The College Dropout

Untitled

The College Dropout is the debut album of American hip hop artist Kanye West, released February 10, 2004 on Roc-A-Fella Records. It was recorded over a period of four years, beginning in 1999. Prior to the album's release, West had worked on rapper Jay-Z's The Blueprint (2001), which showcased his melodic and soulful style of hip hop production. Produced entirely by West, The College Dropout features musical contributions from Jay-Z, John Legend, Ervin "EP" Pope, Miri Ben-Ari, Syleena Johnson, and Ken Lewis. Discarding the then-dominant gangster persona in hip hop, West's lyrics on the album concern themes of family, religion, self-consciousness, materialism, and personal struggles.

The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 441,000 copies in its first week. It was a massive commercial success, producing five singles that achieved chart success. Upon its release, The College Dropout received general acclaim from most music critics and earned West several accolades, including a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 47th Grammy Awards. It is West's best-selling album in the United States, with domestic sales of over 3.5 million copies and worldwide sales of over four million copies. Rolling Stone named it the tenth-best album of the 2000s decade.

Conception

Background

Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of three, West's parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Chicago, Illinois. West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age; and his mother recalled that she first took notice of his passion for drawing and music when he was in the third grade. Growing up in the city, West became deeply involved in its hip hop scene. He started rapping in the third grade and began making beats in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists. He crossed paths with producer/DJ No I.D., with whom he quickly formed a close friendship. No. I.D. soon became Kanye's mentor, and it was from him that West learned how to sample and program beats after he received his first sampler at the age of fifteen.

After graduating from West Aurora High School, West received a scholarship to attend Chicago's American Academy of Art and began taking painting classes, but shortly after transferred to Chicago State University to major in English. He continued making strides in his rapping and beat-making, and some of his earliest beats were sold to local underground rappers such as Gravity as well as major-label artists like Ma$e. However, it soon became apparent to West that his busy class schedule was a detriment with his work, and at the age of 20 he made the decision to drop out of college to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. This action greatly displeased his mother, who was a professor at the university from which he withdrew. She later commented, "It was drummed into my head that college is the ticket to a good life... but some career goals don't require college. For Kanye to make an album called College Dropout it was more about having the guts to embrace who you are, rather than following the path society has carved out for you."

West began his early production career in the mid-1990s, making beats primarily for burgeoning local artists, eventually developing a style that involved speeding up vocal samples from classic soul records. He came to achieve recognition and is often credited with revitalizing Jay-Z's career with his contributions on the rap mogul's classic and influential 2001 album The Blueprint. In addition to producing the hit lead single "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and the introspective "Never Change", West was also responsible for supplying the beat to the diss track "Takeover", in which lyrical shots were fired at Nas and Prodigy. The Blueprint has been named by Rolling Stone as the 464th greatest album of all time. Serving as an in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, West produced records for other Roc artists, including Beanie Sigel, Freeway, and Cam'ron. He also crafted hit songs for Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson.

Despite his proven talent and success as a producer, West's true aspiration was to be a rapper. Though he had developed his emceeing skills long before he began producing, it was a challenge for West to be accepted as a rapper, and he struggled to attain a record deal. Multiple record companies pushed him aside because he did not portray the gangsta image prominent in mainstream hip hop. After a series of meetings with Capitol Records, West was ultimately denied an artist deal. According to Capitol Record's A&R, Joe "3H" Weinberger, he was approached by West and almost inked a deal with him, but another person in the company got in the ear of Capitol's president, saying, "He's just a producer/rapper. Those record won't do well. He'll never sell." and the deal was nullified. In a desperate attempt to keep their gifted producer from defecting to another label, then-label head Dame Dash reluctantly signed West to Roc-A-Fella Records. Jay-Z later admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that he, like many, saw him as a producer first and foremost, and that his background contrasted with that of his labelmates. West's breakthrough came a year later on October 23, 2002, when, while driving home from a California recording studio after working late, he fell asleep at the wheel and was involved in a near-fatal car crash. The crash left him with a shattered jaw, which had to be wired shut in reconstructive surgery. The accident inspired West; two weeks after being admitted to hospital, he recorded a song at the Record Plant Studios with his jaw still wired shut. The composition, "Through The Wire", went on to become West's breakthrough debut single and helped lay the foundation for his debut album.

Recording

The College Dropout was recorded at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, California, but its beats were formed elsewhere over the course of several years. According to John Monopoly, West's friend, manager and business partner, the album "...[didn't have] a particular start date. He's been gathering beats for years. He was always producing with the intention of being a rapper. There's beats on the album he's been literally saving for himself for years." At one point, West hovered between making a portion of the beats in the studio and the majority within his own apartment in Newark, New Jersey. Because it was a two-bedroom apartment, West was able to set up a home studio in one of the rooms and his bedroom in the other. Carrying a Louis Vuitton backpack filled with old disks and demos to the studio and back, West crafted beats in less than fifteen minutes at a time. He recorded the remainder of the album in Los Angeles while recovering from the car accident. Once he had completed the album, it was leaked months before its release date. However, West decided to use the opportunity to make the album even better, and The College Dropout was significantly remixed, remastered, and revised before being released. As a result, certain tracks originally destined for the album were subsequently retracted, among them "Keep the Receipt" with Ol' Dirty Bastard and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" with Consequence. West meticulously refined the production, adding string arrangements, gospel choirs, improved drum programming and new verses.

Music

The College Dropout discarded the then-dominant gangster persona in favor of more diverse, topical proponents. Throughout the album, West touches on a number of different life-related issues, including organized religion, family, sexuality, excessive materialism, self-consciousness, minimum-wage labor, institutional prejudice, and personal struggles. Music journalist Kelefa Sanneh wrote, "Throughout the album Mr. West taunts everyone who didn't believe in him: teachers, record executives, police officers, even his former boss at the Gap". In an interview conducted just before the album's release, West commented, "My persona is that I'm the regular person. Just think about whatever you've been through in the past week, and I have a song about that on my album." "Never Let Me Down" uses a Jay-Z verse first heard in the remix of his song "Hovi Baby".

Singles

The album's first single and West's debut single, "Through the Wire", was inspired by his 2002 car accident and provides a comedic account of his difficult recovery. The chorus and instrumentals sample a "pitched up" version of Chaka Khan's 1985 single "Through the Fire". The single debuted at number ninety-four on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number fifteen on February 3, 2004 for five weeks. It remained on the chart for twenty-one weeks. It performed better on the urban contemporary charts, reaching number eight on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and number four on the Hot Rap Tracks. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked for two weeks, and exited the chart after nine weeks. The track charted lower in other European countries, reaching the top thirty in Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands; the top fifty in Belgium and Switzerland; and number sixty-one in Germany. Its maximum peak time in those countries lasted one week. The single entered the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twenty-four and peaked at number sixteen.

The second single, "Slow Jamz", is a tribute to classic smooth soul artists and slow jam songs. It previously appeared on rapper Twista's album Kamikaze (2003), and contains vocals from Twista, West, and Jamie Foxx. The single peaked at number one in the United States, becoming Twista's, West's, and Foxx's first number one hit. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and Q listed it as the nineteenth greatest hip-hop song of all time. "All Falls Down" was released as the third single, and it entered the UK Singles Chart at number ten and peaked at number seven on the U.S. Hot 100. The song features singer Syleena Johnson and contains an interpolation of Lauryn Hill's "Mystery of Iniquity". Kanye originally attempted to acquire legal clearance to sample the recording, but permission was withheld. West called upon Johnson to re-sing a vocal portion of "Mystery of Iniquity", which ended up in the final mix. The song later appeared with the original sample on the mixtape Freshmen Adjustment.

The fourth single, "Jesus Walks", was originally written and recorded as a solo track for Chicago-based rapper Rhymefest. However, because he did not have a record deal at the time, he and West re-wrote the song for The College Dropout. "Jesus Walks" is built around a sample of "Walk With Me" as performed by the ARC Choir. Garry Mulholland of The Observer described it as a "towering inferno of martial beats, fathoms-deep chain gang backing chants, a defiant children's choir, gospel wails, and sizzling orchestral breaks." A spiritual trek, the first verse of the song is told through the eyes of a drug dealer seeking God, and it reportedly took over six months for West to draw inspiration for the second verse. The single earned widespread commercial success, peaking at number eleven in the United States and becoming West's fourth top twenty hit, while peaking at number sixteen in the UK. It was nominated for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, one of ten total Grammy nominations that West received for 2004. The fifth and final single, "The New Workout Plan", peaked at number fifty-nine on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. The song contains violin by Miri Ben-Ari. The song's official remix was produced by Lil Jon and features guest appearances from Twista, Luke, and Fonzworth Bentley. The remix was later included on The College Dropout Video Anthology.

The planned sixth single was "Spaceship", featuring GLC and Consequence. This was confirmed in 2009 when GLC reported that a music video had been made for the song, but never released; the label decided to move on from the album to begin promoting West's second album, Late Registration. On June 3, 2009, West uploaded the video on his official blog. At one time, "Two Words" (featuring Mos Def and Freeway) was also intended to be released as a single, and a video for the song was filmed. West uploaded the video on his official blog in May 2009..

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 441,000 copies in its first week. By April 2004, it had sold in excess of 1 million copies in the United States. On June 30, 2004, the album was certified double platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, following sales of 2 million copies. As of July 2009, The College Dropout is West's best-selling album in the United States, with domestic sales of over 3.5 million copies; it has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

Critical response

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(A)
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times	(favorable)
Pitchfork Media	(8.2/10)
PopMatters	(favorable)
Rolling Stone
Stylus Magazine	(A)
The Village Voice	(favorable)

Upon its release, the album received general acclaim from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 88/100 from Metacritic. The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin praised its "substance, social commentary, righteous anger, ornery humanism, dark humor, and even Christianity", and he called The College Dropout "one of those wonderful crossover albums that appeal to a huge audience without sacrificing a shred of integrity". Jon Pareles of Blender gave the album a 4 out of 5 star rating and commended West for his performance and production. Spin magazine's Chris Ryan shared a similar sentiment and called West a "full-service hip-hop artiste", writing "As a producer, he shuttles back and forth between stuttering Southern bounce and graceful, elegiac, classic-soul tear-jerking; as a rapper, he’s got a sly sense of humor, an appealingly conversational tone, and a big heart". New York magazine's Ethan Brown commended West for his "emotional brand of hip-hop" and stated "he makes autobiography universal in a way that hasn’t really been heard in hip-hop since the mid-nineties". The Boston Globe's Renee Graham lauded the album's subject matter, and wrote that "West has certainly raised the bar on what mainstream hip-hop can and should be". Hua Hsu of The Village Voice wrote favorably of West's life-related themes and his use of sped-up samples, stating, "Kanye's beats carry a humble, human air. You can still hear tiny traces of actual people inside". In his consumer guide for the Voice, Robert Christgau gave The College Dropout an A rating and wrote, "Not only does he create a unique role model, that role model is dangerous--his arguments against education are as market-targeted as other rappers' arguments for thug life". Entertainment Weekly's Michael Endelman gave it an A- rating and called its production "uplifting". Endelman also praised West's subject matter and avoidance of the then-dominant "gangsta" persona of hip hop, stating:

West delivers the goods with a disarming mix of confessional honesty and sarcastic humor, earnest idealism and big-pimping materialism. In a scene still dominated by authenticity battles and gangsta posturing, he's a middle-class, politically conscious, post-thug, bourgeois rapper -- and that's nothing to be ashamed of..

— Michael Endelman

Despite perceiving "too many guest artists, too many interludes, and just too many songs period" as its flaws, Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani gave the album 3½ out of 5 stars and wrote favorably of West's lyrical observations. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times gave The College Dropout a generally positive review, commending West for his lyrics and calling it "2004's first great hip-hop album". PopMatters critic Dave Heaton gave the album a rave review and called it "musically enganging", and wrote that "every single one of these songs comes off like a genuine extension of Kanye's personality and experiences". Vibe's Dan Frosch gave The College Dropout a 4 out of 5 disc rating and viewed West's rapping as being on par with his production. Joe Warminsky of The Washington Post praised West's sampling of soul music and use of live instrumentation. Warminsky also lauded West's performance on the album, writing that "West shows a balance between patience and imagination" and "a lot of the soul on The College Dropout comes from within". Despite writing "West isn't quite MC enough to hold down the entire disc", Rolling Stone's Jon Caramanica lauded West's soul-based sampling and vulnerable lyrics. Los Angeles Times writer Soren Baker gave the album 3 out of 4 stars and lauded West's "witty wordplay, ability to weave political statements into clever punchlines and his likable personality in the face of peril". Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork Media gave it a 8.2/10 rating and called it a "flawed, overlong, hypocritical, egotistical, and altogether terrific album". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave The College Dropout 4½ out of 5 stars and wrote that it demonstrates West as a "remarkably versatile lyricist and a valuable MC".

Accolades

The album was nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and won Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for "Jesus Walks" in 2005. It was voted as the best album of the year by Rolling Stone and in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. Spin ranked it number one on its list of 40 Best Albums of the Year. Comedian Chris Rock has attested to listening to The College Dropout while writing his material. In 2005, Pitchfork Media named it #50 in their best albums of 2000–2004. In 2006, the album was named by Time as one of the 100 best albums of all time. In its retrospective 2007 issue, XXL awarded it a perfect "XXL" rating, which had previously been given to only sixteen other albums. In its July 4, 2008 issue, Entertainment Weekly listed College Dropout as the fourth best album of the past 25 years. The magazine later listed the album as the best album of the decade. The magazine also ranked it number one on its list of 10 Best Albums of the Decade. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "The 2004 debut from West—a revolutionarily relatable rapper who also happened to be a beatmaking genius—was accepted into the hip-hop canon instantly, no diploma needed." Rhapsody named it the seventh best album of the decade and the fourth best hip hop album of the decade. Rolling Stone ranked it number 10 on its list of the 100 Best Album of the Decade and stated, "Kanye expanded the musical and emotional language of hip-hop ... he challenged all the rules, dancing across boundaries others were too afraid to even acknowledge".

Track listing

CD

• All tracks produced by Kanye West except "Last Call" which is co-produced by Evidence.

No.	Title	Music	Sample(s)	Length
1.	"Intro" (West)	*Vocals: DeRay Davis		0:19
2.	"We Don't Care" (West/Vannelli)	* Additional vocals: John Legend, Riccarda Watkins, Keyshia Cole, Terence Hardy, Diamond Alabi-Isama, James "JT" Knight Violin: Miri Ben-Ari	* Contains a sample of "I Just Wanna Stop" performed by The Jimmy Castor Bunch	3:59
3.	"Graduation Day" (West)	* Piano and vocals: John Legend Violin: Miri Ben-Ari		1:22
4.	"All Falls Down" (feat. Syleena Johnson) (West/Hill)	* Guitar: Eric "E-Bass" Johnson Acoustic Guitar: Ken Lewis	* Contains an interpolation of "Mystery of Iniquity" performed by Lauryn Hill	3:43
5.	"I'll Fly Away" (Brumley)	* Additional vocals: Tony Williams Piano: Ervin "EP" Pope		1:09
6.	"Spaceship" (feat. GLC, Consequence) (West/Williams/Harris/Mills/Gaye/Gordy/Greene)	* Additional vocals: Tony Williams, John Legend	* Contains a sample of "Distant Lover" performed by Marvin Gaye	5:24
7.	"Jesus Walks" (West/Smith)	* Additional vocals: John Legend Violin: Miri Ben-Ari	* Contains a sample of "Walk with Me" performed by The ARC Choir Contains a vocal sample of "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" performed by Curtis Mayfield	3:13
8.	"Never Let Me Down" (feat. Jay-Z, J. Ivy) (West/Carter/Richardson/Bolton/Kulick)	* Background vocals: John Legend, Tracie Spencer Keyboards: Ervin "EP" Pope Guitar: Glenn Jefferey Sample recreated and performed by Ken Lewis	* Contains a sample of "Maybe It's the Power of Love" performed by Blackjack	5:24
9.	"Get 'Em High" (feat. Talib Kweli, Common) (West/Greene/Lynn)	* Additional vocals: Sumeke Rainey		4:49
10.	"Workout Plan" (West)	* Vocals: Candis Brown, Brandi Kuykenvall, Tiera Singleton		0:46
11.	"The New Workout Plan" (West)	* Additional vocals: John Legend, Sumeke Rainey Talkbox: Bosko Guitar: Eric "E-Bass" Johnson Piano: Ervin "EP" Pope Violin: Miri Ben-Ari		5:22
12.	"Slow Jamz" (feat. Twista, Jamie Foxx) (West/Mitchell/Bacharach/David)	* Additional vocals: Aisha Tyler Keyboards: Ervin "EP" Pope Guitar: Glen Jefferey	* Contains a sample of "A House is Not a Home" performed by Luther Vandross	5:16
13.	"Breathe In, Breathe Out" (feat. Ludacris) (West/Miller)	* Violins: Miri Ben-Ari		4:06
14.	"School Spirit Skit 1" (West)			1:18
15.	"School Spirit" (West/Franklin)	* Additional vocals: Tony Williams	* Contains a sample of "Spirit in the Dark" performed by Aretha Franklin	3:02
16.	"School Spirit Skit 2" (West)	Vocals: Deray		0:43
17.	"Lil Jimmy Skit" (West)	* Additional vocals by Tony Williams Piano: Ervin "EP" Pope		0:53
18.	"Two Words" (feat. Mos Def, Freeway, The Harlem Boys Choir) (West/Smith/Pridgen/Wilson/Wilson/Wilson)	* Keyboards: Keith Slattery Violins: Miri Ben-Ari	* Contains a sample "Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) - Movement III (Encounter)" performed by Mandrill	4:26
19.	"Through the Wire" (West/Foster/Keane/Weil)		* Contains a sample of "Through the Fire" performed by Chaka Khan	3:41
20.	"Family Business" (West)	* Additional vocals: Thomasina Atkins, Linda Petty, Beverly McCargo, Lavel Mena, Thai Jones, Kevin Shannon, Tarey Torae Piano: Josh Zandman	* Contains a sample from "Fonky Thang" performed by The Dells Additional instrumentation: Ken Lewis	4:38
21.	"Last Call"		* Contains a sample of "Mr.Rockefeller" performed by Bette Midler	12:40

LP

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Don't Care"
2.	"Graduation Day"
3.	"All Falls Down"
4.	"Spaceship"
5.	"Jesus Walks"

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Never Let Me Down"
2.	"Get Em High"
3.	"The New Workout Plan"
4.	"Through the Wire"

Side three

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Slow Jamz"
2.	"Breathe in Breathe Out"
3.	"School Spirit"
4.	"Two Words"

Side four

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Family Business"
2.	"Last Call"

Personnel

• Executive Producers: Shawn Carter, Damon Dash, Kareem "Biggs" Burke
• Co-Executive Producers: G. Roberson, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua, Kanye West, Michael Perretta
• A&R Direction: Hip Hop Since 1978, Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds
• A&R Coordinator: Shalik Berry, Ramses Francois, Darrin Asemota
• Direction of Joint Ventures: Darcell Lawrence
• Recording Administration: Tony Vanias
• Mastering: Eddy Schreyer
• Marketing for Hip Hop Since 1978: Al Branch
• Marketing for Roc-a-Fella Records: Girard Hunt, Osayamen Asemota

• Marketing for Def Jam: Shante Bacon
• Management: John Monopoly, Don C., Benny Medina, Andrei McQuillan
• Art Direction & Design: Eric Duvauchelle, Mike Godshall, Jim Morris, Stephanie Reynolds, Lauri Rowe
• Dropout Bear Logo Design: Bobby Naugle, Sam Hansen
• Costumes: O Share Stylez, Kanye West
• Legal Counsel: Alison K. Finley
• Business Affairs: Randy McMillan, Antoinette Trotman, Ian Allen
• Sample Clearance Agent: Eric Weissman

Chart history

Album

Charts (2004)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	2
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	1
U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums	1
French Albums Chart	98
German Albums Chart	77
Swedish Albums Chart	39
UK Albums Chart	12

Singles

Song	Chart (2003)	Peak position
"Slow Jamz"	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
	Rhythmic Top 40	1
	Hot Rap Tracks	3
	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks	1
	Top 40 Mainstream	2
"Through the Wire"	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	15
	Rhythmic Top 40	10
	Hot Rap Tracks	4
	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks	8
	Top 40 Mainstream	32
	Top 40 Tracks	25

Song	Chart (2004)	Peak position
"All Falls Down"	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	7
	Rhythmic Top 40	7
	Hot Rap Tracks	2
	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks	4
	Top 40 Mainstream	22
	Top 40 Tracks	11
"Jesus Walks"	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	11
	Rhythmic Top 40	16
	Hot Rap Tracks	3
	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks	2
"The New Workout Plan"	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks	59

References

• Brown, Jake (2006). Kanye West in the Studio: Beats Down! Money Up! (2000-2006). Colossus Books. ISBN 0-9767735-6-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Hess, Mickey (2007). Icons of Hip Hop: an Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-33904-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• West, Donda (2007). Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 1-416-54470-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• The College Dropout at Discogs
• The College Dropout at Metacritic