In case you didn’t already know that <a href=”http://iammike.org/index.php?subaction=showfull&amp;id=1126155458&amp;archive=&amp;start_from=&amp;ucat=3&amp;”>Kanye West was an idiot</a>, here you go. I logged in to BMG a few weeks back to find I had something like 8 CDs for free. I didn’t really want any, but I figured why not? Free CD? Why not try something that I think is horrendous, but so many other people rave about? At least I’m not giving that artist <i>my</i> money. I ordered Kanye West’s <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001AP12G?v=glance” target=”_blank”>”College Dropout”</a> album. <br/><br/>A few weeks later it arrived in a package with the new Weezer album, <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000850JP8?v=glance” target=”_blank”>”Make Believe,”</a> and The Black Eyed Peas, <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009V7RF/103-7448806-4751001?v=glance&amp;n=5174″ target=”_blank”>”Elephunk”</a>. Phew, the HTML for that last sentence was intense…<br/><br/>So I listen to one album on the way to work. I start with the Weezer one, which turns out to be awesome, but just like all their other releases, it is a bit short.<br/><br/>The next day, Black Eyed Peas. Very good music. I like how they mesh together so many different influences/styles. Very unique stuff.<br/><br/>Then Kanye. Kanye, Kanye, Kanye. First of all, the guy is not ghetto at all. I think he grew up in a Chicago suburb and attended private schools? Yeah, he shouldn’t be talking about gangsters and shit unless they are the Al Capone type, whom he learned about in AP History class. Second, the monologue/story theme of the album is way overdone. Eminem killed this style of album in the 90s. His lyrics? Absymal. If he were in one of those “freestyle battles” he would get destroyed and laughed at. Finally, he actually makes fun of people with degrees. His reasoning? You’re paying money to be “smart” and since you’re paying that money you will have less in “the end.” Way to appeal to the least common denominator you fool. <br/><br/>I’m a year out of college, which I could have easily paid off by now based on my wages (I was lucky enough to have some great parents who helped me out entirely, though). So that “sunk cost” is now a 0 balance if it had to be. I also make twice as much as anyone I know who doesn’t have a college degree. Factor those numbers over the 30 or so more years that I’ll be working and I’d certainly say I came out on top. Now, there are rare cases where people do not attend high school and come out on top, but those are so few and far between that they are not even worth mentioning. Those people are so hard working that they don’t even have time to worry about who Kanye West is or what he is saying, though. <br/><br/>I suppose the irony of it is that Kanye is one of those people, but I don’t attribute that to him being a genius or anything special. He was just clever enough to exploit stupid Americans. If I were that shallow, I’d be filthy rich too, but who wants to sell their soul to the devil?<br/><br/>The album really is a joke. Anybody want it?