Here are my top songs from each of his albums:
College Dropout (2004)
School Spirit
"Oh, you graduated?"
"No, I decided I was finished."
Slow Jamz
"She said she want some Marvin Gaye, some Luther Vandross.
A little Anita will definitely set this party off right."
3. Through The Wire
"Somebody order pancakes; I just sip the sizzurp."
2. Jesus Walks
"The only thing I pray is that my feet don't fail me now.
1. All Falls Down
"Couldn't afford a car so she named her daughter Alexis"
As great as All Falls Down is as a song; hearing it as a poem is pretty cool too:
Late Registration (2005)
Honorable Mention - Gold Digger featuring Jamie Foxx
"I don't care what none of y'all say, I still love her."
3. Hey Mama
"I wanna scream so loud for you 'cause I'm so proud of you."
2. We Major
"You thinking we local? Come on homie, we major."
1. Heard 'Em Say
"Nothing's ever promised tomorrow today."
Simmer down, Mort. Kanye is allowed to use 'em if he wants to.
Graduation (2007)
Good Morning
"This is my dissertation. Homie this sh*t is basic. Welcome to Graduation, good morning."
3B. Flashing Lights
"She don't believe in shooting stars, but she believe in shoes and cars."
3A. Can't Tell Me Nothing
"I told God I'll be back in a second. Man it's so hard not to act reckless."
2. Stronger
"Man I've been waiting all night now. That's how long I've been on ya."
1. Good Life
"I go for mine. I gots ta shine."
I think you could put these in any order. The best songs on Graduation are so strong.
See what I did there?
808s & Heartbreak (2008)
Say You Will
"Hey, hey, hey, don't say you will. Unless you will."
See You In My Nightmares
"Okay, I'm back up on my grind."
3. Amazing
"It's amazing. I'm the reason. Everybody fired up this evening."
2. Welcome To Heartbreak
"I had to leave before they even cut the cake. Welcome to heartbreak."
1. Heartless
"How could you be so heartless?"
The go-to song whenever talking about the 808s album as a whole. Kanye's dip into autotune was a beautiful mask for the pain he was feeling. Too bad it's painfully used by other artists today. Yet another way Kanye broke the mold.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Honorable Mentions -
Dark Fantasy
"Too many Urkels on your team that's why your wins low."
Monster
"I'm gon need to see your hands at the concert."
3. Gorgeous
"She told the director she tryna get in a school. He said take them glasses off and get in the pool."
2. Runaway
"Baby I got a plan. Runaway as fast as you can."
1. All Of The Lights
"Extra bright I want y'all to see this. Turn up the lights in here baby. You know what I need.
Want you to see everything. Want you to see all of the lights."
The strongest of Kanye's albums. I didn't even mention Power or So Appalled which had the famous line of Jay-Z quoting The Dark Knight:
Watch the Throne (2011)
Honorable Mentions -
Made In America
"Sweet baby Jesus. We made it in America."
Murder to Excellence
"Paper read, Murder, black on black murder."
3. Ni**as in Paris
"What she order, fish filet?"
2. No Church in the Wild
"What's a mob to a king?
What's a king to a God?
What's a God to a non-believer?
Who don't believe in, anything."
1. Otis
"Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive."
Not the best thing that either Kanye or Jay-Z has made, but there's a lot of good stuff on this collab.
Yeezus (2013)
Honorable Mention -
Hold My Liquor
"I can't handle no liquor, but these bi*ches can't handle me."
Bound 2
"We made to Thanksgiving. So, ay, maybe we can make it to Christmas."
3. Send It Up
"She said, Can you get my friend in the club?"
"I said, can you get my Benz in the club!?"
"If not, treat your friend like my Benz. Park they a** outside till the evening end."
2. Blood On The Leaves
"I just need to clear my mind now. It's been racing since the summertime."
1. New Slaves
"I'm bout to air sh*t out. Now what the f*ck they gon say now."
Kanye's aggressive response to MBDTF and WTT is hit or miss with a lot of Kanye fans. I don't think I would go this far, but it is the best song on the album:
The Life Of Pablo (2016)
Honorable Mentions -
No More Parties in LA
"When did I become A list? I wasn't even on a list."
Highlights
"Tell my momma that, tell my momma that I only only want my whole life to only be highlights."
3. Ultralight Beam
"This is a God dream. This is a God dream."
2. 30 Hours
"Now I'm 90, 90 miles like Matt Barnes just to whoop a ni**a a**."
1. Famous
"I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bi*ch famous. I made that bi*ch famous."
He took the most time he ever had between albums since MBDTF. I think it was a couple songs too long but was all and all a pretty good album.
Bonus: My Top Kanye Guest Verses
Honorable Mentions -Swagger Like Us
"Cause I slaved my whole life. Now I'm the master."
Knock You Down
"Tell me now can you make it past your Caspers?"
Erase Me
"Monica Lewinsky on the dress and take ya to the cleaners."
5 - Forever - Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem
"You would think I ran the world like Michelle's Husband."
4 - Smuckers - Tyler The Creator, Kanye West, Lil Wayne
"They say I'm crazy but that's the best thing going for me. You can't lynch Marshawn if Tom Brady throwing to me."
3 - Run This Town - Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kanye West
"What you think I rap for? To push a f*cking RAV4?!"
2 - Put On - Young Jeezy and Kanye West
"I got the money and the fame, and that don't mean sh*t. I got the Jesus on the chain and that don't mean sh*t."
1 - Clique
"So I just meditate at the home in Pompey. About how I could build a new Rome in one day."
This guest spot was unequivocally the best guest verse he's done. He just spits for a good minute and a half and takes over the song without question.
Ye (2018)
Honorable Mention -
All Mine
"All these thots on Christian Mingle. Almost what got Tristan single."
3 - I Thought About Killing You
"See, if I was trying to relate it to more people. I'd probably say I'm struggling with loving myself. But that's not the case here. I love myself way more than I love you."
2 - Ghost Town
"I've been tryin' to make you love me. But everything I try just takes you further from me."
1 - Yikes
"Sh*t could get "Menacin', frightenin', find help, sometimes, I scare myself, myself."
Is his new album the best album he's ever done? No. I wasn't born yesterday.
The lyrics as a whole aren't exactly awe inspiring. The production is exactly what the world has come to expect from Kanye. It's beautiful. Even if you don't love I Thought About Killing You the lead in to it gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it. All Mine has some traces of good word play. Ghost Town sounds like a song we could've heard from Kanye and Cudi at any point over the last handful of years. It gives me the hope that Kids See Ghosts (which may be streaming at any moment, it's 9:36 on 6/8) will be incredible. Like Ye, if nothing else it will be magically produced and we could have the best Cudi album since Indicud and even that was not the level of either of the Man on the Moon albums.
Thanks for reading!
Kids See Ghosts (2018)
Honorable Mention -
Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)
"Nothing hurts me anymore. Guess what baby? I feel freeee."
3 - Reborn
"Ain't no stress on me, Lord, I'm movin' forward."
2 - Feel the love
"I could still the love."
1 - 4th Dimension
"Bought an alligator, I ain't talkin' Lacoste."
As you could guess this album was beautifully produced. It's incredible when you consider the individual battles both Kanye and Kid Cudi have gone through over the last handful of years. Just with some of the lyrics I highlighted it's easy to see where they originate from. It's quite the mix of their styles, but it still sounds more like a Cudi album than a Kanye albums. And that is completely by design.
Ghost Town from ye was originally supposed to be on this album. You can tell how it would've fit and still been different had it been on Kids See Ghosts. Freeee serves as a continuation of the song anyway.
Kanye showed just how far back he was digging when looking for samples. The feature and sample from Louis Prima is beautiful. He took bits from a song that was popular before WWII, and found a way to use it in 2018. It also puts the late Prima in territory all to himself.
I really enjoyed the album even though the tone is far different than past Cudi albums.
