Did anyone else pick up the new Kanye album? It's not really what I expected, but I am loving it. It's not predominantly rap or hip hop like most of his other stuff - it's a step in a different direction for him. Recommended, for sure. At the very least, I recommend checking out "Welcome to Heartbreak". What a great tune.

The lyrics are nice change from the usual hoes-money-guns-cars bit.

"My friend showed me pictures of his kids,
And all I could show him were pictures of my cribs.
He said his daughter got a brand-new report card,
And all I got was a brand-new sportscar."

I don't get everyone's fascination with the overuse of the Antares Auto-Tune to make vocals super robotized though... 
A little bit of the effect is ok, but it's always overkilled. Oh well *shrug*

Wasn't Kanye on SNL last night? I though he was terrible which was cool cause I needed a laugh.

Compared to his previous albums this is terrible.

Eh, never mind. I should know by now that I should keep these thoughts and threads to myself.

Why?  Because two out of three posters so far didn't particularly agree with your assessment?

Damn, the touchiness here is off the charts these days.

What!?
That's it! I'm outta here!

*slams door*

Actually, I have recently been asking myself why I still come here as well, not because people don't treat me nicely, on the contrary, but because there's hardly anyone here whom I can really identify with, or even agree with most of the time. There's a couple, but not very many at all.

But it seems several people are having the exact same experience (McCall, and now Zane for instance), so perhaps that is the thing we all have in common here: that we never agree with each other

I'm surprised they could fit his ego into that itty bitty jewel case

Yep, which is why his performance on SNL this past weekend was so hilarious.  Apparently the auto-tune wasn't working, and, well... let's just say the man *needs* it.

I wasn't trying to be a dick with my post and I'm sorry if it came off as abrasive but I really wasn't impressed with his performance.

I don't know if calling out the elephant in the room is going to help things here... to be honest I can't say those who are dissatisfied with the temperament conversations sometimes take around here are alone - I've thought about hanging up my shoes many times.

Better yet, why not try hurling them at a political figure?

Kanye's lyrics generally avoid the "hoes-money-guns-cars" stereotypes.  Well a little about hoes and money, but relatively not so much

I've yet to hear the new album (planning to give it a listen soon) but of his first three albums the second, Late Registration, definitely comes recommended.  "Gone" has some super-sweet string instrumentals stretched over quality guest vocals, "Touch the Sky" is a great party tune and "Heard 'Em Say" has some genuinely potent, thoughtful lyrics (as does "Everything I Am" from his Graduation album).

He may be an ego-maniac and his live performances may be lacking (I tend to avoid both press and live music when it comes to hip-hop) but as far as smart sampling and high production values go, Kanye's stuff is as good as I've heard in mainstream hip-hop.

Found this to be odd: http://music.msn.com/feature/kanye-west … ?GT1=28130