So I thought I would shift gears a little bit for my next dynasty post and talk about an artist who I'm pretty sure doesn't reside on the same planet as Jimmy Eat World. The man I speak of is Kanye West.

My affinity for 'Ye's (always wanted to do that) music is something that is still strange even to me. I did like MC Hammer when I was very young but never really even dabbled into hip hop music again until 2008. Somehow I heard Kanye's song "Love Lockdown" and would repeatedly go to his myspace page and listen to it ad nauseam. I got an iTunes gift card that xmas and downloaded 808s & Heartbreak which I still think is wildly underrated. I guess you could say I've been a big fan ever since.

Mr. West's Late Registration, Graduation, 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy make up a Chicago dynasty even the Bulls would be proud of.

I always forget how many great songs there are on Late Registration until It's almost over and I'm dreading the end. I love the skits between songs, they crack me up every time.

Graduation kind of feels like the carefree, fun album Kanye needed to put out before what he's given us since. In my opinion it would probably be the best place to dive into his catalog headfirst before listening to his other material.

Many people don't like 808s due to its contrast to the other albums and its auto-tuned vocals. It definitely feels more stripped down and intimate sonically and lyrically. Not that I read US weekly or anything but apparently Kanye had just went through a breakup with his fiancee and his mother died from complications during plastic surgery of some sort. 808s is the result and it's definitely one you need to be in the right mood to enjoy.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is easily in my opinion one of the best albums of the last five years. It's the kind of album that transcends genre and yet will easily become a benchmark in the hip hop world for decades to come (not that I know that much about it, it's just that good). Between Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and MBDTF, I'd say Chicago definitely has it going on. Yes, I did just put Kanye's latest solo album in the same sentence as Wilco's magnum opus. Also, I've watched the short film 'Ye released to coincide with the album release several times and it's definitely worth a half hour of your time.

Posted by Jeff