The College Dropout

Classic- reminds me of high school. Not my favorite in the trilogy but an amazing debut and a great intro to an era-defining producer. So sad that his legacy is forever tarnished and I have to feel bad abt streaming this album and giving KW my $.03!

Even if you´re not a fan of Kanye or hip-hop in general, this is one of these albums that are so great that you can be indifferent to it

Not really listened to Kanye West before. In recent years, his behaviour and statements have made him problematic so I thought the ship had sailed for me. I listened to Graduation on the recommendation of a friend a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it, so wasn't disappointed when this came up. I'm not the biggest rap fan, but there are some artists and tracks I like. I'm willing to be open minded though. I've pretty much enjoyed what I've listened to by Kanye so far, I appreciated the influence of Lauren Hill who is up there for me as one of the best. Feel that this album just goes on a bit long though, so it's 4 stars for me.

La producción y algunos de los mejores performances de Kanye (siendo que no es taaaan buen rapero). Merece volverse a oír

He’s a genius.

Hard to separate the art from teh artist sometimes. but man this is a masterpiece

No querría ponerle esa puntuacion porque es una persona muy problematica pero kanye es un artistazo y el album me ha parecido buenismo

I would give all five. But its a goddamn Kanye west, so four

It would be weird to think about Kanye becoming a neo-Nazi antisemite with a lot of personal issues, drug addiction, porn addiction and all the controversies that he acquired through the years, at the moment this album came out. But if you really listened to the things he has said through the years, even in this album you can see that Kanye's career came to be thanks to his personality, his pigheadedness that made him work even in some dire situations (Through the Wire). And this characteristic, that made him so well estimated as a hard-working artist with no compromises in his work, became a show of arrogance and dubious working ethics. But more than that, we can see how here, he already exposed some of the thinking and way of seeing the world that influenced his work and decisions in the years to come: His disdain (somewhat justified) of the academic system, dropping from college and how he feels it's not only something people fear due to it being the standard route of life, but that school indoctrinates people in a studying wheel without experiencing or doing real things. And how this became an anti-academic nightmare, believing conspiracies and harmful ideologies. His strong believing and faith, represented through the famous "Jesus Walks", and how he feels this strong assessment of "people can't sing of Jesus in the radio" that nowadays feels like typical crying from Christian nationalists, but then could be felt as a differential factor compared to other artists. And how it became nothing more than soil for his, and other people, weird nationalist Christo-fascist beliefs, that even when he tried to distance from them, a lot of people still have and celebrate, thanks to him bringing to the mainstream. His general contempt and opinions that more than the typical bravado and presumption a rapper must have, today is more known as the real personality and thinking of Kanye. What I think these things reveal, is that the life of Kanye has been the result if all of these characteristics took the worst outcome possible. We could talk about at which point it went like this, or what could've been done to prevent it, but at the end of the day, the way Kanye West is today, should not be strange considering this: that he was the same from the beginning, and despite his music changing in technical and artistic aspects, the content and message was at his core, the same. All the good and bad, and dirty aspects of his work are here in some or other way. In that sense, I feel this album it's quite good, albeit a bit weird to listen nowadays with all the recent events. As a debut album, it's impressive. In musical and technical aspects, I prefer more recent works. I don't love it, but it's quite sad that it's so well regarded, more than anything, due to how an asshole and an egomaniacal drugged, washed-out artist he has become.

This was my first ever time listening to Kanye West and I was astonished by how good it was. There's musical complexity here I really hadn't expected from a rap artist. Great production sound, actual tunes (although some probably sampled from elsewhere) and lyrics that were sometimes thoughtful. One or two tracks were less good but overall I have to say this was really impressive.

"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!"

Do younger generations look at old Kanye records the way I look at Elvis?

I miss this guy

Virkelig godt i sin genre. Meget catchy melodier. Men man kan jo ikke blive Kanye-fan nu ...

Haven't listened to Kanye in a while. This honestly just reminds me why he 𝘸𝘢𝘴 so popular. There's no one who quite compares to his style of music. You really do see his immense lyrical genius in the song "Slow Jamz" lyrics: "She got a light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson" "She got a dark-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson"

Miss the old Kanye. Pretty legendary debut album. Only have a surface level knowledge of Kanye but the lyricism here is some of his best imo. Beats are inventive and well-engineered. That said, nothing had me hitting the download button, but really good album. Will probably give it another listen soon

Back when Kanye made sense. Also didn’t realize how many samples of this album were used in other songs, ie workout plan for one of J Cole’s songs. The skits were also hilarious, get your degree!

Amazing album

Groove, hard lines, an impressive debut album

The great debut by the polarizing Chicago artist. It sounds so good but as a kid of the 2000s I get more enjoyment out of 'Graduation'. It is still a classic and a crucial record. 9/10 [KEEP]

Decent, a few bangers.

Good

This was back when I still loved Kayne more than Kanye loved Kanye. I wish he wasn't such a piece of shit. Still a great album.

It's wild how far Kanye West has fallen since his debut—"The College Dropout" is fresh, fun, groovy, memorable, and humorous. While he's a serviceable rapper, he really shines as a producer. People who don't listen to wrap may not understand that the "genius of Kanye" lies not in his lyrics, but in his beats. His descent into MAGA and antisemitism 20 years after his iconic "George Bush doesn't care about black people" moment has left a devastating mark on his legacy. Regardless of where he's ended up, he was a great artist and "The College Dropout" is a great first record.

#280/1001. This lists most interesting findings have been in the realm of hiphop / rap. There are also some crazy ass people, but those do exist in rock and pop and disco throughout the years as well, and sometimes we blame them sometimes we don't. Nevertheless, an amazing and funny debut, although better stuff was yet to come. I don't know if it is the drugs / alcohol or the fame or the money or combination of these which seem to ruin people in this business, and often I don't care. But for shits sake, Kanye wtf?

808s should be on the list instead

Oh what I wouldn't give to go back 10 years before Ye went into full backslide... This being his solo debut, it comes from a simpler time when he was known more for being an up and coming producer than his theatrics and anti-semitic diatribes. We Don't Care is an all time track that is simultaneously bright in delivery and bleak in lyrics. Love the use of what sounds like a school chorus to deliver the refrain (wasn't supposed to make it past 25, jokes on you we're still alive) as he speaks about some of the realities of his community's experience (claiming other kids on income taxes, selling drugs, scratching lottery tickets, dope money forming a kids "scholarship"). All Falls Down is another great one slotted towards the front of the album. West shines here speaking to materialistic trappings of the Black community, while maintaining a self-awareness of his own continuation thereof. Also it slaps. Spaceship is a kind of rough around the edges soulful slide speaking to escapist desires. Absolutely love Jesus Walks -- production is fantastic and the song itself jams. Get Em High is another standout here (*though Common's verse should have been cut. the "remote control" line is awful and there's not anything in there to make it worthwhile.). The New Workout Plan is dumb as hell, but also a lot of fun. Always appreciate a Ludacris feature and Breathe In Breath Out is no exception -- solid track with West once again coming through with self-awareness and some of his better beat riding. Album closes strong with Two Words -> Last Call. Two Words being my favorite from the run. And Family Business being a rare pulling back of the covers from West. Well now I'm off to Graduation and beyond. Always enjoy this album. I'd say it hits around a high 4 / soft 5 territory.

Pretty cool to hear young Kanye. He is a lot less angry in this album than in others. Went on a shallow dive of Kanye during this album and his comeup. Definitely has a really cool story and it sucks that he's an asshole Nazi now. Really influential in hip hop so this album definitely has a place on this list.

Dang another great album by Kanye that I never have listened to fully. This has some of his best songs All Falls Down, Slow Jamz, and Jesus Walks which is an intense ass song. Wish he just wasn't such an absolute clown

Obligatory FUCK KANYE! Hilarious this is written all over Roo. I was actually thinking about him during the Super Bowl. When he played at Roo he went on a 10 minute rant and autotuned a song "They said I'd never play at the Super Bowlllll, not until I'm super olddddd." Separating the art from the artist though, this album is great, especially as a debut. I'm not the biggest fan of all the skits, but We Don't Care, All Falls Down, Jesus Walks, Slow Jamz, Get Em High, and the famous Through The Wire are all absolute jams. Jesus Walks was EVERYWHERE back in middle school. Gotta love the production on it. This is a solid 4 from Kanye the artist. Insane debut. 0 for Kanye the person.

Rating was based on when I listened to it years ago before he went full MAGA

Brilliant debut album and one of Kanyes best. Used to love this when I was like 16

A rap album accessible enough that someone who doesn’t really click with rap can still click with this. I consider it made by a different person to the Kanye that exists today

(85/100)

je silene slyset kanyeho sirit antirasisticka poselstvi s jeho soucasnymi antisemitskymi kontroverzemi

An exercise in if we can separate the art from the artist. This is one of the best hip hop/rap albums I’ve heard, especially since starting this project. But it is hard to separate that from Kanye’s recent actions. I think at the end of the day it’s an objectively good album by an exceptionally troubled man.

This is my favourite Kanye album now. 4.5

I really hate that we’ve had to cancel Kanye. This is a great album.

Dope

Loved this album when it came. A defining album in this genre.

Fun and groovy Kanye. Banger after banger.

Sieg heil!

Remember liking it, not heard it in a while. His lyrics are still good on here Not skipping nothing. Even interludes.

Great album. Has a great run of songs near the beginning We don’t care, all falls down, spaceship, Jesus walks and never let me down (minus the skits)

Took a bit but grew quite into it during second half

Before Kanye went nuts, he made some green music. In fact, he continued to make great music even after he went nuts. Separating the man from the music, this is a good album except for the blathering on. Kayne isn’t nearly as smart as he thinks he is and the interstitials on College Dropout are just plain annoying.

Freitag, 13.02.2026 - Sonntag, 15.02.2026 ~ Wilde Mischung ~ Im Superfit Europacenter, in der S1 auf dem Weg zur Arbeit, krank im Bett, mit Niklas in der Küche am Sonntagabend.

I have never listened to a Kanye album before. Maybe I was sleeping on Ye. It really is written, performed, and produced very well. It dips down in a few moments, but largely is very well composed. He has the range and the musical intelligence to put this together. In his own vocal performance as well as the backing of songs on the album themselves. So dynamic and diverse, definitely keeps me engaged. I don't often like rap very much, but I can recognize talent, and it's on display here. Now there are a couple duds in here, and I'm not talking about the between tracks with the narrator or other talking/skits. Get Em High and The New Workout Plan it is probably the low point on the record, right in the middle. There aren't a lot of moments like that though, most of the music feels more intelligent and purposeful than those tracks. But on an album that's already too long at 76 minutes, with 21 songs, you'd think maybe they could just toss those to the curb. It's pretty good otherwise. 4.2/5

Best Song: We Don't Care This is before Kanye went nuts. This is good. It is moving hip hop in a different direction than the 90's and inspired a whole lot of new hip hop music in the 2000's. It is impossible to listen to this and not hear its influence in other artists. Good stuff. 4/5.

Early Ye sounds cool

Love it and listened to it before overall 8.5/10

Really good actually. It's hard not to listen and draw parallels to how he ended up being in the years following. Probably the most cohesive and honest album I've heard so far. Fav song: all of them were strong but I was drawn to Spaceship - can't help but think yes you were able to fly but once you reached the top you didn't like what you saw i guess :/ Overall: 8.5/10

It's worth noting I *used* to be a big Kanye stan. If I can separate the art from the artist, this is such a banger album. This is a top 3 Kanye album for me.

Great album before he went off the deep end.

I haven't listened to this since around the time it came out. There's some great songs on it and some interesting experiments with the music and lyrics going on, even if I didn't enjoy all of it.

Yea, Yeezy is an enormous piece of shit. So are many others on this list That said, this album was a turning point in the evolution of hip hop. The mainstreaming of lots of the would and r and b elements as well as the lyrical move away from popping caps in asses shifted the needle. Lots of great tracks.

Okay, I get what the fuss was about. Holds up, too. FWIW, this is the first time I've ever listened to a Kanye album. May be the last, too.

Kanye West is polarizing, and I have always been on the side of not liking him or his behavior. I typically stay away from his music entirely. However, I'm going to keep those opinions of his character separate from my opinions on this album. The beats on this are just amazing. Incredibly catchy and kept me hooked throughout. I was worried about the length of this album (my exact thought was "of course Kanye's album is this long"), but it didn't even wind up playing a factor in my listen. The flow is great, lyrically really strong, and I hate to say it but Kanye is pretty darn talented.

Why must he be such an asshole though….

own this on vinyl bro

I remember listening to this when it came out. It was the first rap album that I liked. There were songs I could relate to and some really good beats. I could do without the 10 minute final track when he just rambles about how he got his record deal or whatever.

Okay... but why was this so good though? I had never really listened to Kanye before and even though people said he was great all I knew about him was how batshit crazy he's gotten, but yeah -- this album was amazing. Ever song was beautifully crafted with a blend of styles throughout the album that were playful while staying thematic.

Imagine… this is your debut. No skip album.

I hate that I enjoyed this. Probably the best debut album of any artist, it's unfortunate that the artist is a prick.

8/10. Have a new appreciation for the album Definitely bi-section when Get Down hits. Love the skits. Forgot how pivotal this album was in terms of message and themes. Can hear the gospel and soul influence alot more now.

No other debut album is this confident about being a classic. Kanye knew he was going be a legend (for better or for worse) from the very start. This level of cockiness sounds like it would be obnoxious, but somehow it helps sell this album for me. I can imagine this sounding really fresh to people back in 2004. I personally prefer the other two albums in the College trilogy, but overall this album is much more important to Kanye's discography and the greater hip hop culture. Favorite track: Through The Wire

Kanye West before he went crazy. I'm not into hip-hop, but this album really clicked.

A classic debut. It’s sad what Kanye has become. This is just so good. Filled with hits and deep cuts. Great beats, choruses, decent humble rapping by Kanye and great guest appearances. It’s a quintessential 00’s album, hip hop was embracing pop and Kanye really was one of the figures to define the genre in the new millennium. Too many skits obviously and Workout plan and School spirit get less fun with every listen.

Ja jammer dat Kanye west zo insane is, maar hij is wel heel goed! Gewoon sterk album wel. Ik hou altijd van theatrale hiphop albums en dat is dit zeker!

The first time I heard this album was in Shane Leman’s car driving to golf. I hadn’t really been paying attention to the music and then the “get em High” beat dropped and I stopped listening to whatever Shane was saying. I had really gotten into rap music in high school and had ripped though all the classics in the 80s and 90s and was thoroughly disillusioned with pretty much everything that had come out since 1999 and given up that I would every really like any new rap again (young and stupid) and this album came along and changed everything. At that time Kanye represented everything I loved about the genre - the soul samples, actual rapping, funny/arrogant/political music all combined. There is a real way that Kanye saved rap. Despite what he’s become I do believe he’s a real genius. I hadn’t listened to this one in a bit, feeing it hadn’t held up (his chipmunk speed samples feel VERY dated) but I found myself bopping along more than I expected. It’s probably a lot of nostalgia, but still.

4.4 Love the album, deducting 0.5 for being a scumbag. (I actually don't think Kanye is that bad of a dude, just off his rocker, and his highs are super high and the lows are denying the Holocaust. Jeen-yuhs is a worthwhile doc to watch, especially through the making of College Dropout. Yeezus is my favorite Kanye album

Odio tener que admitir que kanye hace buena música!!!

The reason people still care about Kanye 20 years and many meltdowns later

This is my first time ever giving this project a listen, and on the first listen I can tell why people really love this album in tandem with Graduation. This album has some really powerful and meaningful tracks that can really highlight the struggle and faith that Kanye has through his life at this time, it's the detailing that really keeps in you invested within all his tracks and not to mention the production in the album is just amazing overall, however the replay ability factor for me isn't there that much besides a few tracks.

Review - Never really listened to his albums, but must admit this is actually very good. I can imagine how different this must have seemed when it dropped in an era of Eminem and 50 Cent. Rating - 7/10 Need to hear? YES

Classic hip-hop album. Love the story telling but Kanye also has great flow. All of the songs flowed incredibly well and I absolutely loved the production. Just a nice album to listen to and digest. 8/10, Favorite Song: Spaceship

Kanye West’s downward spiral has truly been a generational crashout if there ever was one. It’s difficult to fathom how he went from being the creative, talented and fairly conscious artist that he was on this debut album of his to the utter and complete lunatic mess he is today, spewing out godawful trash like songs where he’s openly embracing Nazism among other awful stuff. The last I heard of him he’s apologised for his antisemitism, but god knows how long that’ll last. Besides, a mere apology doesn’t undo the harm he has done. Also there’s plenty more awful things he’s done that he ought to make amends for like misogyny and sexual harassment, just to name a few. I could go on for a while. Putting aside Kanye’s shitty behaviour for the last decade and a half or so, this album is great. The production’s very good, the songs are well composed and the lyrics for the most part are alright too (though there are a number of lines that aren’t good). At this point in his career Kanye hadn’t become the egomaniac he would eventually become, and many of the songs on this album are self-reflective and honest in a way that comes off candid and interesting even to this day. It’s also quite bittersweet, knowing how things would turn out. That’s about all I feel comfortable saying about this right now. I guess to summarise I liked this album but very much despise what the artist behind it has become. 4/5 but fuck Kanye.

Hell of a debut. Miss this scrappy, up-and-coming version of Kanye so much. This is almost hard to listen to, knowing where Kanye has ended up. That said: this is undoubtedly a great album but I forget how hit and miss it is.

Innovative, different, creative. There are several great songs, but some lyrics are just idiotic. I rate him high because he is a great producer. 3,8.

there are better and worse kanye albums

fun and funky just discovered kanye songs through this

This guy. Not my thing but it is a great album

Not at all my typical genre. I was skeptical coming into this given Kanye's now infamy but, despite that, this is quite a good album. Shame about the artist.

As someone who isn't a huge fan of hip-hop, this album is incredible. It's a real shame where Kanye's gone, as I feel guilty sending someone who is now a literal Neo-Nazi any positive sentiment, but I'm reviewing the album on its own merits separate from the artist.

This was pretty good, really awesome instrumentation but the vocals/lyrical direction was kinda all over the place with a few high highs in a pile of generally alright pieces. Kanye just doesn't seem to be a fantastic rapper to me, on top of all the other controversy he's mixed up in, so while I'm glad I listened I'm not necessarily going to be coming back

too bad Kanye is a Nazi now. It's a great album. Insightful, funny and fun to listen to. I see the album theme throughout the songs. He made rap more interesting by taking risks that may have seemed corny and silly to others. He confidently stood out. Through the Wire shows Kanye's perseverance in making his dreams come true.. "spit my soul through the wire" Last Call is a cool way to wrap up the album and share his story. unconventional but it makes ppl relate more to the artist.

Unfortunately, it is a great album despite the guy who made it

Spectacular debut album with a wide variety of guest artists and samples. Kanye's talent as record producer shines.

Almost five!

Good album. Like late period JK Rowling, coulda used an editor or something to cut the fat, but the tracks that hit hit hard. Young boy was hungry, and full of fucking talent.

Listening to 2004 Kanye just feels sad now. Where did this guy go? Controversy aside, my hot take is Kanye was always a terrible rapper and a great producer. It's really obvious when Jay Z and Ludacris are rapping next to him. This album is way too long and has too many skits

4/5

Yeah this is a good album. I’m going to ignore my issues with the artist

Letteste Kanye West album at høre i 2026. Det er godt! Beatsene er gode! Han lyder ikke som en fascist på noget tidspunkt!

Hadn’t listened to alot of Kanye. This was fun music to listen to though.

It’s been a while since I listened to this one all the way through. I could write a dissertation on this album I feel, but I want to get my next album so I’ll keep it short. Is Kanye West, and rap generally, the foremost propagandist for the prosperity gospel? Is the whole thing a psy-op keeping young people from class consciousness? Those are the questions my thesis would answer. Anyway, to the music. There are so many hits, and it’s really funny to me that the ones he does with his conscious-rap “heroes” are by far the most forgettable of the bunch. I have listened to this album plenty of times and I could not tell you one line from “Get Em High” or “Two Words,” or even what they sound like. The rest of the album just outshines them so much. Kanye would make this sprawling track number work much better on Late Registration, then wisely dial that back for his absolute best albums, MBDTF and Yeezus, before bringing it for his last great album, The Life of Pablo. Also, it’s just really sad listening to this now as someone who still loves this music. In the words of MC Ride: Fuck a Nazi. Songs added to the playlist: We Don’t Care All Falls Down Jesus Walks The New Workout Plan Slow Jamz School Spirit Family Business Last Call

Lo que me hypea este album, podria ser perfecto si no tuviera algunos skips. Increibles temazos, top 5 kanye Mis favs: The New Workout Plan, Through The Wire, Last Call, Slow Jamz

Kanye's older catalogue still slaps. Favourite Track(s): Spaceship, Breathe In Breathe Out, All Falls Down, Slow Jamz Least Favourite Track(s): School Spirit

Oh man I'm conflicted about this one. First, Kayne is a giant piece of shit. He's also certifiably insane. But, this album was amazing. Kanye came in the scene and absolutely transformed what rap is and could be. He's also from Chicago, so I have a spot for that as I'm from there and came of age downtown and in that time when the racial issues in the city were really being pulled out and examined. His music from this era reflects that. So, if I divorce who he is now from what this album is I have to give it a great rating, but you can't so...conundrum.

My favorite Kanye album. Have heard countless times.

big fan of this album not a fan of kanye

First time listening to a whole kanye album, wont be the last... Holy shit! Cant even put it into words Love how much this feels like an album and not just a group of songs. Great features. Favorite songs: family business, two words, spaceship, school spirit 8/10

i thought this was going to be worse but i did enjoy this album very much actually

I miss the old Kanye….

Could get into this i think. Was a bit long to take everything in at once but will revisit gor sure

Largely a solid 4, chipmunk vocals and skits aside which made me consider a 3. Not his best work, but way superior to his recent output too.

3.75/5

Love me some Kanye, this wasn’t my favourite album of his but still enjoyed it. Felt like it lost something through the middle tracks, and all the casual misogyny is… a lot (I.e workout plan).

Great Songs: We Don’t Care, All Falls Down, Never Let Me Down, Slow Jazz, Family Business Good Songs: Graduation Day, I’ll Fly Away, Spaceship, Jesus Walks, Get ‘Em High, Breathe In Breathe Out, School Spirit Skit 1, School Spirit, School Spirit Skit 2, Lil Jimmy Skit, Through the Wire, Last Call Mid Songs: Intro, Workout Plan, The New Workout Plan, Two Worlds Bad Songs:

7/10 на жаль реально класна хуйня jesus walks is sooo good нікому окрім тейлор свіфт не можна мати більше 20 пісень в альбомі Я ВВАЖАЮ

Iconic and influential album. The hits are timeless, but some of the mid end of the album doesn’t hold up as well for me. What a great album surely the artist won’t be revealed as a massive bigot years later!

Good, but not my style though all songs are built on greatly

4/5

Ugodno iznenadena s obzirom da se radi o rapu, čiji nisam fan inače. Bila je dobra, zanimljivih pisama ima, tekstovi su vjerojatno odlični, ali nisam baš obraćala pozornost. Vjerojatno neću slušat ponovo jer nije moj đir toliko, al možda ipak upalim tipa u teretani. Najbolje pisme: Air falls down i Two Words.

Classic, too bad Kayne is such a moron

hit after hit after hit. What a fantastic album, I'm more partial to Graduation but this one goes hard too. My biggest gripe are the skits, just wayyy too long and annoying. Slow Jamz and Family Business are my favorites here but you would be hard pressed to find something bad.

I don't know if it's an overt familiary that leaves me less than stunned (a reaction that I also inexplicably had to The Dark Side of the Moon and Good Kid, Maad City), it didn't quite seem like one of my favorite albums of all time. (Though the best songs - Two Words, Family Bussknes, just to name a few - remain as strong as ever.)

Wel een bangertje hoor

I like the art but not the artist

good and fun, -1 for Kanye

Takes me back. Loved this album when it came out. Still holds up even though Ye is a d-bag.

As brilliant as I've known Kanye West to be, he's always been so obnoxious that I've avoided listening to his solo records. My opinion of Kanye West as a person hasn't changed after listening to The College Dropout, but I have to admit that this record is dope. Unsurprisingly, the best part of the album is the production. The music is incredible on virtually every track. The creativity and passion shown on this record are impressive enough that Kanye's massive ego is almost understandable, even if the record makes it no more palatable. On "Jesus Walks," he explicitly complains about how it's unacceptable to rap about spirituality and that his goal is to make people dance in clubs to his song about his spiritual journey. He composed the song with the complaint to achieve this goal, and he was successful. Everyone knows the story behind "Through the Wire," in which he uses his temporary disability (a broken jaw, wired shut) as texture in a song about the terrible car accident that caused it. That's the kind of unbridled energy and unstoppable motivation that can cause artists to create some of their best work, or fly too close to the sun and burn out. Add to that the fact that this record was only the beginning of an intense period of musical brilliance from Kanye West, and it's hard not to be seduced into the mythos that he believes about himself. Luckily for us, there are some serious flaws in The College Dropout as well. First, at an hour and fifteen minutes, it is far too long. Not only that, but it is obvious to me that the entire "School Spirit" and "Workout" sections could have been easily cut, making the album brilliant and tight instead of brilliant and sprawling. If it were tighter, I'd be more inclined to throw it on often in the future. As it is, though, I'll be happy to listen to any songs on this record, but I don't really want to listen to the whole thing. Four stars.

Yes I know its Kanye. Some of the lyrics were so dumb they were funny but I vibed with the music, as I usually do with hip-hop. Good listen, saved a decent amount of songs to my playlist so a solid 4.

Loved this when it came out, and still love it now. Narrative, witty lyrics, samples, guest appearances, all excellent. Just hard to separate it from the artist now

this one was very fun

Hadn't really listened to this album before. Kanyes debut album rewards those who dive in and listen for the impressive use of samples. The lyrics are cheeky and catchy and while never seeming to go too deep, there are some great one liners. Too many skits to make this an album I'd want to listen to back to front to often. Kanye's production goes hard and he often finds a way to take it to another level. Not my favourite genre and I'm late to this 20 year old record which hampers my personal rating: 7.8/10.

Ok guys, Kanye wrote an apology in the WSJ now, we can stop pretending he's not the GOAT of rap of the aughts and 2010s. A little too RnB focused on this record compared to his other records, which I'm not the biggest fan of, but it's still a fantastic album. Not giving it a 5 because it's not Graduation, and he did say all that terrible stuff, but come on. He made Graduation.

This album is really good. I like how it feels like an actual story. It was able to keep me interested throughout the whole hour and 16 minutes. I'm not the biggest fan of rap, but this is enjoyable.

What a music producer. Just too good. Sadly Kanye himself, mainly in the last years, has become not the most loveable person... But his music is good. All Falls Down (very popular for a reason) and Through the Wire are classics. Highlight: I'll Fly Away

This album is my probably my favorite Kanye album. His debut has so much creativity and interesting ideas in it, the songs really don’t miss. ‘We Don’t Care’, ‘Last Call’, and everything in between this is Kanye at his finest.

Classic

I can hear what all the buzz is about. This kid has a future

Solide album, artiste détestable.

bra album, dålig kanye

Fun to revisit after many years

What a waste. He’s so witty, but even here there’s a lot to disagree with

I appreciate that with The College Dropout, Kanye West created a space for hip-hop to rap about higher education, materialism, Jesus, etc. My favorite tracks are Spaceship, Get Em High and School Spirit. Once I removed the skits from the playlist, I liked the album a lot better.

this album sent me on a little research excursion regarding "chipmunk soul," as while wikipedia cited kanye west as popularizing the sound, it said nothing about who did it ""first"" or how, exactly, it came to be. maybe i'm not ""hip with it"" but pitched up singing seems enduring and, at times, ubiquitous. like, they're still doing edits to kordhell's music, aren't they??? that hasn't totally fallen out of style yet, right???? regardless, i was delighted to learn in my cursory research that it was a specific group of producers in the early aughts (which does include mr. kanye) who were experimenting, remixing, and taking advantage of any affordance the technology could offer. as rsonist says in the red bull music academy article on the origins of chipmunk soul "we all started using our voices as instruments. a lot of the times, i started using the voice simply because i couldn't get it out. but when i started putting it together, something dope happened... when you chop it up and piece it back together, you realize that the voice is actually an intricate part of what you do." funnily enough, i had kid a (2001) yesterday and that album's mythology goes along a similar trajectory where, as an antidote to writer's block, thom yorke took after electronic music and experimented with synthesizers to modulate his voice as an instrument. i also can't help but think about vocaloids, which, while initially released in 2004, would spin off into something so much bigger. learned here, too, that michael stipe of R.E.M. was cited as being impressed by vocaloids in a 2003 nyt article but was worried about the long-term implications with this incredibly prescient quote "i would hate to think that 250 years from now altria would use the michael stipe voice to sell organic soy to a mars landing ... it's intriguing in 2003. i'm not sure about 2303." i don't really have a thesis here aside from: i just think hip-hop is neat. the more i learn about hip-hop producers the more i understand how foundational their craft was for most any kind of music i like these days. oh, i was rating an album, wasn't i ??? uh... lukewarm four stars because, i'll hand it to kanye this is a phenomenal debut with phenomenal production but as much as i enjoyed the this album's tone it started to drag on for me. liked this more than my beautiful dark twisted fantasy for sure!! highlights - we don't care, spaceship, jesus walks, never let me down, the new workout plan, school spirit, through the wire

Better than I remember. Mostly good time. 4/ 5

Separating the art from the artist … this is really good. It’s powerful songwriting that has the magic of sounding like what it is about.

Jeez, this is just so well produced and still slaps hard. It could lean more toward a 5 in this system, but a strong 4.5.

4/5

Eva : à l'ancieeeenne bravo pour la prod et le rap... Chapeau !

Pretty iconic album. Not my favourite Kanye album, but as his breakout it has a unique spot in his discography

Hafði ekki hlustað áður en hún kom mér ánægjulega á óvart og ég fór loks að skilja hvers vegna hann hafði þann status sem hann hafði. Mjög flott margt, fjölbreytt, góð nýting á eldri stefum &c.. College skittin eru samt bara efni í eina hlustun.

Didn't want to listen to this because of Kanye's, make that Ye's, politics and behavior. But f that. This album is damn good. His talent is undeniable. Rich, profound lyrics and genres including from rap, hip hop, and soul on one album. Tremendous vocal collabs. This is a winner.

*sigh* This guy. This is not my kinda guy. I'll give the album the appropriate rating since it's genuinely brilliant. But I can't with this dude. Only thing I'll say: Ye get your life together you fucking psychopath.

The ensuing 20+ years have not all been kind, but there's no denying Kanye was in his bag on this one.

Endelig et alternativ til gangsta rappen. Kaney er langt mere intelligent og har en mere nuanceret beskrivelse af “den sorte mands” kamp. Lidt ironisk at kalde Kaney intelligent når man ser ham i dag. Albummet bliver desværre ca. 30 min for langt.

very good Kanye is nasty tho

Still relevant. It did contain too much talking theough the music for my tastes, but overall really nice

Gammal Kanye er dritfett! Digger det her

I don't really know this album. And it's hard to tell how I feel about his work before he went full Howard Hughes, but this is just not a 3.

0 stars for Kanye the person

Kanye west is good at music

It's still a great album, but listening to it is hard considering who Kanye has become. Here he's a relatable, if messy, 20 something angry at the system and trying to find his way into adulthood. His talent is undeniable and he is both confident and totally clueless. I wish I could just enjoy this as the great, influential, tone setting album is was in the early '00s. The cover is also great, a 4/5.

It’s real separating the art from the artist territory. Because Kanye West is a terrible person, but this is a great album.

honestly came into this with an expectation to dislike it given who kanye is now, and previous experience with his music - unfortunately it was very good haha

Never liked the person but appreciate the artist.

Crazy how 20 years ago he dropped one of the best debuts of all time and now…

4.4/5

Great album. Even the skits aren’t too bad.

better than i expected

This was a really interesting album. As much as I hate him, Kanye is so IN his music it's wild. Never seen an artist interject themselves in an album before. Overall, I liked it. It didn't seem to drag too much despite it's 80 minute runtime. I liked "Be" by Common more though.

This was the most challenging album on the list so far. This album is objectively really good, however Kanye in recent years is an admitted nazi. In an attempt to separate the art from the artist. 4/5

I've always hated skits in rap albums, and these really bring it down. The tracks themselves are very good. Too bad Kanye is also a massive POS.

Good album, definitely ahead of its time. Multiple songs that stand up to today.

I wasn't really enjoying it this much initially but eventually got into it. I definitely prefer his later, more maximalist records, and the soul-esque vibe this album has is also not my thing, but the atmosphere was still very pleasant. It's on the longer side, but the songs were pretty consistently enjoyable, so it didn't feel long. I understand what this skits/interludes were supposed to do to the story, but I didn't like them regardless. It felt like they were distracting me from the actual song, and incorporating them into the music (some of them are) would've been better. Although I had some problems with this album, from the artistic standpoint, it's a wonderfully executed project that fully deserves its classic status. Definitely not my type of music, and I didn't get deep into was going on here lyrically since I don't really enjoy listening to vocals, but I fully understand why some people would consider this a masterpiece.

2025-10-15: I am not used to this type of music and I have some bias against it. I enjoyed the second half better, perhaps because of the content or because I turned the volume down (it was getting late). I wasn't attentive to the lyrics, so if that's part of the appeal, I was missing out on it. I feel the cadence that rapping adds to music to be limited, but probably this is true of other kinds of music that I am more keen about. 2025-10-16: I have half skipped through the album on a subpar setting. Today I have found some of the groove and fun I felt on the latter tracks on the first ones. I still feel that rapping isn't something that I will have time stomaching and that will drag down this kind of music for extended/focused listening. However the fun/delight for which I have upped the score in previous albums is somewhere in there, so I won't rate it as a meh this time.

Fun record, I enjoyed the listen. No sure how much i could revisit since it felt a bit long but really glad I was exposed to it.

Ah yes, here comes the token "non classic rock/punk" album to sprinkle in this list. The way this list picks non classic rock/punk albums is the equivalent of someone saying "Oh yeah, I love Rock Music! Have you ever heard of Nirvana or Red Hot Chili Peppers?" The absolute most obvious, stereotypical, every-single-person-on-the-planet-likes-them-you're-not-special picks you could possibly imagine. That said, this album really was a big deal for the Hip-Hop Genre. One of the iconic ones from the Mid-2000s that still mostly holds up to this day. A few duds in the tracklist as there always was, but it still definitely is an important album for the time. Shame it's retroactively tainted by being created by an absolutely despicable cretin.

Thought this was really good to be fair (as Nazi music goes)

Sigh. I know it’s a jokey thing to say, but DAMN, I miss the old Kanye. THIS Kanye! This music is so instrumental (no pun intended) to me as a person. Those first five albums are soundtracks to teenage Brad becoming a young man. As an extremely white kid, Kanye was one of the first rappers that actually made me sit up and pay attention. He was just different at the time. Weird and nerdy and his choruses were so catchy and sing-y and I just felt seen by him in some way. This album is so big and bright and silly and musical. I really wish he had never become what he has become. It’s genuinely depressing. Still too many skits on this thing, tho.

I never like Kanye but I had never listened to this one. It’s good. Minus the strange, non-sensical lil Jimmy skit track, this is not pretty pretty pretty good. Pretty creative album. But maybe he shouldn’t have hated college so much and tried to learn something back then and he might not have ended up with a brain of mush today. 4 stars.

I have to admit this album is good.

People need to learn to separate art from the artist. This record is amazing.

Not quite up to MBDTF, but excellent nonetheless. 4.

The skits don't really hold up overall, pretty standard.

Who hurt you Kanye? You could have just made a billion dollars doing this over and over again and you needed more so you ruined your sound and your legacy.

Sorry, this is a fantastic album. What an assured, finely crafted, charismatic, explosive debut record. What a fucking waste. Production knocks and he sounds hungry and fired-up. I’m so mad. I DO miss the old Kanye. I will crawl on my belly over broken glass as penance. Thankfully I can at least begrudge this a perfect score because it is about 15 minutes too long and some of the engineering choices haven’t aged well.

The good outweighs the bad. At least musically.

I do not love The College Dropout, but I like it well enough.

I’ve been a fan of his since I heard this record and continue to enjoy his first 5 records to varying degrees (but honestly don’t listen much at all these days, for obvious reasons). Anyway, this is one of the all time great hip hop debuts, and there was a LOT of expectation and anticipation and haters ready to shit on this record, and he came through. I hate hate hate skits, and there’s some filler here but it’s an audacious and auspicious debut. Rob Mitchum nailed it: a flawed, overlong, hypocritical, egotistical, and altogether terrific album

There’s a reason this guy got popular back in the day, before all the crazy shit. Some bangers on this album but good listen overall even though I disagree with those school spirit skits

Jesus Walks carries this album

This one surpassed my expectations.

Really really fantastic album. Listening to his old stuff, make's it all the more depressing to know how he turned out. Still, this is one of the greatest rap albums ever, and he gets even better later. 4.5/5

Kanye is a wanker. This album is good. Shame. Do I rate it based on how much I hate the guy, how good the album is?

Hate the player, love the game.

This is the first album released during my lifetime that I've had to rate for this and it's a fitting one! The College Dropout is one of those highly-regarded LPs that I've never had the chance to properly listen through – albums like this are exactly why I felt like I needed to finally commit to doing this challenge. Kanye West's debut album isn't the first I've heard from him (it's actually the eighth, including KIDS SEE GHOSTS), but I think you could make a case for it being his best. For the first seven tracks, it feels like a bona fide five star album – the beats are incredible and uplifting, the track-to-track flow is impeccable, the bars are clever and unique. There's a sense of adolescence & humility that I've never really heard from Kanye prior to this point and it makes me understand (ever so slightly more) why his day ones have stood by him through his many controversies in the decades since. The College Dropout is a great album, but it's not perfect (for me, anyway). The album has a pretty sizable dip from tracks 8-13, in which it veers into fairly generic early/mid '00s club hip-hop territory without much of the character and charisma found on the rest of the project. There are interesting moments during the dip ("The New Workout Plan" is a highlight) and I don't outright hate any of the songs in that chunk, but I probably would have enjoyed the whole album like 25% more if it went straight from "Jesus Walks" to the first "School Spirit" skit. Overall, it's a solid project and one that I feel I've truly missed out on all these years (which is ultimately what I'm looking to get out of each album on this list)! It also inspired me to finally check out Late Registration and Graduation, since [SPOILER] neither made the cut for this list. Might share some thoughts on those in my eventual reviews of MBDTF and Yeezus, assuming there's anything relevant to share. Highlights: We Don't Care, All Falls Down, Jesus Walks, The New Workout Plan, School Spirit, Two Words, Through the Wire, Family Business, Last Call

The age old question returns: should we separate the art from the artist? I can't think of a bigger disparity between the art, and artist than I can with this album, and the album's artist. In good faith, I can't possibly give this a five-star rating because Kanye West is an apprehensible scumbag(whether he's using his alter ego "Ye", or not), but at the same time, the album is a musical masterpiece. Is this a fair compromise? Favorite Track: "Through The Wire".

4.5/5

Hip-hop beats and AC. The cure to headaches. 4/5

7/10

Wow that was such a great album. I'm very impressed. Too bad he's crazy now.

J’adore Kanye.

Back in the days when Kanye was any good, and not an anti-Semitic POS. Couple of good songs in there.

I get the protest of Kanye West (Ye) now, but this was an important record for Hip Hop and had much beats. I fucked with the first few albums but don't go back to them. Fuck Ye

This album fucks

great hip hop album with lots of variety, melodic vocals and a cozy mid 2000's vibe

quite good! like the story behind the songs and how it joins together

I hate how much I loved this.

What a bummer it is to revisit this knowing what Kanye turned into. I've been wondering if I could stomach listening to his stuff anymore, because I haven't in years. There's still plenty to like on here, skits and filler aside. There just isn't anything to like about Kanye personally anymore.

Great album. Kanye might be a musical genius, but also a giant piece of shit. I would like to grade this solely on the musical content, and for the most part I will. I have to knock it slightly for how I felt the ick the entire time I listened to this.

A lot of mixed feelings because ye is now a Nazi, and I’m usually a fan of death of the artist but it’s hard when the person is alive and still doing what they’re doing. In saying that, objectively this is a very good album, very well produced with great features and songs, the main thing that drags it down are the skits which I’m not the biggest fan of on rap albums

Como me jode que sea un nazi, pero bueno no he escuchado casi nada de este disco a si que imaginare que estoy en el pasado y este hombre sigue cuerdo, tampoco me parece un discazo de temazos, pero en general esta bien.

I just can't believe the same dude who made these songs is now a Hitler praising edgelord. God, what a waste. What the hell happened, Kanye?

A cunt and absolutely horrible person but good beats

Ye is an out of touch, likely literally insane, Nazi and he sucks. Let's get that out of the way up top. At this point in his career though, he was just an unsuccessful narcissist who finally broke big and what a hell of a break it was. I missed this when it dropped, but his next album Graduation, is what finally made me understand hip hop. While that particular project aged poorly, this one holds up and then some. Last Call overstays but it's the only weak track. Everything else is just so fun and well produced. How can you hate on "She got a black friend, look like Michael Jackson. She got a white friend, look like Michael Jackson."? Is that line dumb as hell, yes. But is it also fun, yes. I don't stream Ye anymore even though I love his music. Glad I had the excuse with this project and sad that he's ruined himself.

I needed an excuse to listen to this album because it's not my favorite Kanye album and I rarely revisit it, especially because of how long it is. I was excited that this was the album of the day giving me the excuse I needed. But relistening to the album my experience was aligned with my expectations, and I feel justified I am hesitant to listen to this without an excuse. After spending time as a producer hidden behind the curtain, Kanye's ego forced it's way out in a debut album that solidified him as one of the greatest rap producers of all time, and kicked off his career as the rapper unafraid to write the corniest lyrics of all time. College Dropout is a sneak peek into everything Kanye will do in the future: an album that drags on, music where I get bored and irritated wanting it to end, songs with stand out production, songs with surprising instrumentals and excellent production that I never noticied before when listening closely, Kanye showing his genius in good ability to know who to collaborate with to make a song really stand out, Kanye lyrics being annoying, Kanye lyrics being clever, Kanye lyrics being funny. However, I'm at my happiest when the album is finally done and I can move on to something else. Rating 4 stars because 3 is an injustice to Kanye's production.

I rarely listen to College Drop Out, and I have to observations reflecting on this album as the origin of his later works: 1) The production value has been strong since day 1. Without context, you'd think that the success of this album was driven by the producer collabs with the top artists of the day (Jay-Z, Mos Def, Jamie Foxx). But in context, you know that he got those collabs because they respected his talent so much. 2) The hard-to-look-away guilty pleasure characterized by Kanye's blend of wittiness and griminess on his overtly sexual songs that make up like half of Yeezus are marginally evolved versions of songs like New Workout Plan. Transitioning from recalls to his mom's involvement in the civil rights movement to calls for women using sex to strengthen their core to making a joke about michael jackson's skin color and landing on a sex -> rapping speed to introduce Twista is maybe the best representation of Ye as a polarizing figure. Some highlights here but ultimately too long and too cringe, 3.5 rounded up

In retrospect, we all probably should have seen the line "The prettiest people do the ugliest things" as Kanye foreshadowing the turns he's taken in the past decade. This album though is fantastic, a near masterpiece that reminds me of why Kanye rose to fame and was EVERYWHERE in pop and rap in the mid-and late-00s. He was a great rapper who knew what he was doing with a unique and interesting sonic brand.

Separating the art from the artist on this one.

4/5 bangers!

lot of variety in soundscape and the type of songs Favorite track: slow jamz other picks: all falls down, spaceship, jesus walks, through the wire

Listening to this album I decided I was going to separate the art from the artist. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the album. Honestly, he was hungry for success, desperate for a win. The beats were pretty diverse, which is such a breath of fresh air in the day and age. I also enjoyed how vulnerable he was at times. That was my biggest surprise of all. Before this album all I knew was the ego and the insane public displays. I understand a bit more how that came to be now

pas mal mais je dirais pas un classique

A man that would reach the apex brought down by society and his own undoing.

Musical Yenius

-Not my fav Kanye album (Late Registration) or his best (MBDTF) but is it his most cohesive? I think it's definitely in the running since the pitched-up soul samples and themes of consumerism, the struggle of African Americans and trying to find meaning in the modern world throughout -Not a lot of skips! But defeintely a few (the skips yes but also a few tracks) -Man that Twista verse on Slow Jamz still takes off like a fuckin rocket, huh?

Kanye, you mad genius. ✅✅✅ All Falls Down ✅✅✅✅ Spaceship ✅✅✅ Jesus Walks ✅✅✅✅ The New Workout Plan ✅✅✅ Last Call

This album is so nostalgic for me, but also still feels so current - like it could have come out today and had the same impact. I've revisited this album many times and stopped once Kanye became so undeniably problematic and scary. Relistening to it yesterday brought back all of the joy and fun I had with this album - it's like one big R&B, hip hop party with everyone coming in and out and doing their thing (I will always love a Jamie Foxx appearance). This is a 4.5 for me, but I'm giving it a 4 only because I think 'Graduation' is tighter and better....but this is still a stunner.

Unfortunately incredible

sense memories of college activated. tougher and tougher to rank these Kanye records in lieu of recent events but in all subjective objectivity- this still throws down.

o kurde belek to był dobry album fav track- roses/touch the sky

The skits on this need more appreciation they're fucking hilarious 4*

Sometimes people are the worst can do good things. This album is good. He absolutely sucks as a human, hes utter scum and I dont listen to him for pleasure now, not one bit. Never let me Down is the highlight. Family Business is good. The singles are great. Too many skits, too long I cant stress this enough; fuck kanye. 4/5

A surprisingly deep glimpse into Kanye to come. The left field gospel is all there, all the desperate measures to appeal to the current hip-hop mainstream is there. The shocking thing is how great of an ALBUM this is. It builds interests, and gets better as it goes along. Even the weaker songs provide something different, something interesting, and it all moves things along. Yes, Kanye is a lunatic now. In a lot of ways, he was a lunatic. But damn, he's a creative force in this era. 4 stars only because it's a bit pandering, and I know what's coming.

Ganske så chill, mer religiøst enn jeg kunne huske

I hate the guy, but this album is fucking good

This takes me back. Couldn't let my kids listen to it (yet), but I do like it.

I went into this album honestly expecting something awful. The other music of Kanye that I’d heard sounded like the auditory equivalent of having somebody urinate straight into my ears, so naturally I wasn’t filled with hope for the album. Kanye’s personality also makes him a pretty unlikeable person too, which adds to this low expectation. However, as much as I may have wanted to dislike it, I couldn’t help but to really enjoy this. The music is pretty great, mixing hip hop with lots of old soul music. The lyrics were actually really good for the most part. I wanted to hate this. I actually quite love it. It’s just too long to give a perfect score.

This album makes you think about the trials and tribulations of inner city life in Chicago and in America. Iconic debut b4 the crazy came out! Collaborating with hip hop’s greatest rappers. Several hits songs in one album. Skits are Crazy, stupid, and hilarious!

Back when Kanye just made fun music

Funny follow up after Be, this is an undisputed classic

Bueno, movido y da sensación de estar en NY

Although its very bloated and you do really have to separate the art from the artist here, I enjoyed quite a lot.

Before the Nazism

God conscious rap. Det er jo Kanye West og det er hans debut album og det er virkelig godt. Det har sådan en Old School hip hop over sig og det er tydeligt at høre hvad han synger. Kan godt lide teksterne og flowet.

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 4/1001 Extremely real and relatable over a decade later. To get the full experience '1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die' lays out, I'm putting myself in the mindset of when the album was released rather than thinking about it in the context of today. With that in mind, this is the album that led to the Kanye of the 2000s, gave him the fame we all came to know him for, and there's no denying he was deserving of it then. I thoroughly enjoyed this more than I thought I would. A bit long (ending on a 12-minute track is certainly a statement, though) There are many songs here that I could come back to, and some I could've lived without. But overall, the beats are catchy, the songs are real, and the lyrics are deep. It's fun and serious at the same time. There are memorable verses that I was awaiting even after a first listen. Its highs are some of the best of rap, its lows are completely forgettable though they don't diminish the album much overall. It's a strong showcase for an artist clobbering his way to the scene. 'We Don't Care' is the precipitate for who Kanye was at this time, and it was the perfect opening track for this album. It's an introduction to him and the thematic elements this album is shaped around. The album may be titled 'The College Dropout,' but Kanye schooled the industry with this release. Podium: 1. All Falls Down 2. We Don't Care 3. Slow Jamz Honorable Mention(s): 'The Wire' -- While not a podium song for me personally, it's an important track for the album overall, and as I understand it, part of the reason for Kanye pursuing this album in general. The story behind The Wire is too powerful not to acknowledge in a review. It's a solid album, great even, with a decent amount of hits. Though there are skippable parts, the message here is equal parts meaningful and catchy, and it sticks to the theme outlined in the title. It's worthy of being on this list and demonstrates the new beginning of one of the most significant and controversial artists to enter (and change) the genre. For these reasons, I give The College Dropout by Kanye West 4/5 stars P.S. 'But the people highest up got the lowest self-esteem, the prettiest people do the ugliest things' in 'All Falls Down' is just so on the nose for current Kanye)

Cuando kayne west era bueno (dijo nadie nunca)

I miss the old Kanye Beats are fire, flow is sick, lyrics are very good. Not a 5 because it has a 13 minute final song of just talking

Solid beginning up and down

This was huge for me in college. It has held up, while Kanye himself has…not…

When I was younger in the late 2000s, I thought Kanye West was one of the greatest musicians ever, and while it wasn’t my favorite, I argued that The College Dropout was the best proof of this argument. 
I don’t think I need to re-write critical obsessive analysis of The College Dropout and explain why it was seen as groundbreaking. We all know why, if we’re here. But as a 15 year old smoking a one hitter in her Dad’s car before her after-school coffee shop job, The College Dropout felt revelatory, like sound as I had never heard it before. No Graduation, obviously, which was new and my gateway into Kanye obsession, but damn close. But now, nearly 2 decades after I first heard The College Dropout, I feel less enthusiastic. I’ve tried to revisit this album nearly 20 times since pausing this project for personal life reasons, assuming it should be an obvious, if nostalgic, 5-star review. I’ve told myself to pretend that the Kanye of the last decade is a different person, has no impact on this vital record. I know every note of this record like the back of my hand; I should be enjoying it without issue. But I just couldn’t. Sometimes, you grow out of an album. Also, sometimes, bad people make great art, but the seeds of what makes them a bad person– the holier-than-thou ego, the religiosity, the isolationism/judgement of other communities, the self-obsession, the anti-intellectualism, the obsession with riches at the cost of everything else– can still be found in that great art, at least in a seedling form. The harder I stared at The College Dropout, the more obvious it became that Kanye West has always been the same Kanye West…it was just a lot more buttoned-up back then. I found myself getting an ick the more I thought about the lyrics and themes here. I mean, sure, I might be a trans lapsed Catholic, so maybe I’m not the target audience, but there was a time when I at least appreciated this, even as a nerdy white “boy.” Plus, eventually, all groundbreaking music becomes dull and passé. I still think the production on here is great, but given the runtime, once you figure out the schtick, the whole album starts to feel stylistically dull. It’s also a long album, with a lot of songs that were only ever good, even upon release, but the highs were so high, you forgave the mid. Now, the highs are lower but the mid is the same, making it a more even yet still exhausting sit-through. I may also be looking at this in the rearview, since Late Registration is basically a 2.0 version of this and really wears the style thin; I’m sure anyone hearing this for the first time would still be blown away, but if not, it’s definitely become a bit more boring than timeless. And last, but not least, I think sometimes, when you know every note of an album from your youth but may have not continued to carry that album with you into new chapters in your life for whatever reason (and we all know why with Kanye), a revisit isn’t a homecoming, but more a redundant, passive, obligatory revisit, as if you’re having a drink with a high school friend you no longer have much in common with and frankly will never talk to again. For me, all of these elements combined together to create a difficult listen, and one I can’t really assess without also checking my baggage in the loading dock. The College Dropout is still an essential album, especially on a list like this, and it is still largely a great album. If this is your first time hearing this, you really are about to experience something so cold, but even then, it won’t be as revelatory as it was in the mid-2000s, that’s for sure. I found when I just had this on in the background while I was running errands or working, I was more inclined to bop along with it, passively engaging with the nostalgic memorized grooves and words, but if I gave it an attentive listen, I wanted to turn it off. Some songs still work for me because they’re just great or pure camp: “New Workout Plan,” “We Don’t Care,” “Family Business,” “Slow Jamz,” and “Through the Wire” are all amazing, and I can stomach them because they’re songs I have continued to listened to, detached from the Kanye West of it all. But on the whole, the flaws stand out, and the future flaws stand out even more. In short? It’s no Graduation, but it’s still important, but not as important as it felt back then.

I miss this Kanye. What a killer debut album.

All the bullshit aside, this is a pretty great album.

Great album. Questionable person nowadays. (41 known/87 new)

Unfortunately soooo goood??? To paraphrase Glee-- He may be difficult, but boy can he rap hahah (4 because of the artist, 5 if it was someone else)

no comment 8/10

Been a while since I listened to this in full - Kanye used to be genuinely funny and brilliant and such a tonic to the Bling Era of rap. Such a shame listening knowing how it’s all ended.

I loved Kanye's first solo release. It soundtracked my junior year of high school and inspired me to pick-up music production. After listening to it for the first time in a long while, it's easy to poke holes in it's classic status. Musically, it's hard to diminish the monumental impact his production style had on hip-hop. In an era when super-producers like Dr. Dre, Timbaland, and The Neptunes were carving out new sonic landscapes for popular music, Kanye leaned into sample-heavy production styles popularized in the mid-90s that were falling quickly out of fashion, replaced by production that relied less on samples and more on traditional musicianship. His nascent, brimming talent for production is the album's strongest quality — not only did he have great, unconventional taste in samples, but from the onset he was a prolific collaborator, an aspect of his music that only grew in scale with subsequent releases. The same goes for his braggadocios, corny lyrics, stacked features list, and plentiful skits. He covers topics like materialism, religion, slavery, and personal struggles to attain success and fame with a sly smirk, always ready to deploy a tacky metaphor or pretentious posture, a tendency that unfortunately entrenched itself with successive albums. A highlight lyrically is the HBC through-line embedded within the plentiful skits. Kanye highlighted an aspect of black culture for the mainstream that many non-blacks were unaware of, and executed it in a way that amusingly knit-together the dropout theme. And the features only cemented his elevated-status as hip-hop's most enigmatic, dynamic producer: he effortlessly acquired excellent verses from a who's-who of both underground and mainstream rap. Before Kanye it seemed impossible to imagine Jay-Z and Common on the same album, titans of their respective above-and-below ground domains respectively. Kanye also effectively launched John Legend's widely-successful career. This album is still fun to listen to, and not because of it's nostalgic importance to me. The joyous tone is felt throughout, his sped-up soul samples and playful bars are infectious, and you're rooting for the self-proclaimed underdog he was then. While Kanye covers deeper concepts, his ultimate goal then was to make you smile and nod your head, and because fame had not-yet corrupted and inflated his ego he actually wanted people to respect and like him, and he made sure you knew of his genuine intentions to earn that acceptance. From that point on though, Kanye obsessed over and widely-expressed how he felt his greatness was not fully recognized, and that viewpoint calcified and soured year after year, eventually leading to his rapid decline in the mid 2010s. The end result of such unchecked pride and power is a delusional, unshakeable belief in one's supremacy, and Kanye thought — and still thinks — Kanye reigns supreme. As he would say on a subsequent album, "no one man should have all that power". Ultimately Kanye succeeded at what he strove to do with College Dropout: he took the template of classic mid-to-late 90s hip-hop records and retuned it for a wider pop audience. He succeeded wildly, and he nurtured his initial fame and success, planting seeds that ultimately would grow too large for his roots to bare, unearthing and toppling his eventual greatness. "The Old Kanye" oft-discussed by himself and his day-one fans alike never existed in full. The Kanye West we know today was always there just beneath the surface, a significant slice of his personality pie — but he revealed that true self in measured, sporadic ways. His fame turned to infamy too quickly, and I can't help but wonder what kind of Kanye we'd have today if he had the wherewithal and communal support to address his demons and take control over his mental health earlier in his life. Another truly great, generational artist who grappled with fame and fortune and ultimately lost, forfeiting his legacy for one painful headline after another. The eroded, polarized state of his fanbase is as bipolar as his diagnosis: you either worship or disdain him, all nuance stripped away by his extreme declarations and actions. As someone who shares a bipolar diagnosis with him, I'm all to familiar with the symptoms and tendencies at play here, and I truly hope he does the immense work necessary to earn the trust and respect his creative legacy undoubtedly deserves.

0/5 person but pretty good album.

Did not expect to vibe to this as much as I did given that I only know this man from memes, meltdowns, and South Park. Shout-out to the school spirit skits. My degrees will SURELY keep me warm when I'm dead!

I means its college dropout 4.5 stars and i rmbr listening to this in highschool for the first time he changed my broke ass life

Pretty consistent but doesn't hit the same highs that would be reached on Late Registration, may drag a bit late but picks up a little by the end, overall a hopeful debut for perhaps the greatest artist in hip-hop Sucks what's happened to his life and the person he's become, the soul he once had will remain immortalized

Kanye’s best album

Another great album from a time before Kanye went insane. Very honest, reflective. Tongue in cheek humour. Overall a great hip hop record but it had too many skits that didn't have to be there.

7/10 - Kanye music is good but Kanye person is bad

Really is a shame he completely lost it. Would give it a five if it weren’t Kanye

Pretty good album, Kanye is so talented it's too bad he's insane now.

Hate the guy now, but objectively, a great album

kayne at kanyes best

Say what you will about the man, in fact I’ll say it: f*ck Kanye. But his music in this album is absolute bustastic. The production and the beats and variety of vibes and the skits and the 12 minute finale of just him telling his story of getting signed and stuff, like I could listen to him talk forever, it all combines to make one extremely solid hip hop album. It is really quite self evident why this man’s early work became so influential to so many who came after him and the entire future of the genre. So it really is a darn shame he went so far off the deep end.

Such a good start

An hour and 16 minutes!!! Never listened to this end to end. The skits are fun, the whole production is so cool. It's hard to like Kanye these days.

Star-Studded album with hilarious skits between songs. Come get the PHD for Free.99!

Oh how the mighty have fallen. If only he had gotten some therapy, perhaps he wouldn't be a self proclaimed Nazi now. Anyway. This was a good album. Kind of sullied by how crap of a person he is now.

All his bs aside, it’s a pretty stunning album

A visionary, one of the best producers ever, his pen fresh but already sharp. It's a shame what has happened with him in the last couple of years.

fuck this guy

Kanye Goat West

i miss the new old kanye, before he went stictly by ye kanye.. the black skinhead and pablo life kanye… this album aight tho

Years ago, after I first listened to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I got on a brief Kanye kick. This album wasn’t on heavy rotation at that time, but revisiting it, I enjoyed it more than I remembered. There’s an innocence and playfulness to this album that feels bittersweet - maybe even outright sad - given how far its creator has fallen. It makes me nostalgic and almost in mourning of a simpler time in my own life as well; coincidentally, I first heard “Through The Wire” when I was spending a lot of time at the hospital visiting a close friend who had broken her jaw. There were lots of things going on back then, but hearing that song makes me miss that person and that time. I don’t know exactly where I come down on separating the art from the artist, and I’m sure I’m not even consistent. I still find this worth listening to, though. Favorites: Spaceship, Jesus Walks, Never Let Me Down

I'm very sorry but it's very good until the last third. Never Let Me Down (bar Jay-Z) is the highlight.

God damnit. This is really good isn't it. For someone so eloquent and thought out in what he is saying here it is appalling to see that is such a massive tool. I imagine those who have been fans of him since this time must feel devastated. It's inventive, it's interesting, it's funny. I read the wiki and it said no one would sign him cos he wasn't doing Gangstar rap. Good. I can't be arsed with Gangstar rap. Anyway, that also made him innovative. I'm not really keen on the "chipmunk" samples, but I've heard worse examples than on this record. What a shame.

Nem deveria dizer isso, mas eu acho hilário os ativistas de sofá postando aqui que se negam a ouvir esse álbum. Como se o Ye fosse o único artista que tenha feito merda e está nessa lista. Pessoal estúpido. Enfim, tanto faz, cada um com sua vida. Não existe isso de separar a arte do artista. O artista é sua arte, e a arte é o seu artista. Só nao glorifique artistas, eles também são pessoas como você. Isso é óbvio mas a Internet atualmente mais se assemelha a uma creche, onde precisamos falar o óbvio de forma macia, tipo "não corte seu cabelo com as tesouras" e "não morda seu amiguinho". Enfim. Sobre o disco: Uma estréia magistral. Fica claro ouvindo esse álbum que Ye, acima de tudo, queria se provar. Ele claramente era seu maior fã e tinha uma crença absurda em seu potencial e talento. Desta forma, o trabalho final acaba estufado com um pouco de tudo, batidas infectantes, samples finíssimos, versos quentes, flows melódicos, skits cômicos, e até mesmo partes cantadas. Por um lado, no contexto do artista desesperado procurando seu Break e querendo colher imediatamente os frutos que ele andou plantando por tanto tempo e com tanto esforço (Lock yourself in a room doing 5 beats a day for 3 summers), esse bloat imenso faz sentido e é até mesmo charmoso as vezes. Mas não há como negar, os três primeiros discos do Ye são os únicos de sua discografia que eu consideraria "datados". Pra começar: Tanto esse quanto LR possuem uma duração laborosa. Muitas canções poderiam ter sido encurtadas, com participações inconsequentes que poderiam ter sido cortadas. Além disso, as faixas muitas vezes são complementadas por skits que francamente, não são engraçados, e atrapalham muito a fluidez do álbum. Dito isso, ouça All Falls Down e lembre-se imediatamente porque Ye se tornou o artista magnânimo que ele é. O talento do homem é inegável e inconfundível. As batidas aqui são todas PERFEITAS (não uso essa palavra levemente). É perceptível que ele havia guardado esses beats por muito tempo especialmente pra sua triunfante estréia. O mesmo pode ser dito dos seus versos, que possuem flows diversos, trocadilhos brilhantes e um charme interminável. Dito isso, esse disco não está nem perto de ser meu favorito do Ye por conta dos fatores mencionados, mas ao ouvi-lo é impossível ficar parado. Abaixa o punho e ouve o som. 4.5/5 The kid that made that, deserves that Maybach.

Listened to this album a lot when I was younger, and a majority of the tracks still hold up. "We Don't Care" is a strong opener, the singles are all bangers, fantastic hip hop record from the 00's. 4/5

There’s a lot of ideas here, and what works really works. The singles are incredible. The main drawback is that it is overindulgent in ways that I frankly find annoying (it ends with a nearly 13 minute account of how he got a record deal).

kanye was a real talent wasn't he

Truly a shame this guy went Hitler mode cause this is music

Old Kanye

Despite my previously mentioned dislike for Kanye West, and while not as good as MBDTF, this was another strong effort. I'll separate the art from the artist again and give him credit for his talent. The album was full of overall good production and composition, solid rap efforts, and interesting topics that didn't feel like pandering for the most part. The quantity of artists and musical additions to the album almost make West blend in and disappear into the mix at times, which maybe helps him stay toned down. It makes sense that he worked as a producer for years with these tracks, as they sound well constructed and thought out. Much like his other albums, more is really more for him, and it works. He also uses his singing voice infrequently on this one, which I appreciate since I find it generally weak. Aside from the music, the album imagery is fitting; the way I understand it, West dropped out of college to pursue the music career, but wasn't widely accepted in the rap world given his background. He didn't fit the more urban-focused packaging that dominated the hip hop scene at the time. So there he sits, the would-be "dancing bear". A mascot meant to enthusiastically depict school spirit. But instead of dancing, he is sadly alone, having isolated himself from the suburbanites by leaving college while still being rejected by the group he wanted to be a part of. The ornate surrounding literally frames this isolation as the art itself making up/driving the album. It's one of the better uses of album art I've seen come up through here. While there is a lot to like here, it just didn't stand out to me as "great" even it it was very good. Comparing it to MBDTF, I thought this was the weaker of the two. Overall: 3.75/5

Fantastic samples, great flows. Classic Kanye.

It’s a masterpiece start to finish. Really hard not to give this one a 5, it’s Kanye at his very best. Iconic samples, beats and vocals.

One of the greatest rap/hip hop albums of all time.

I think I'd give this 3.5 stars. It's a lot better than yeezus and I liked the general flow of the album.

Great album. Got into it a few years back after watching Jeen-Yuhs.

Kanye in 2025. Ooof! This one is spawning much internal dialogue about “art vs. artist.” There's an argument to be made for separating the two, but when the art is (partially) about race and racism, I don't think I can/should discount the outspoken racism of present-day Kanye. The production is fantastic, and though I think Kanye isn't the most proficient rapper, he can write a good line, and call in great featured artists. 20 years ago, this would be a 5. In 2025, a 4 feels like I'm giving him more grace than he deserves. I hope K gets the help with his mental health that he desperately needs, and does something to make up for the harm he's been doing to himself and his audience of late. "Through the Wire" is perfect, and I hope Chaka made a few million off it.

Det føles ganske teit at mine første moralske kvaler i forbindelse med det her prosjektet dukke opp med Kanye West, bare tenk på kor mange moralske kvaler man burde ha med majoriteten av (mannlige) artister opp gjennom alle tiår med albumlytting. Men det e jo vanskelig når noen man vet va toneangivanes for enogtyve år siden etterhvert har blitt et moralsk forkvakla menneske man nu ikke egentlig har lyst til å støtte, sjøl bare med de få milliøran han eventuelt måtte tjene på min ene gjennomlytting av albumet. Men æ hørte på det, og sjøl om æ ikke har hørt mye nok på rap til å kunne plukke ut de fremragende kvalitetene det her e i besittelse av, så skjønne æ at det e bra. Æ bare kommer aldri til å høre på det igjen fordi æ ikke vil støtte et menneske som e moralsk forkvakla og i aktiv drift.

good album

I miss the old Kanye. 😢 After watching the Kanye documentary a few years ago, I developed a newfound appreciation for this debut. The amount of stick he got from the hiphop community before his breakthrough was ridiculous. No one took him seriously for not being tough like rappers were expected to be at the time. Despite not even being one of his best 3 albums for me, this album is still full of classics. The middle of the album is a little bit bloated, and some of the absolute standouts for me come towards the end of the album, with Through The Wire, Two Words, Family Business, and Last Call giving this album a legendary close. Jesus Walks is the ultimate standout though - it’s a fascinating description of being intent on being a righteous person but working in an industry where that is not rewarded in any way. The production is groundbreaking and immaculate throughout, with this album introducing the chipmunk-style production to the world (sped-up soul samples). I’m not sure what’s crazier: the fact that Kanye followed this up by 3 even better albums back-to-back (Late Registration, Graduation, 808s and Heartbreak), or the fact that these days he has completely descended into madness and is now a despicable human being. No longer a fan, but I still appreciate this great stuff from over 20 years ago(?!)

I’m very conflicted. Kanye is a horrendous person. But this album is undeniably great. Wordplay, production, beats, everything is top notch. Marking it down a star for obvious reasons and because it goes on slightly too long.

really good and a classic. Kanye really cooked on this one

This album is one ive already heard its really good. It also has some of my favorite Kanye songs, like All falls down, jesus wallks, get em high, slow jamz, and through the wire.

production is incredible. a remarkable album. shame about a piece of shit kanye is, and looking at the evidence the guy left about some of his toxic attitudes (see: the next workout plan). one for a category I expect to see a lot of out of this list, "incredible album by someone who is a real piece of shit"

Kanye had (has?) so much talent. This album just makes me sad for all the things we've lost. Also forgot that I know 90% of the words, and that it ushered in a whole new sound for music.

So many just flat out badass songs. Amazing production. Couple that fall flat for me so can't give it a perfect but I still love this album.

The top two reviews actually made me cringe… Ik we’re at a point where this man is either just a straight up cock or needs serious help but he made great music and I hope people don’t forget that. As of typing this he’s the 28th most streamed artist in the world on Spotify and while I don’t think popularity is a factor in quality at shows he’s got something very right. Boycott vultures, bully, ww3 (whenever that comes out) honestly I think there little point beyond kids see ghosts. But this MBDTF and graduation (which should be on this list) are amazing. On this I love all falls down and Jesus walks a ton and always have. Spaceship is great too! Slow Jamz is super catchy. It just lacks bad songs… too many interludes I admit though it’s too long so 4/5

Some of Kanye's best songs ever. A few too many skits and I can't stand Breathe In Breathe Out. 9/10