On Thursdays we review albums that are considered “classic”. This week we will review the classic sophomore LP that gave music fans tracks like ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’, ‘Gold Digger’, ‘Touch the Sky’ and more, Kanye West’s Late Registration. Coming off his critically acclaimed and Grammy Award winning debut The College Dropout, Mr. West and the rap world had great expectations for this album, expectations that most artists likely could not live up to. However, instead of falling victim to the sophomore album curse, Kanye delivered and put out another near perfect album. This album had Kanye’s biggest radio hit, in ‘Gold Digger’, and two of the best rap songs ever created, in ‘Diamonds’ and ‘Gone’ (which wasn’t even a single). You can easily make the case that Late Registration is Kanye’s signature project and his discography’s best album.
If you’re a fan of rapper Consequence, there is a good chance it may be due to his work with Kanye West. From TheCollege Dropout track ‘Spaceship’ to their critically acclaimed ‘Gone’ on Late Registration, the two could always produce a great track. However after Kanye’s focus began to shift on other artists, Consequence was unhappy and felt that his career was put on the backburner. Eventually Consequence began to publicly speak on the end of his friendship with Kanye, eventually telling Power 105.1‘s “The Breakfast Club” about how Kanye did not reach out after the birth of Consequence’s son (despite the end of their friendship). “I didn’t never want no money from Kanye as far as my son was concerned. It’s just a matter of, ‘Yo congratulations; your life is changing.’ That’s a friend, so when you’re not my friend no more and I ghostwrote for, I’ma tell everybody.” It may be some time later, but it appears now that things are better, as the two were recently seen together at John Legend’s 36th birthday party this past weekend. Check out the photo below, and who knows, maybe we will see the two combine for another great track one day.
The best and brightest of this past week in music, as well as a throwback track! Hopefully you can bump these tracks on your way to work to brighten up your Monday mornings. This week we have new music from Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, G-Eazy, A$AP Rocky and more! Continue reading Songs of the Week featuring Kanye West, G-Eazy, A$AP Rocky and More!→
It had been awhile since we had heard new music from Kanye West and over a year since the release of Kanye’s latest studio album Yeezus. However, to kick off the new year Kanye surprised us all by dropping a new single, one nothing like Yeezus, and the one we had all been waiting for. Last year, rumors circulated that Kanye and The Beatles legendary frontman Paul McCartney were recording together and now we know the reports were true. Kanye’s newly released ballad ‘Only One’ features Sir Paul McCartney, as Kanye sings from the perspective of his late mother, Dr. Donda West, about Kanye and his new wife and daughter. If combining the talents of one of the greatest rappers of all-time and the leader of the most influential band of all-time were not enough in itself, the track as it stands could not be more beautiful. Only time will tell, but ‘Only One’ may likely be known as one of the best songs ever recorded. Continue reading Track Review: Only One | Kanye West ft. Paul McCartney→
To kick off the new year, fans heard the first collaboration between Kanye West and Paul McCartney, the beautiful ballad ‘Only One‘ dedicated to Kanye’s late mother, Dr. Donda West. However, according to rapper Ty Dolla $ign there is more Kanye and Paul to come. During his interview will Billboard, Ty revealed that another song has been recorded between Kanye and the legendary Beatle, which also features Ty himself and Rihanna. No exact word on a release date, but stay tuned for more details!
Last year we heard the stories of the secret Kanye West and Paul McCartney track, although much about the collaboration was unknown. Now it is finally here and it was well worth the wait. Fans of Kanye tracks like ‘Hey Mama’ and ‘Roses’ will love this one as ‘Only One’ is a beautiful ballad dedicated to West’s daughter North (Nori) and one of the best songs you may ever hear. While Paul McCartney’s exact contributions on the track are unknown at this time, he is there somewhere, and if you can’t remember another time the most famous Beatle had a song with a rapper… its because it has never happened (until now).
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Nicki Minaj addressed the chocking and death of Eric Garner by a NYPD officer and her opinion on why black artists sometimes choose not to speak out against racial injustices. Specifically Minaj cited the backlash Kanye West received after his famous “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” quote, when addressing a televised audience during the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In 2014, we at The Early Registration have been able to cover and send our photographers to a lot of great shows throughout the country. Check out our list below (in no particular order) to see some of our favorite shows and best shots of the year.
On Thursdays we review albums that are considered “classic”. This week we will review the classic LP that has been recently named the most ground-breaking album of all time by Rolling Stone, Kanye West’s game-changing 808s & Heartbreak. While Mr. West had always stepped away from conventional rap structure since the inception of his career with The College Dropout, Ye really reinvented the wheel with this one. Creating a concept album that contained 11-tracks (and one live bonus track) of music made entirely from an 808s synthesizer, themed around love and which all contained heavy use of auto-tune, Kanye made a musical masterpiece which was widely misunderstood and polarizing during its initial 2008 release but which is now the most influential album of all time. This album paved the way for today’s popular artists (mainly Drake), further introduced the world to brilliance of Kid Cudi (who had a vast influence on the album’s sound), and showed us that even when Kanye “can’t sing” he can make a singing album better than anyone else.
Formerly a model for American Apparel and a dancer for his Yeezus Tour, Kanye West has signed pop singer Kacy Hill to his G.O.O.D Music label. Follow Kacy on Twitter and check out the video for her debut single ‘Experience’ below. We certainly look forward to hearing more from Hill in the future.
The Early Registration 