What Kanye West’s ‘College Dropout’ Means to KarenCivil.com
by Staff Editor
In hip hop, the word “classic” is thrown around far too often. However, a true classic project evokes feelings, memories and carries the same same replay value that it did the first time it was added to an iTunes library, put in a CD player or even played on a record player.
With today marking the 10-year anniversary of Kanye West’s debut album, The College Dropout, there has been a decade of impacted music heads that can relate to the work that the then Louis Vuitton Don has provided us. Serving as an introduction to an artist that would change the game and cement himself as one of the current greats, the influence that The College Dropout had on hip hop can still be seen in a, now established, new school of hip hop heads, artists and producers that all pulled from what made Kanye special; his honesty, his soul-sample, his ability to relate and much more. Check out personal anecdotes from the Karen Civil staff on their relationship with the album after the jump…
The College Dropout is my favorite piece of music ever created, end of story. It’s not the first album I ever owned (Get Rich or Die Tryin’ gets that honor), but it had an obvious impact on the person that I grew up to become. With this album, Kanye West began his reign as the people’s champ that wrote about experiences that we could all relate to (side-eye to Yeezus). The 11-year-old me growing up on Chicago’s Southside didn’t quite relate to 50 Cent’s recollections of the club scene; truthfully, I had no idea what half of what I was rapping along to meant. But Kanye was different, I understood him. For at least 6 months and at most 3 years (probably closer to the latter), the only music I listened to was The College Dropout. My mother had actually bought me the edited version of the album and I got so attached to it on such an intimate level that it’s still the only version you can find in my iTunes; I still even take breaths on the profanity when I rap. I hi-jacked my grandmother’s stereo after school everyday, playing every verse back until I knew it so well that when a friend named a track number I could recite the entire song (ad-libs included). Then my family made the faithful mistake of getting me a portable CD player. The College Dropout was my life’s soundtrack for the first stage of what I guess you’d call my coming of age.
Kanye’s The College Dropout is the type of album that can be played in virtually any setting. With the inspirational and heartfelt tracks like “All Falls Down”, “Jesus Walks” & “Through The Wire”, I was able to feel Kanye’s passion and easily understand his story, while songs like “Slow Jamz” and “We Don’t Care” confirmed the ideology that Ye was a musical genius. The feelings I get from songs like those can never be explained in words, ever. I was a pretty young hip hop fan when College Dropout was released, so as much as I loved 50, Jay and other “street” rappers, I had a hard time understanding everything they were talking about. But with Kanye’s College Dropout, that was the first time an emcee delivered an album that I could truly relate to. The order of the track list, the diversity of each song, and the overall production has made Yeezy’s debut a timeless classic. To this day, a decade later, CD gets its well-deserved clicks on my iTunes.
Throughout all of the controversy of Yeezus, fashion corporations, and Sway not having the alleged answers, you just cannot forget about this amazing piece of art called The College Dropout. Kanye West’s The College Dropout is more than just a classic album; it’s a soundtrack to life. The album had a song that can relate to anybody. A song that truly resonated with me 10 years ago was “Spaceship.” We have all (if not, most of us) dealt with that one manager that you cannot stand and many people have battled with working within their reality to achieve their dreams, but once you turn on track #6, you can just feel that Kanye, GLC, and Consequence were right there with you going through the struggle.
“The kid that made that, deserves that Maybach / So many records in my basement, I’m just waiting on my spaceship.”
Also, this album came out during a time-frame where it seemed like every rapper was flossing their diamonds and driving their Range Rovers and Escalades which is another reason why this album stuck out. From the skits to the lyricism and masterful production of every track, a decade later, The College Dropout is still worthy of daily rotations.
It isn’t very hard to figure out who my favorite rapper is after judging my iTunes. With hours of Yeezus prepared to take over any day it is only fitting to start Kanye West hour with one of his greatest albums: The College Dropout. How many rappers do you know recited a compelling story “Through the Wire” or made resurrecting Jesus Christ on the track more than just a gospel rap thing? Celebrating its 10th year, it isn’t hard to see why this album is so important despite it being a decade old. Ye’s lyrical artistry is what gives The College Dropout the necessary tools to stand the test of any amount of time. If you hate Yeezus now, you loved the student he was. From the beats to the production, Kanye’s poetry shone bright on every track making it a true gem with songs easy to relate to.
The College Dropout served as an identity to a young Chicagoan like myself. However, I feel the album was something that fans could connect to no matter where you were located. For me Kanye West’s debut provided so many relatable stories: the ambition of a person attempting to make it out of a struggle job (“Spaceships”), pride in religion (“Jesus Walks”) and living out a dream no matter your personal conditions (“Through the Wire”). This album established a career that I continuously follow and tirelessly defend. As a young hip hop fan, The College Dropout was an album that was honest and connected to things that I witnessed and was an opposition to other styles of hip hop from different regions where my connection was only vicarious. I can’t wait until I am 25-years-and-one-day old to say “We wasn’t suppose to make it past 25, but jokes on you we still alive.”