TINWA digs "Good Life". Old Man likes "Stronger". So, considering the weighty role I played in launching that Bear, I might as well go on record as blogging "Champion" is my top track on the new KanYe.

It makes me think of my dad's Archway Cookie Route like no hip-hop anthem before it. The Route may have ended up a wash-out, but it was a glorious risk. And with a freezer packed with Apricot Filled, Dutch Cocoa and Iced Oatmeal, one not without reward.

Plus, "Champion's" hook may trump De La Soul's "Eye Know" as best use of a Steely Dan sample. Hey, I like some of his stuff (that's for Witt, hope my blog's signal reaches Winchester). In fact, I Limewired "Kid Charlemagne" and gave it a few plays. The "Is there gas in the car? / Yes, there's gas in the car." line sounds like it belongs in Weird Al's "Trapped In The Drive-Thru", when in Wikireality, the lyric hints at the downfall of a famed LSD chemist. Oh, do tell, Steely.

Other Graduation thoughts:

• Big fan of the packaging. The tri-fold cardboard jacket was sealed differently than your typical CD and was easy to open.
  
  
• Also dig the artwork. That Bear has come along way, no? I still haven't decided where to hang the poster.
  
  
• I personally don't think 'Ye needed to alter pronunciation of "good morning" prior to the last verse of track 1 just so that it would rhyme better with Valedictorian and Delorean. For more unnecessarily detailed analysis of Mr. West, the MC, click here, here and/or here.
  
  
• The disc opens with a strong run of 6 tracks and closes with 5 solids. I recommend routinely skipping 7 and 8. I'd cut 7 some slack if it would show up on the CD deck as 7*.

Labels: music