The College Dropout

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The College Dropout
The College Dropout cover
Studio album by Kanye West
Released February 10, 2004 (US)
Recorded 2003
Genre Hip hop
Length 72:00
Label Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam
Producer Kanye West
Professional reviews
Kanye West chronology
The College Dropout
(2004)		 Late Registration
(2005)
Singles from The College Dropout
  1. "Through the Wire"
    Released: September 30, 2003
  2. "All Falls Down"
    Released: February 24, 2004
  3. "Jesus Walks"
    Released: May 25, 2004

The College Dropout is the debut album by rapper Kanye West, released in 2004. It was nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for "Jesus Walks" in 2005. It was voted as the best album of the year by Rolling Stone magazine and in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, was ranked #1 in Spin magazine's "40 Best Albums of the Year", and received a near perfect 4.5 mic rating from The Source. The album has received great acclaim from critics and mainstream fans alike, for its balance of mainstream commercial appeal and its innovative subject matter. Comedian Chris Rock has attested to listening to The College Dropout while writing his material [1]. In 2005 Pitchfork Media named it #50 in their best albums of 2000–2004.

In 2006, the album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[2]

The College Dropout reached #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, and reached #2 on the Billboard 200. In the UK, it peaked at #12 on the album chart and spent several months in the top 20.

The first single from the album, "Through the Wire", which features a Chaka Khan sample, peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart while its successor "All Falls Down", which features R&B singer Syleena Johnson, peaked at #7. The third single, "Jesus Walks", peaked at #11 while a fourth extract, "The New Workout Plan", made a minor impression on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts (see list of US Billboard chart positions below). In the UK, "Through The Wire" peaked at #9 on the singles sales chart, "All Falls Down" peaked at #10, and "Jesus Walks" peaked at #11.

"Through the Wire" was mumbled by West while his mouth was wired shut after his near-fatal car accident in October 2002. The song describes his feelings at the time as well as the rehabilitation process following the accident, notable in the lyrics, "I drink a Boost for breakfast, and ensure for dizzert / Somebody ordered pancakes I just sip the sizzurp". The album it self went 3x Platinum in the United States.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All tracks produced by Kanye West.

  1. "Intro" (West) – 0:19
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Deray
  2. "We Don't Care" (West/Ben-Ari/Vannelli) – 3:59
  3. "Graduation Day" (West/Stephens/Ben-Ari) – 1:22
    • Performed by John Legend
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Piano by John Legend
    • Violin by Miri Ben-Ari
  4. "All Falls Down" (West/Hill) – 3:43
    • Featuring Syleena Johnson
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Guitar by Eric "E-Bass" Johnson
    • Acoustic Guitar by Ken Lewis
    • Contains an interpolation of "Mystery Of Iniquity" performed by Lauryn Hill
  5. "I'll Fly Away" (Brumley) – 1:09
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Tony Williams, Deray
    • Piano by Ervin "EP" Pope
  6. "Spaceship" (West/Williams/Harris/Mills/Gaye/Gordy/Greene) – 5:24
    • Featuring GLC, Consequence
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Tony Williams, John Legend
    • Contains a sample of "Distant Lover" performed by Marvin Gaye
  7. "Jesus Walks" (West/Smith/Ben-Ari/Lundy) – 3:13
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by John Legend
    • Contains a sample of "Walk With Me" performed by The Arc Choir
    • Contains a vocal sample of "Don't worry" performed by Curtis Mayfield
  8. "Never Let Me Down" (West/Carter/Richardson/Bolton/Kulick) – 5:24
    • Featuring Jay-Z, J. Ivy
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Background vocals by John Legend, Tracie Spencer
    • Keyboards by Ervin "EP" Pope
    • Guitar by Glenn Jefferey
    • Contains an sample of "Maybe It's The Power Of Love", written by Michael Bolton and Bruce Kulick
    • Sample also recreated and performed by Ken Lewis
  9. "Get Em High" (West/Greene/Lynn) – 4:49
    • Featuring Talib Kweli, Common
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Sumeke Rainey
  10. "Workout Plan" (West) – 0:46
    • Performed by Candis Brown, Brandi Kuykenvall, Tiera Singleton
    • Produced by Kanye West
  11. "The New Workout Plan" (West/Stephens/Kante/Rainey/Ben-Ari) – 5:22
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by John Legend, Sumeke Rainey
    • Talkbox by Bosko
    • Guitar by Eric "E-Bass" Johnson
    • Piano by Ervin "EP" Pope
    • Violin by Miri Ben-Ari
  12. "Slow Jamz" (West/Mitchell/Bacharach/David) – 5:16
    • Featuring Twista, Jamie Foxx
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Aisha Tyler
    • Keyboards by Ervin "EP" Pope
    • Guitar by Glen Jefferey
    • Contains a sample of "A House is Not a Home" performed by Luther Vandross
  13. "Breathe In Breathe Out" (West/Miller) – 4:06
    • Featuring Ludacris
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Violins by Miri Ben-Ari
  14. "School Spirit Skit 1" (West) – 1:18
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Deray
  15. "School Spirit" (West/Franklin) – 3:02
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Tony Williams
    • Contains a sample of "Spirit in the Dark" performed by Aretha Franklin
  16. "School Spirit Skit 2" (West) – 0:43
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Deray
  17. "Lil Jimmy Skit" (West) – 0:53
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Deray, Tony Williams
    • Piano by Ervin "EP" Pope
  18. "Two Words" (West/Smith/Pridgen/Wilson/Wilson/Wilson) – 4:26
    • Featuring Mos Def, Freeway, The Harlem Boys Choir
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Keyboards by Keith Slattery
    • Violins by Miri Ben-Ari
    • Contains a sample of "Peace And Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) - Movement IV (Encounter)" performed by Mandrill
    • Also Contains a drum sample currently unknown, but used in Jay Z's "A dream"
  19. "Through the Wire" (Foster/Keane/Weil) – 3:41
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Contains a sample of "Through The Fire" performed by Chaka Khan
  20. "Family Business" (West) – 4:38
    • Produced by Kanye West
    • Additional vocals by Thomasina Atkins, Linda Petty, Beverly McCargo, Lavel Mena, Thai Jones, Kevin Shannon, Tarey Torae
    • Piano by Josh Zandman
    • Additional instrumentation by Ken Lewis
  21. "Last Call" (West/Perretta/Williams/Lewis) – 12:40
    • Produced by Kanye West, Porse
    • Guitar by Ken Lewis, Glenn Jefferey
    • Keyboard by Ken Lewis
    • Percussion by Ken Lewis
    • Piano by Ervin "EP" Pope
    • Additional vocals by John Legend, Tony Williams, Ken Lewis, Jay-Z
    • Contains a sample from "Mr. Rockefeller" by Bette Midler

[edit] Singles chart positions

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
2004 "All Falls Down" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks 4
2004 "All Falls Down" Hot Rap Tracks 2
2004 "All Falls Down" Rhythmic Top 40 7
2004 "All Falls Down" The Billboard Hot 100 7
2004 "All Falls Down" Top 40 Mainstream 22
2004 "All Falls Down" Top 40 Tracks 12
2004 "Jesus Walks" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks 2
2004 "Jesus Walks" Hot Rap Tracks 3
2004 "Jesus Walks" Rhythmic Top 40 16
2004 "Jesus Walks" The Billboard Hot 100 11
2004 "Through the Wire" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks 8
2004 "Through the Wire" Hot Rap Tracks 4
2004 "Through the Wire" Rhythmic Top 40 10
2004 "Through the Wire" The Billboard Hot 100 15
2004 "Through the Wire" Top 40 Mainstream 32
2004 "Through the Wire" Top 40 Tracks 25
2004 "The New Workout Plan" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks 59

[edit] Credits

  • Executive Producers: Shawn Carter, Damon Dash, Kareem "Biggs" Burke
  • Co-Executive Producers: G. Roberson, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua, Kanye West
  • A&R Direction: Hip Hop Since 1978, Patrick "Plain Pat" Reynolds
  • A&R Coordinator: Shalik Berry, Ramses Francois, Darrin Asemota
  • Direction of Joint Ventures: Darcell Lawrence
  • Recording Administration: Tony Vanias
  • Mastering: Eddy Schreyer
  • Marketing for Hip Hop Since 1978: Al Branch
  • Marketing for Roc-a-Fella Records: Girard Hunt, Osayamen Asemota
  • Marketing for Def Jam: Shante Bacon
  • Management: John Monopoly, Don C., Benny MEdina, Andrei McQuillan
  • Art Direction & Design: Eric Duvauchelle, Mike Godshall, Jim Morris, Stephanie Reynolds, Lauri Rowe
  • Dropout Bear Logo Design: Bobby Naugle, Sam Hansen
  • Costumes: O Share Stylez, Kanye West
  • Legal Counsel: Alison K. Finley
  • Business Affairs: Randy McMillan, Antoinette Trotman, Ian Allen
  • Sample Clearance Agent: Eric Weissman

[edit] Unused tracks

[edit] Miscellaneous

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Kanye West was unable to get permission from Lauryn Hill to use a vocal sample from her track "Mystery of Iniquity" on her MTV Unplugged album. Instead, Syleena Johnson re-sang the lyric, for the song "All Falls Down". The song later appeared with the original sample on the compilation CD Freshmen Adjustment, which also contained the song "Wow" which Kanye mentioned in the song "Last Call"
  • Fellow Chicago rapper Rhymefest co-wrote some of the lyrics on "Jesus Walks"
  • At the end of "Breathe In Breathe Out", one can hear a sample of a man repeating the phrase "Chi-City." This sample was later used as the chorus of Common's 2005 Kanye-produced song "Chi-City".
  • Aretha Franklin would not allow Kanye to sample her song "Spirit in the Dark" if it contained curse words, so this is why "School Spirit" is the only censored track on both clean and explicit versions of the album.
  • The track "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly" featuring Consequence which was released to promote the album was discarded by Kanye and has since appeared as a track on Consequence's album Don't Quit Your Day Job!
  • Evidence of Dilated Peoples co-produced "Last Call" and claims that he co-produced "a lot of [other] songs" on The College Dropout, although is credited for no others.[3]
  • "Jesus Walks" was a song written and recorded as a solo track for Rhymefest, but since he did not have a record deal at the time, he and Kanye re-wrote the song and it appears on Kanye's debut. This is why an all Rhymefest bootleg version of this track can be found on the net, it is the original.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1096499-3,00.html
  2. ^ http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/index.html
  3. ^ http://www.mvremix.com/urban/interviews/evidence.shtml
  4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYRRi6MKm-E


v • d • e
Kanye West
Studio albums The College Dropout · Late Registration · Graduation
Live albums Late Orchestration
Other songs "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)"
Related articles Discography · Production discography
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