Late Registration

历经锋芒毕露与名利双收的2004年，Kanye West多了MV导演与唱片公司CEO的头衔，但是仍然不懈怠的创作、继续开拓嘻哈音乐新视野。Kanye West期许自己乘胜追击的新作《Late Registration/迟来的注册》，是能触动听众抚慰人心的音乐良药，词曲笔触维持他一贯的诚实与幽默诙谐风格，话题从私密的个人情感延伸到政治议题，而他招牌的经典歌曲取样当然亦是全辑精采的重头戏。打头阵的“Diamonds From Sierra Leone”即巧妙融入英国天后Shirley Bassey的排行名曲“Diamonds Are Forever”；最新节奏劲作“Gold Digger”请动奥斯卡金奖影帝Jamie Foxx再开金口，直捣全美节奏蓝调/嘻哈、饶舌榜Top 2，更荣登流行榜No.1；全球爆红的摇滚新生代乐团Maroon 5主唱 Adam Levine特地在内敛自省的佳作“Heard ’Em Say”贡献温润嗓音；饶舌好手Paul Wall与GLC则为Kanye West自我解嘲的“Drive Slow”跨刀帮腔；其他友情力挺的歌手阵容还包括Jay-Z、Brandy、Common、Cam’Ron、Game…等。添加新口味新声音、但是绝对百分百Kanye West风格的《迟来的注册》，势必让这位当红新贵持续引领嘻哈风潮。 And then, in a flash, Kanye was everywhere, transformed from respected producer to big-name producer/MC, throwing a fit at the American Music Awards, performing "Jesus Walks" at the Grammys, wearing his diamond-studded Jesus piece, appearing on the cover of Time, running his mouth 24/7. One thing that remains unchanged is Kanye's hunger, even though his head has swollen to the point where it could be separated from his body, shot into space, and considered a planet. Raised middle class, Kanye didn't have to hustle his way out of poverty, the number one key to credibility for many hip-hop fans, whether it comes to rapper turned rapping label presidents or suburban teens. And now that he has proved himself in another way, through his stratospheric success — which also won him a gaggle of haters as passionate as his followers — he doesn't want to be seen as a novelty whose ambitions have been fulfilled. On Late Registration, he finds himself backed into a corner, albeit as king of the mountain. It's a paradox, which is exactly what he thrives on. His follow-up to The College Dropout isn't likely to change the minds of the resistant. As an MC, Kanye remains limited, with all-too-familiar flows that weren't exceptional to begin with (you could place a number of these rhymes over College Dropout beats). He uses the same lyrical strategies as well. Take lead single "Diamonds from Sierra Leone," in which he switches from boastful to rueful; more importantly, the conflict felt in owning blood diamonds will be lost on those who couldn't afford one with years of combined income. Even so, he can be tremendous as a pure writer, whether digging up uncovered topics (as on "Diamonds") or spinning a clever line ("Before anybody wanted K. West's beats, me and my girl split the buffet at KFC"). The production approach, however, is rather different from the debut. Crude beats and drastically tempo-shifted samples are replaced with a more traditionally musical touch from Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann), who co-produces with West on most of the tracks. (Ironically, the Just Blaze-helmed "Touch the Sky" tops everything laid down by the pair, despite its heavy reliance on Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up.") West and Brion are a good, if unlikely, match. Brion's string arrangements and brass flecks add a new dimension to West's beats without overshadowing them, and the results are neither too adventurous nor too conservative. While KRS-One was the first to proclaim, "I am hip-hop," Kanye West might as well be the first MC to boldly state, "I am pop."