An interesting album which for me never really gets going until the songs in the middle, and like College Dropout, it finishes better than it begins. The first few tracks are nice but nothing excellent with Gold Digger only really getting interesting for me about 2:40 into it when we get that funky change up in the beat. From 'Crack Music' though my enjoyment increases, and then we see a couple of tracks in 'Roses' and 'Bring Me Down' that to me feel a lil like some of the long songs we'd see years later on Fantasy. Then with the thirteenth track we get a song which rivals Jesus Walks for Kanye's best single. Then 'We Major', 'Gone' and the international bonus track 'We Can Make It Better' are late stand outs with great production and features. It is maybe a tad less consistent as his debut, but the best stuff is still some of the best hip hop from this decade with some great beats, and the kind of stuff I wish he'd get back to producing.
Best Tracks: Crack Music, Diamonds (Remix), We Major, Gone, Diamonds, We Can Make It Better.