Throwback Thursday: Kanye West ‘The College Dropout’

It might be hard to think now, but Kanye West hasn’t always been a monolithic megastar, booked to play the likes of Glastonbury and causing a wave of controversy in the process. There was a time when not even spiritual partner Jay-Z believed in him enough to give him a deal as a rapper, despite his considerable production nous, but eventually when he did the first album it would become a record many consider his greatest, The College Dropout (stream below on Spotify).

West had already shown his renown behind the boards with Dead Prez and then the likes of Scarface, Monica and Alicia Keys, notably stamping his image over Jay-Z and his Rocafella cohorts.

Jigga's The Blueprint grandstanded a sea change in hip hop production manoeuvres led by West and Just Blaze, but College Dropout took Kanye's personal attempt at evolving the genre further, introducing a completely different persona to the hip hop landscape.

Here was a rapper that was inherently commercial yet still appealed to the hardcore hip-hop enthusiasts on the underground, someone sensitive beyond the usual thugged out stereotype who, as he himself stated, was the "first with a benz and a backpack" (even if it was made by Louis Vuitton).

Stylistically he was inherently different from the rest too, combining preppy Americana with high end fashion, worlds apart from the testosterone drenched baggy jeans and chains template.

This album was bolstered by breakthrough singles ‘All Falls Down’, ‘Through the Wire’ and ‘Jesus Walks’, but for any other artist the likes of ‘Breath in Breath Out’ and ‘Spaceship’ could be signature radio cuts.

It boasted a rippling undercurrent of joy that owed much to the jiggy era of hip-hop of the late nineties and the warmth of classic soul (the sped up sample of Chaka Khan on ‘Through the Wire’ case in point, check out how it originally sound below), but whereas Puff Daddy was lampooned for bastardising eighties hits, West was credited with bridging the gap between the conflicting attitudes in hip hop.

Album opener ‘We Don’t Care’ was the closest thing to embodying hip-hop’s self-congratulatory interpretation of the American dream since Biggie’s ‘Juicy’, a deliciously playful mock of the establishment’s view of the genre. The chorus, urging “drug dealers just to get by, stack ya money till it gets sky high”, also managed to impart euphoric relief of compounding expectation - “we weren’t supposed to make it past twenty five, the jokes on you we still alive”.

West used that and other moments to doff his (designer) cap to the streets with which hip hop is always intrinsically linked, without ever claiming he was anything he wasn't. That continued on the album's darker moments as well (notably 'Two Words'), with Kanye fully aware (at least at this point in time) that he wasn’t the finest rapper on the planet or the most lyrically acerbic.

He made up for that with the presence of genuinely great lyricists Talib Kweli, Common and Mos Def added a heavyweight presence but it was still Kanye who came up with the show-stopping gambits, introducing us to a rapper who could combine the sublime with the ridiculous like no other.

It's been a consistent theme throughout his career; 2013's Yeezus has him yelling “where’s my damn croissant” with beguiling comic beauty, with show stopping asides part of his multi-faceted resume.

Whether it’s breaking hip-hop's golden rule of never rhyming the same word with aplomb ("can’t complain what the accident did to my left eye/ ‘Cause look what an accident did to Left Eye" on 'Through the Wire'), or outlandish pop culture references (comparing his need for god with Chat show host Kathie Lee's partner Regis on 'Jesus Walks'), West managed to pack conviction and power into the most simplest of concepts.

College Dropout was that at every stage, unashamedly accessible but backed up by the rapper's swagger, charisma and, this crucial facet, vulnerability. Great albums always showcase a personality at a particular point of time and long before the rants, the high profile marriages, the award ceremony faux pas’ and the presidential disapproval, this album introduced a superstar.

It rippled with classic arrogance and braggadocio, often at the heart of great hip-hop music, but betrayed a man comfortable looking into his faults. The album had them too, slightly bloated and definitely far too many skits, but it was still a brilliantly transformative LP which helped shift the doirection of both hip hop and pop music.

A decade later and West is probably the biggest star on the planet, having delivered Grammy award winning album after Grammy award winning album and seduced the fashion, rock music and radio worlds with elan and zeal. This album introduced one of the greatest musical enigmas of all time to the world. It's not been the same since.

Head here for more on Kanye West. And some scamps have decided to take a Kanye themed festival across the UK.