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4/14/2012

MUSIC: Top 10 Best Kanye West Songs

Alright, so love him or hate him; Kanye West is, in my opinion, one of the greatest rappers of all time. His albums range from complete sellout pandering (808s and Heartbreaks, Watch the Throne) to true masterpieces (Graduation, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), but even his lows manage to be higher than a lot of rappers' highs. So without further ado, here's the list:

10) All of the Lights (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

Alright, let's start this off on a good note. As much as I dislike Rihanna, I must say that her overly auto-tuned voice lent well to this song. This song is actually only here simply because of her sample and how well it was intermingled into this amazing production. Honestly, I feel that Kanye's rap on this is very lackluster, but the way in which he produced it was amazing. Not worthy of the top spot, and I had a hard time giving it the 10th spot, but still pretty good nonetheless. I feel I should also relay the warning that this video has been reported to cause seizures in those who have epilepsy, so view at your own discretion.


9) Touch the Sky (from Late Registration)

Okay. Let me get one thing straight. I hate Lupe Fiasco. With that aside, he did fairly well as a featured artist on this song. But, the main highlighting point of this song is how catchy it is. I occasionally find myself sitting, randomly humming to THIS song, and that's because the production is so tight, and the lyrics are pretty nice. Is it deep? Not really. Does it really portray Kanye as an amazing rapper? Definitely not. Does it make Lupe Fiasco look like he REALLY knows what he's doing? Nope. But what it does do is stick in your head.


8) Can't Tell Me Nothing (from Graduation)

Alright, now we get into songs I ACTUALLY like. This song while being almost as popular as Stronger, is actually GOOD. This was actually the song that first got me into Kanye's music. Now, I might be biased towards the song simply because it WAS the first song I actually LISTENED to by him, but I feel that this song has some of the tightest production Kanye has ever done.


7) Good Morning (from Graduation)

Okay, this is the first song on the list so far that I feel stands on the merits of it's lyrics exclusively. I feel that it really kind of just lays out the whole game plan for the rest of the album. On top of that, it has really beautiful production, and the sampling just fits together perfectly. There could have no better song to introduce Graduation.


6) Hell of a Life (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

Now, I know that somebody is going to call me out for this choice. A lot of the rest of you will instantly click away from the window, but hear me out. This song is EXTRAORDINARILY catchy. No song Kanye has ever done has stuck in my head more than this has. The production sound like some guy who is expelling his bowels into a broken guitar plugged into an over-driven amplifier with a busted tube, the chorus is just auto-tuned to hell, the rap is pretty lackluster, and it is amazing.


5) All Falls Down (from College Dropout)

This song has very simplistic fashion, but the rap is pretty... pretty... and Syleena Johnson is pretty good too. Aside from that, I don't have much to say, other than that I found the music video pretty funny, from when it parodies Kanye's need to wear hundreds of pounds of jewelry, to when Common gets all up in his face.


4) Champion (from Graduation)

This is, simply, my favorite song from Graduation. Everything about it is beautiful. From the beautifully corny Steely Dan sample, to the beautiful lyrics, to the beautiful production. Every part of this song just oozes perfection. I can actually sit around listening to this song on repeat and it will never get old. Now, I like Steely Dan, but Champion is better than Kid Charlemagne 10 times out of 10.


3) POWER (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

This is a completely out-of-left-field reason to like the song, but... I fucking love King Crimson. That is all I have to say. Oh wait, one more thing. This song is Africa.


2) Runaway (from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

This song is just beautiful, from the intro to the end, there's not a part that doesn't cohere. It also proves that Kanye, despite what you would think from the awful 808s, CAN sing. That's right, there isn't any auto-tune (minus the obvious section at the end). On top of his singing, the production is pretty amazing too. Who knew that such a simple piano progression could sound so beautiful? Certainly not I. Added to that, this is one of his few songs that I can't complain about auto-tune, because he uses it very effectively.



1) Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix) (from Late Registration)

To begin with, I always loved the song Diamonds are Forever, it's such a beautiful song. But when Kanye sampled it, he blew it to pieces, and put the pieces together to form a monument to his greatness. And then, he sold that monument and donated half of it to the Red Cross in Africa (granted, he spent the other half on jewelry, but that's besides the point). This song is just oozing class, from the solidity of its production, to its legitimately meaningful lyricism. Everything just pulls together into a beautiful little package. And then Jay-Z's verse (in the remix) pulls it into a beautiful... ENORMOUS package. I had no trouble putting this as Kanye's greatest song.


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