I'm shit at writing about rappers cause I barely listen to rap, but considering how much of this guy
I've listened to, I can't ignore him. The College Dropout(Roc-A-Fella, 2004) is an early peak for
Kanye West, he shows an understanding of the importance of song structuring and production
instead of stand-alone rapping ability, while that is also one of his proficiencies.
Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella, 2005) is the same situation except with glossier beats.
Graduation (Roc-A-Fella, 2007) is a nod to the "bling" era of rap at the time, featuring electronic
inspired beats that signify early what he'll do on 808s and Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella, 2008) which
is hardly a rap album. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella, 2010) makes for a
great listen for someone wanting to initially get into Kanye's music. It shows that while he is a celebrity
personality, there's also a good reason for it separate from controversy and drama. Songs that beg you
to come back to hear again, and a lot of different production ideas. Yeezus (Def Jam, 2013) is him
trying to be avant-garde but still ending up blending in with every other rapper. Still way more interesting
than The Life of Pablo (Good, 2016) which is unnecessarily long winded.Ye (Good, 2018) is a bare
fisted statement about his mental problems that isn't profound and doesn't have much of a payoff.
Jesus is King (Good, 2019) is a delightfully positive and short christian rap album that gets a lot of
hate for some strange reason. Donda (Good, 2021) is a continuation of this album but instead of being
short and sweet, it's literally almost two hours of even worse material that's even longer than it's jarring sequel
that is barely an album. Vultures (YZY SND, 2024) despite having mediocre lyrics is the most interesting
thing to happen in rap all year. It has some of his best beats of his career but still not enough for a full listen.