Late Registration

(Katrina is frustrating. I can't give blood right now because I donated platelets too recently. Going to have to give good ol' American cash.)

Anyone catch Kanye West on the telethon last night? Holy crap!

Kanye West Rips Bush at Hurricane Aid Show

West went off the script and said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." He also said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

Good for him.

It takes major guts in this country to stand up to the administration. Kanye has new album out. Remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks? It was like career suicide when they came out against G-Dub.

I don't care if maybe it wasn't the right time or place for him to say that, or if his comments are off base. The fact is he said what I know lots of people are thinking. Just because he's doing a benefit for charity doesn't mean he should keep his mouth shut like a good boy and stick to the script.

I like Kanye's first album, College Dropout. In my circle of friends, I was alone in that respect. I felt it was a good album, but that the effort behind it - to return hip-hop to a better state - was admirable. Lately, I've been getting excited about his follow-up, Late Registration. West's been talking about wanting his album to be our generation's Song in the Key of Life or What's Going On. He's called for an end to gay-bashing in hip-hop, something that's always bugged me when trying to turn people on to hip-hop. His first single, "Diamonds of sierra Leone," was a socially-conscious take on the diamond industry (when's the last time you remember a socially conscious hip-hop song since Public Enemy stopped making good music?). Sure beats the typical 50-Cent-beef-with-everybody and generic-crunk-rapper-of-the-week flavor that's out there now.

If you liked Dropout, Registration doesn't disappoint. It's the most ambitious hip-hop album in some time. I think that's what I like the most about Kanye; it's that he's not afraid to push himself and others to make better music and to get away from the staleness that is pervasive in today's corporate radio world. He doesn't always succeed (he's gotten better, but his mic skills still need work) but that doesn't stop him from taking risks.

It's not the greatest hip-hop album ever, but compared to what's out there, this is the best thing going. Hip-hop is in a serious rut, hopefully this will shake things up and create some competition.