late registration - thought about putting this to #2 b/c i don't really rock with bring me down and celebration like that. but gone? roses? we major!? actually, late might be my favorite song on this now and may be my favorite ye song ever as far as a great combination of goofy/relatable lyrics and soulful beats. you mean i missed my major by a couple of seconds??? those keys, too. typing all of this, i can't believe 1) this came out a goddamn decade ago and that 2) no other hip-hop album was able to successfully go in this direction. wasn't ?uest talking about all how ye just hit the tip of the iceberg as far as what could be done with jon brion? it just sounds so lush, and i think a decade later we can certify it a classic and put it in the pantheon of all time classic albums, let alone hip-hop albums. above all, this shows that he's really on to something when he has a producer who can execute his vision

college dropout - i think his greenness on the mic is definitely front and center in hindsight. but there's really not a bad song on here. never let me down still gets me. slow jamz is just on another level. (i will say that i was never huge into jesus walks) and that last four run stretch? man, i'm not sure how i could ever doubt this album, not to mention his end speech which i still listen to. matter of fact, knowing what we know now it's almost tough to listen to him being so earnest there. still inspiring as hell, though

graduation - such a fun album, but to me it doesn't have the depth of lr lyrically. but there are some pretty perfect pop songs on here - champion, good morning and good life. i wonder and the glory are pretty much perfect. big brother is perfectly imperfect if that makes sense, and is the type of song only ye could do. never loved stronger, and barry bonds and drunk and hot girls are pretty notable blemishes. warts and all, this is just a fun record. certainly earned my username with it

yeezus - i still listen to this quite often. it is pretty go-to "pump-up" music, so that definitely counts for something. the last three run stretch knocks it down a notch, IMO. and for how great blood on the leaves was, it still feels unfinished to me. i love the production but to me the biggest blemish of the album are the lyrics, which border on pedestrian/silly sometimes. i get that's kind of what he was going for, i guess, but there is some piss poor rapping on here that i give a pass to just because of how much i enjoy the production. i'm honestly surprised at how replayable this album is, i really do listen to it all the time, and the first four songs especially (and hold the liquor as the come down/hot mess song) are really just sublime. but i always thought bound 2 was overrated with super bizarre non-committal lyrics and a pretty standard loop that people embraced just because it didn't sound like the rest of the album. since i am human, however, i cannot hate on the charlie wilson part.

watch the throne - way too much past-his-prime jay on here. at the time i honestly thought he wouldn't have the audacity to put out another solo album after how bad he was on this. otis, gotta have it and murder to excellence are all great though. no church in the wild and n in paris are way overplayed but still enjoyable. ye's verse on the former so bizarre and memorable that it should go down as one of his best. lift off, jungle, who gon stop me, made in america, why i love you all flops though IMO. bonus tracks are all fire though. it's feast or famine i guess, but every time i listen to it it's always better than i remember. ye full of ideas as always, but i wish he had gotten the jay that he deserved for this. also this seems super dated four (!?) years later with the flux pavilion and cassius samples (shoutout to my blogging days!)

dark twisted fantasy - i realize i'm in the minority here. i get it. but i really never do play this album. there's just not much to go back to. it's like a museum, aesthetically pleasing but emotionally empty once you go through it. all the songs are too long, no reason i should be listening to a song like dark fantasy or gorgeous or hell of a life for five or six minutes. or runaway for nine minutes! if ye had someone else executive produce this it would be better, but besides a few guest spots (cyhi and nicki and ross) this album doesn't do much for me lyrically and just doesn't have the production for me to come back. people think this is better than late registration? i've probably listened to yeezus 10x as many times as this. i realize we know this in hindsight, but it sounds like ye trying to appease people - all the personality is gone from his lyrics and it's not like they're technically amazing enough to make up for it. power and devil in a new dress are pretty great though