The Stylus albums list is up, and includes only 2 albums I voted for, the same 2 that were also in the City Paper top 10, Beanie and Kanye. And I wrote the Kanye blurb. My ballot's also somewhere down at the bottom of the page, although my "final" year end list that I post here will probably be different.
Note: In light of the end of Stylus in 2007, I decided to archive the text of all my reviews for the site on this blog for posterity, since I don't what the future holds for the Stylus domain:
6. Kanye West – Late Registration
By the beginning of 2005, Kanye West was well on his way to wearing out his welcome as just another sample-happy pop rap auteur who went from do-no-wrong to do-no-right practically overnight (cf. Wyclef). Instead, Kanye rolled up his sleeves and won over even some of the doubters who scoffed at The College Dropout’s instant classic status. And by letting Jon Brion sprinkle twee keyboard pixie dust and inspired string arrangements all over Late Registration, Kanye came up with a bold sound that both reinvigorated his sturdy soul-sampling production formula and made even more white people love him. It’s hardly the first time in history that the most universally popular rapper of the moment was a guy who’s better at producing than rapping (forgot about Dre? Puffy? And again, Clef?), but that just proves that what people want more than perfect rhymes is someone with personality and vision.
[Al Shipley]
Note: In light of the end of Stylus in 2007, I decided to archive the text of all my reviews for the site on this blog for posterity, since I don't what the future holds for the Stylus domain:
6. Kanye West – Late Registration
By the beginning of 2005, Kanye West was well on his way to wearing out his welcome as just another sample-happy pop rap auteur who went from do-no-wrong to do-no-right practically overnight (cf. Wyclef). Instead, Kanye rolled up his sleeves and won over even some of the doubters who scoffed at The College Dropout’s instant classic status. And by letting Jon Brion sprinkle twee keyboard pixie dust and inspired string arrangements all over Late Registration, Kanye came up with a bold sound that both reinvigorated his sturdy soul-sampling production formula and made even more white people love him. It’s hardly the first time in history that the most universally popular rapper of the moment was a guy who’s better at producing than rapping (forgot about Dre? Puffy? And again, Clef?), but that just proves that what people want more than perfect rhymes is someone with personality and vision.
[Al Shipley]
Labels: hip hop, Kanye West, lists, some shit I wrote, Stylus
This entry was posted
on Friday, December 23, 2005 at 10:27 AM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
Post a Comment