Kanye West | The College Dropout [Gatefold Sleeve Double Vinyl Album] 2LP

Kanye West’s cohesive debut, The College Dropout, proves that some of the best hip-hop is rooted in the reality of everyday struggle and not gangsta gunplay fantasy. West, the Chi-town producer-cum-rapper who’s crafted hits for Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Jay-Z, and fellow Windy City vet Twista, centers his disc on a familiar rags-to-riches motif, but like Will Smith before him, he adds his own black middle-class sensibility to it. West thumbs his nose at the old teachers who doubted him (“We Don’t Care”), recalls smoking weed while on break at the Gap (“Spaceship/Slaveship”), and pokes fun at all the college-educated flunkies who didn’t follow their dreams (“School Spirit”). His flow may not be as polished as Jay-Z’s, but West has just as much zeal, honesty, and wit.