Last Call - Kanye West

He certainly didn't play the hand he was dealt, he changed his cards.  The problem is he constantly changes them, and he traded away a straight flush for two pair.  Sure he's still winning-selling out concerts (when he shows up) and albums (while relying heavily, if not entirely, on ghost writers)-but, gone are the days when he was carving a place towards the top of the all-time talent.  This isn't my favorite from the great era (first two albums), but it's par for the course, which back then was at least a 3.0.

Kanye samples himself from this outro track on another outro later. Thats so kanye. Say what you want bout his eccentricities but when Kanye says something on an album/record, we should listen. This track is no different.

Dudes currently on Kanye's jock have no idea why they're in that position. I asked someone recently (HUGE Kanye fan, going to a concert, high point of his year) what he liked about him so much, and his reply was, "He's just an amazing artist...", and he's right. Kanye West is an artist, in the way Jeff Koons is an artist. If you're in on the joke, then you're blissfully good to go, but the second you find out the Emperor has no clothes, it's hard to understand what the attraction is. This is the last great song from the last great Kanye West record. After this, he became a performance artist, and was no longer a producer, rapper or recording artist. To some, he's quite talented. I just like when his music had soul and a story to tell.