The College Dropout: a Review

Jenna Rousseau

English 125.093

November 28, 2010

Brown

The College Dropout: a Review

Kanye West’s debut album, The College Dropout, is a telling reflection of his many personal philosophies. One of these is a strong anti-education sentiment, following the title. This is present in many of his songs along with the hilarious skits. The skit “Lil Jimmy” says “all the regular homeless people have newspaper, but look what I have”—referring to degrees his dead father left him instead of money. In addition to voicing his view of education, West has multiple songs about his family and personal life that are extremely moving. “Family Business” and “Through the Wire” are the two most personal songs on the album. “Family Business” is an emotionally rich song in which Kanye works through struggles from his high school years and expresses his appreciation and love for his family. “Through the Wire,” is about his car accident and the aftermath; he literally raps “Through the Wire” because his jaw is wired shut as he explains the accident and thankfulness for being alive. The final song on the album, “Last Call,” is mostly Kanye talking about his experiences. This song adds meaning to the album by outlining the hard work he did to get to this point, and is an essential part to the whole. The most astonishing part of this album is that West manages to convey many of his attitudes while still managing to produce sick beats and melodies that people want to sing along to.