So, instead of doing the classic "Good, Bad and Re-dic-yu-lus" format of Stack That Cheese, I'm going to rank Kanye West's six solo albums from worst to best. It's too bad Kanye had to come up this week because I was pretty stoked to review Action Bronson's new mixtape, Blue Chips 2. But this is something I've always wanted to do and if I have a platform and reason to do so, I might as well.
This is probably the easiest decision on the whole list. While I admittedly like this album more than most, it's still clearly the worst thing Kanye's ever put out.
808s & Heartbreak was the album that Kanye put out that's famous (or infamous) for its use of Auto-Tune. The popular vocal synthesizer was just coming down from its peak in popularity. While most Auto-Tune (ab)users tended to use it as just a fun toy to fool around with, Kanye used it as a way to express his emotion. This meant that 808s was not only Kanye's worst album, but saddest, too. Some might even say "sappy."
However, 808s still had its moments of intrigue. "Welcome to Heartbreak" basically helped start Kid Cudi's mainstream career. And when Kanye opens the song with the line "My friend showed me pictures of his kids / And all I could show him was pictures of my cribs," the song instantly became one of the best "first world problems" type songs, which some may hate, but I feel for 'Ye.
And the first two singles, "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless," are among the most memorable Kanye West songs among the masses.
Plus, "RoboCop" is one of the funniest Kanye songs ever, as he compares the female subject of the song to someone from a Stephen King novel.Above all else is the fact that Kanye really helped spearhead a new movement in the hip-hop community. Drake is still making music reminiscent of 808s. However, no matter how good anyone may think 808s & Heartbreak is, it's hard to argue for the album to be any higher than last among the rest of Kanye's discography.
This placement is one of the hardest on the list. I've spent plenty of time considering whether this album or the next was better. After much consideration, I decided to put Late Registration at five because I'm not as well versed in it as I am the rest of Kanye's discography.
I'm aware that's a really weak reason. But whether Late Registration came in at four or five, it would still be astounding that it isn't even in the top half of Kanye's creations. Because this is a good album. This might even be a great album. This might even be a timeless album. But there are still three to four albums better made by the same guy.
There are some songs that are nothing short of brilliant on here. "Roses" is widely regarded as one of the most personable songs that Kanye has ever made and "Hey Mama" is probably one of the only songs that could top that.
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" has to be one of the best beats Kanye's ever produced and rapped over. "Heard Em Say" is probably the best thing that Adam Levine of Maroon 5 has ever done. "Touch the Sky" put Lupe Fiasco on a golden platter for the public to enjoy him on.
And then there's the ultimate Kanye West hit: "Gold Digger." While there are other songs put out by Kanye that made it big, there are none more a staple of pop culture than "Gold Digger."
And this isn't even one of Kanye's best. Bravo, Mr. West. Bravo.
If we're ranking these albums by how critically-acclaimed each album is, Graduation would have been Kanye's second worst. Whereas Late Registration got five-star reviews and a 9.5 from Pitchfork, Graduation merely managed four-and-a-half stars and an 8.7 from Pitchfork. Come on, 'Ye, you're better than that.
But for me, Graduation is one of Kanye's most exciting albums. At the time it was released, Graduation felt like it was just a bit too far from typical Kanye to really compete with Late Registration and College Dropout. But over the years, the experimenting that took place on Graduation seems like child's play compared to what he's done on the likes of Yeezus and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Kanye's later experimentation made Graduation seem more like "normal Kanye" and less like "experimental Kanye." And as it shifted to more of the middle, it seemed to become a little better. At least to me, that is.
Whereas College Dropout and Late Registration took a more Tribe Called Quest path, Graduation felt a little funkier and a little lighter, too.
You can tell Kanye was in a little better mood just from some of the song titles. "Champion." "Good Life." "Stronger." Clearly Kanye had a much better mindset. And that made it a little more fun, which made it stand out a bit among the pretty dark discography of Kanye.
"Homecoming," featuring Coldplay's Chris Martin, was among the highlights of Graduation, as Kanye sang a ballad dedicated to his hometown of Chicago.
And singles "Stronger," "Good Life," and "Flashing Lights" were perfect choices to represent the album.
And yet, there are still three albums better. Kanye's the best.
3. Yeezus
I'm going to keep this light because I went into over 600 words about Kanye's latest here. But I will go into it a bit.
I'm not really sure how Yeezus will stand the test of time. There's been just about as much hate as there has been praise. And I get some of the complaints.
Yes, lyrically this is probably Kanye's worst. And yes, the style he adopted isn't all his own (see: Death Grips). But what really made me fall in love with Yeezus is how introspective it is on Kanye's part.
Kanye uses each song to reflect a different part of his life, from his early days of being an activist-turned-rapper to the current egotistical 'Ye. If you know much about Kanye, it's not easy for him to admit he's wrong. Ever. But on Yeezus, he looked into every era of his lifetime and critiqued it. And that says a lot.
The inner debate between MBDTF and Yeezus was intense. There was blood drawn. Deaths tallied. Tears shed. It got messy, to say the least.
Ultimately, I decided on MBDTF because I am a hipster. And this is the Kanye album for hipsters.
While Yeezus is the most outwardly experimental album of Kanye's career, MBDTF is the real most experimental Kanye.
This is due to the crazy orchestration. You don't need to look any further for this than "All of the Lights." Basically every major musician appeared on the track. From Rihanna to Elton John to Kid Cudi to Alicia Keys. This track was stacked. And it was all so beautifully layered.
And "Runaway." That simple piano slowly getting an even simpler drum kit added to it. And Pusha T basically coming out as a solo artist.
And the fact this was the first time Justin Vernon teamed up with Kanye made this album even better.
Plus, he took his music videos to a whole new level, even creating a short film. It's no wonder this is the hipster album of Kanye's.
There's no question. This is the best Kanye album of all time. Hell, this might be one of the best rap albums of all time. Definitely one of the best of the aughts.
Kanye debuted with a splash after years of working as a producer and an underground rapper. It was the perfect old-school album with a new-school flare. The best album from a Chicago rapper since Common. It was no wonder that 'Ye got Jay-Z's blessing. Just listen to this shit.
Kanye left everything on the table. Need a song bashing the radio industry? "Jesus Walks." What about a sultry love ballad? "Slow Jamz." Oh, you want probably the best outro of all time? "Last Call." You know how good "Last Call" was as an outro? J. Cole took the beat and used it as his own.
I don't even know what to say about Dropout. I just want to write the title of every single song and say, "this song is awesome." But I'm not going to do this. I'm just going to let you listen to the perfect Kanye album.
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