Is the new Kanye West really as good as advertised?
 

I'm not at all familiar with his work, but any album that gets a 5 star rating from Rolling Stone gets my attention (since those ratings are usually reserved for Bob Dylan reissues and never are given to Hip Hop albums).

What makes it so great?

I ask the same question as the material i've heard, mostly from Late Registration, fails to show me why this man is hailed, a "genius".

i haven't really heard anything at all. That's why I'm curious. I'm sure I can sample some stuff online. Just curious since he's clearly the highest touted MC since Jay-Z (who I think is overrated, but that's just me)

I agree that Jay-Z is wildly overrated, but i'd say Kanye's the real deal. His rhyme skills are only slightly above average, but his production is really amazing. Late Registration is a great album, especially for it being a major label hip-hop release.

Who produced it? What style of samples does he use? Mostly R&B, or is there a lot of original production?

it's a pretty good album. not 5-star instant classic good, but good nonetheless. there are some unneeded skits, and a little bit of a lull in the middle, but most songs are done well. kanye co-produced with eternal sunshine scorer jon brion, so there is a nice dose of added atmosphere in places. there are some sampled soul/r&b, but also a lot of original singing (which sound like samples) that loops behind the tracks.

trickyy answered most of this, but I'll expand a bit. Kanye handled the production, and I found it to be a departure from his first album. There seems to be alot more depth. It sounds alot more diverse, less vocal sampling and more instrumentation. I would say more soul-sounding, or older R&B sound for what samples are used. Alot also is original.

And I think this album could end up classic, it really suprised me. I really didn't expect this quality from any "mainstream" hip-hop artist.

Hip Hop artists are still using skits? Didn't that go out with "3 Feet High and Rising"? :lol:

Sadly I don't think that'll ever go out of style... the skits on the first album were tolerable the first few times, but the ones on the new Kanye are horrible. The album istelf is pretty good. Definitely a different feel from the first album. There's string arrangements and horns all over the place courtesy of Mr. Brion. Do a google search on that guy, he's been all over the place except for hip-hop, although now he can add that to his resume. Definitely work checking out one way or another!

I broke down and bought this (total impulse buy). I've listened through once. After a slow start, I think it's pretty darn good. "Sierra Leone" is a fantastic track, as are "Gold Digger", "Crack Music" and "Roses". Sadly, Jay-Z's short feature on "Sierra Leone" shows just how far Kanye needs to grow lyrically. Jay-Z's 12 or 16 lines are probably the best on the album.

I was really excited in listening to the first half, but the second half of the album just doesn't do it for me. I would rate as 3.5 on a 5 star scale. He is trying to change the genre, which a lot of people respect and enjoy but it's not my thing.

He's good at sampling, which he shows us in this new album, but honestly, I don't think I'd ever listen to it unless somebody else put it on. I much prefer Blackalicious, Aceyalone, and Haiku D'etat to mainstream hip hop/rap.