Hate Registration: Josh vs. Dustin on Kanye

Dustin: Even though he fronted on Bush on live TV, I still have to say that Kanye's Late Registration was one of last year's most overrated albums. I'll say it has six good tracks out of 20. So minus the four stupid skits that's 10 bad songs.

Josh: So let me ask you this before we really get into it: Are you saying that it's an "overrated" album, or simply a bad one?

Dustin: As hip-hop standards go I guess it’s hard to call it “bad,” since these days five good songs practically makes something a rap classic. But since I pretty much turn the album off after “Drive Slow,” I guess I can safely call it a bad album.

Josh: I'll be the last person to tell you that Late Registration is a perfect album. I'll also be the first person to support your theory that five songs does not constitute a classic. But this album has more than five bangers, and I will not sit idly by while you call this a bad album.
You turn the album off after "Drive Slow." What is there NOT to like about "Crack Music," "Roses," "Diamonds," "Hey Mama," and "Gone" (by the way, "Gone" is my favorite song on the album)?

Dustin: “Crack Music” is aight – he actually comes off smart on that one, but I just have a hard time buying it when he tries to sound hard. “Roses” blows: waaa, my grandma is sick, I’m so sad, let me make a song out of it. “Diamonds” sucks in every way. The beat sucks, the sample sucks, and we all know he still rocks bling so the whole point of the song is void. “Hey Mama” is good but that’s an old song that was out before the album was released, but fine, I’ll give you that one. “Gone” is good because of Cam’ron, then the song goes on for six minutes! Six minutes – for a rap song! Who the hell does Kanye think he is? At least you can dance to “Rapper's Delight.” “We Major” is even worse at a never-ending seven minutes plus.

Josh: I'll give you that "We Major" is too long, but that is all I'll give you.
"Roses" is fresh. Just cause you have some deep seeded issues with your grandmother, doesn't mean we all have to ride that distress train. With "Diamonds," forget the awkward remix — the original song is just straight up hip-hop, and I happen to like the beat. Jay-Z obviously wrote his remix verse with the original theme in mind (the state of the Roc), and then Kanye tried to get political on the remix. I don't delve too deep into rappers being hypocritical though (unless blatant) because who isn't in life? So he talks about the perils of diamonds, and still wants to rock them. I'd beg you to not kill that cow in the field right before my eyes, but I'll gladly take three cheeseburgers at the next barbecue I'm at.
See, this is the thing - I do not like all of the songs on the album, but just because they're not all favorites, doesn't make them "bad." They are all structured intricately, and avoid the usual pitfalls of rap music, where you find a nice sample, loop it, and let it run for three minutes. Listen to "Roses" again - listen to how that song starts, and then listen to how it ends. Dude went out and tried to construct a musical album. You and I might find some of those songs down-tempo and boring, but there are millions of people who buy an Erykah Badu album, and I'm bored to tears by her. Again, there's a different between "not liking" and calling something straight up awful. Not only that, but while Kanye will never make anyone's top 10 lyricist list, he is your "Every Man Rapper," the common voice, spitting much more than your average "you're wack, I'm great, thank you, good night!"

Dustin: Everyone is a hypocrite in some aspects of their lives, sure, I guess. But if you’re going to make a song about the diamond industry being based on slave labor, you are not allowed to wear a diamond-studded Rolex. It’s pretty simple. You can’t justify it by saying, “I know it’s wrong and people die and lose arms and legs and shit but damn, they’re just so sparkly and pretty.”
As for the album as a whole, sure Kanye is a great producer. And he writes songs about themes other than “I’m the best” and “I sell mad bricks” and he is alright as a rapper. But a thunderbolt of mediocrity doesn’t make a good album for me. In 1994 Late Registration wouldn’t have made rap’s top 20 albums. It’s just considered dope today because it’s got a few club hits and because rap has been sucking lately. When it comes down to it, I listen to Late Registration and I get bored real fast.

Josh: Not to harp on this, because it is indeed what the remix is, but I do feel the need to again clarify that the original "Diamonds" found at the end of the album without Jay-Z, was strictly a hip-hop song that referenced diamonds as a metaphor for The Roc (and their diamond signs). It wasn't until the subsequent video and remix that Kanye decided to wax poetic.
PERHAPS, this album does get pushed higher up the CD food chain because everything else is such hot trash on a stick. But these are the facts: there are 16 songs on the album, if you include the short Common track. Now, I am the old, bitter, "it ain't like it was back then" hip-hop fan, so if I like a track, it's not like I'm co-signing a Fred Durst track. I think that "Heard Em Say," "Touch The Sky," "Golddigger," "My Way Home," "Drive Slow," "Crack Music," "Roses," "Hey Mama," "Gone," and the original "Diamonds" are all bangers. That's 10 tracks. Again, I don't even think the other six are bad - just not my cup of tea.
Would I rather grab De La Soul Is Dead over Late Registration? Absolutely. But if I live as if 1994 was the last year a hip-hop album came out, I'd have to stab myself in the eye with a No. 2 pencil. That also doesn't mean that I approve of anything that has even the slightest amount of substance in 2006. If I'm at a bar where everyone looks like Kathy Bates, I'm not hooking up with the girl who played Blossom just because she's a dime piece in comparison. This is a GOOD album. The accolades are justified.
Riddle me this Dustman: Does Kanye's "off the court" behavior have any bearing on your album thoughts?

Dustin: Like I said, his Bush bashing actually helped his standing in my eyes. The guy spoke his mind and I’ll give him credit for that. Too bad he can’t do a song about it – instead all we have talking politics is a washed up Chuck D and a non-radio friendly Immortal Technique. Stuff like Kanye's Jesus Rolling Stone cover doesn’t really turn me off that much – I mean, Nas is God’s Son and Jay-Z is J-hovah so I guess this whole God complex is just another retarded symptom of where rap is at these days.
As for the album, I guess we just disagree on the amount of “good” songs. But come on, some of the undisputably bad songs are nobody’s cup of tea. If you can listen to “Addiction” or “Celebration” without puking you deserve a medal.

Josh: Well, while I won't puke, I would feel awkward receiving a medal, as I'm not crazy about those songs either.
Kanye, for better or for worse, draws attention to himself. It's only natural that people are going to either build him up, or pick him apart.
College Dropout might not have been sonically better, but I did enjoy that album more than Late Registration. If all of a sudden, Kanye's next album has a couple of less "good songs" on it, and collabos with Bono, Santana, and Rob Thomas, well then "Scarface we have a problem."
It was a good follow up album. I guess what it boils down to is, people are acting as if liking Kanye is to anoint him the "next chosen one." In the late 80's and early 90's, solid albums were coming at you left and right. There wasn't enough allowance in the world to keep up. Kanye would have fit right into that mix - a good album during a good time period. Someone would say "Hey Dustin, you like that Kanye album?" and your response would be "Eh, there are a few songs on it I like, but a lot of stuff I'm not feeling." The fact that there's nothing else really out there right now, you're almost forced to have a firm stance. A Kanye line is drawn in the sand. Which side are you on?
I'll just never get Kanye bashing within the hip-hop community. This is a kid that grew up just like all of us, loving the same exact rap. And when it's him alone in that studio, the end result is him spitting out Tribe, Souls of Mischief, etc... all into one. Everything he absorbed as a fan is evident in his work. People - myself included - whine for days about the lack of Native Tongue type groups. He's not only trying to fill the void with his work, but also by trying to save others (Common).
I know that's sort of getting off the topic of the album at hand, but I think it's important as a backdrop. He challenged himself musically with this album. It's not as if he had some ridiculous watered down pop song that had you saying "man I can't believe he sold his soul." He tried to take it to another level and I think he had more hits than misses. You feel the opposite, but it's not hard to see why many people do put it on their "Best Of" lists for '05.