. Flashing Lights - Also from my previous post, (didn't realize all the songs I previously did were in this album) Flashing Lights talks about the bad sides of Good Life and I Wonder. The good life for this girl he talks about goes from Shooting Stars and nice vacations to Florida, to her view, which shoes and cars. This shows her perception of good life is just money and getting "flashed by the paparazzi." Even though this song is a little too old to fit this, I got that feeling that all we see is our phones and being rich, and forget about nature and going outside and playing something with friends.

10. Everything I Am - Another one about his journey to success. "Everything I'm not made me everything I am" makes me thing back to Champion because he shows how he used to be not very wealthy, but not he's very rich and gets to enjoy life. He also mentions how "I'll never be picture perfect Beyoncé," showing how he still isn't perfect, which also goes along with him mentioning all the comments about what Ye should and shouldn't do, but he doesn't listen to them. 

11. The Glory - Similar to a few others, he talks about how he raised above the people who didn't believe in him, doing it for the glory. All the work he put in wasn't just given to him, and mentions his minimal supporters in his dreams to be a college dropout rapper.

12. Homecoming - Ye talks about a girl (Wendy?) he's known since he was three years old. He talks about his admiration for her, because she could defend herself and him. She showed him how to take care of himself, and believed in his success, but when they went their own ways, he wonders if she still thinks about him. The girl talks about his success and how his kids look up to him, and Ye tries to represent her and his admiration of her.

13. Big Brother - Big Brother is Ye's tribute to Jay-Z, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He talks about how not only did Jay-Z take care of him, he showed how to take care of himself and be successful himself. Kanye shows jealousy, but out of respect to Jay-Z's success as a mentor. However, he does talk about the difficulties of being in the shadow of Jay-Z, making it harder to be recognized and respected.

And lastly, Good Night - A good outro to the Graduation album, kind of talking about his whole life so far. Starting with missing being a kid, and not being able to say goodbyes to some peoples, but also says you can't just be upset about the past, mentioning "I don't wanna say goodbye, to you. So I'll just say good night, to you." I more recently listened to this song, and really liked it's sort of mellow vibe that fits a nice outro to the whole album, and still includes his whole life following his dreams, but also having obstacles, like losing people on the way that you wish you could've said goodbye to, or never had to say goodbye to.

I hope you enjoyed my analysis, I highly recommend listening to all these songs - they are great, and let me know what you think.


Good morning and good night,

Gavin