Kanye's OPUS...

OPUS: A creative work, especially a musical composition numbered to designate the order of a composer's works.

The first part of that definition, "a creative work", is what seems to have been lacking from hip-hop albums for a minute. This year, with exceptions of GAME, Common, and an honorable mention of Beanie Sigel, hip-hop has been pretty much the same it's been for the past few years. That is, formulaic, overly thugged and gangstered-out, and seemingly half-hearted. Basically, I couldn't FEEL people's albums. I could listen to them, but I didn't FEEL them. I felt GAME's album. He had some stuff he made you feel. He spit with a passion like that of a budding artist starving to get his voice hear. I felt Common's album for similar reasons. Lyrically, he's one of the best, hands-down. And his content is REAL.

If you agree with me in this, you will find Kanye's latest CD, Late Registration to be a great break from the norm. The music alone on this CD is worth 5 mics (shot out to the SOURCE)! The sound of this album is, in a word, unique. Not Electric Circus (Common) unique. Not, Jay-Z and Linkin Park unique. But Kanye unique. Take the sound of Common's latest CD, BE (which Kanye executive produced) and "re-master" it, and then you have Late Registration. And by no means does BE need to be remastered, but if it were, it would probably have the rich and full sound of Late Registration.

Late Registration is easily a 4.5 - 5 mic album by any magazine's rating system. It's definitely the best album out since Kanye's last album. Two classics! He puts a lot of effort into his work and it shows. So maybe his cockiness when it comes to his music is warranted. I mean, every good businessman stands behind his product and Kanye is no exception.

From the music behind the words, to the content, delivery, flow, and creativity, this album is on another level. While he's not the best lyricist out there, he has a way of putting his words together very creatively and it complements the topics he addresses very well. Kanye has a knack for creativity and creating soulful music with some real meaning behind it. He addresses things that many people think and/or question through his music and that (to me) makes him real and not just a rapper/celebrity.

He is one of my favorite rappers and I critique him heavily when he comes out with new music, but I am going to try to sit-back and enjoy this one, because it's an album that should simply be enjoyed and appreciated. That is, if you like G.O.O.D. Music.