Kanye West’s “College Dropout” Changed My Life Posted by Lucas G. on 02/10/14 | Filed under Opinion, Kanye West, College Dropout Week

Besides boobs and making Detox jokes, there isn't anything we've talked about more than than Kanye West. Sure, his wild rants are great for pageviews and quizzes, but really it's all about the music. Today, marks the ten year anniversay of his debut album, "College Dropout", and for many of us that is something to celebrate. In fact, it's too much celebration to fit into one mere day. So each day of "College Dropout Week" will be something new and original, a favorite series like the Sample Quiz or Find Her, that we give a Kanye-spin. Writing about Kanye until our fingers bleed is really the only way to properly celebrate the glory of "College Dropout". So, my fellow Dropouts, let's dive right in.

My musical history is best analyzed through eras. There was the Dark Ages when I would listen to the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. The Era of Rebellion when it was all about grunge, rock, and punk. Then the Reconstruction Era where I took bits and pieces of my former tastes. Now I am in the Golden Age, when I really got into hip-hop. Before that I had grabbed some rap here and there, but never was really interested in actively seeking it out; my heart was still with anything with a dope guitarist. It wasn't until the summer of 2005 that my unwavering and unbridled passion for hip-hop grew.

It was hot...dreadfully hot. Like "stuck to the seat, want to throw up but you're too hot" kind of hot. Washington D.C. in late July always is. As part of my summer job, I had just finished renovating (pulling weeds, mowing grass, the whole deal) a baseball field in the afternoon with a kid I hadn't seen in years and his arrogant friend. It was also a Friday and somehow, no matter what, traffic is always worse on a Friday.

Making matters worse, my friends friend was driving, which of course meant he got to control the radio. So the whole way back we were stuck with crap; Papa Roach, Hoobastank, "So Seductive" (even before I knew bout hip-hop I knew enough to know better). The trip was brutal and the whole ride back, I was debating whether or not I was going to quit. I only had a week left and I would behind on hours, but at the time, with the kid who looked like Justin Bieber (if he was a middle-class douchebag instead of a rich one) talking non-stop and full stomach of Checkers (somehow it seemed like a good idea), it was really the only option. Just as we reached our exit, he turned around and said "check out this next song". 

"Oh great" I thought. "This should be---" ORDER! HUT! BA BUM BUM BUM came streaking through the thick summer air and shot through my ears and into my soul, the very core of me like a oil drill. I was shaken; goosebumps, chills, watery eyes and hair on edge all of it. For the next thee minutes and 12 seconds I was taken to another place and I have still yet to come down.

After the song ended, I wanted to tell the kid I hated that he was my new best friend, and that I am forever in his debt. All I could muster as I came plummeting back to earth to an eerie calmness like after a storm was, "What...who was that? Keen? Who?" Keenan West? Wait what?" "KANTE WEST" he said for the last time over the hum of the car. "Cool, thanks" I responded. Truthfully, I had no fucking clue what he said.

When I got back to my car I raced home. I had to know who the fuck and what the fuck I just heard, and I had to get more. I kept trying to decipher the name--Kente, Kane, Connie?-- and I tried remember lyrics, names anything, but all I could remember is something about Jesus. I got home, rushed up to the attic and fired up the old desktop. I mashed that Bearshare logo (ironic name considering, don't you think?) ignoring Snood, AIM, and Facebook pokes to find this mysterious rapper who managed to shake my musical foundation with a swift swing of the mic, only to vanish moments later. Bearshare was no help (but that's what I get for not using Kazaa or Napster) so I cracked open Explorer and googled every combination I could think of, from Keen west Jesus to Christian rapper.

Finally, like a monkey with  typewriter, I churned out something good and up popped the "Through the Wire" video. After a little more research, and finding out he had an album coming out in a month (again this was a year late), I hopped in my car, went to the Barnes and Noble, and grabbed the first copy of "The College Dropout" I saw. I walked out, feeling like I had just found the fountain of youth or photographic proof of the Loch Ness Monster. As soon as I got in my car I sort of stopped for a moment, and took in the moment. I ripped off the CD wrapping with my teeth, spent a few minutes fucking with he sticky sealed part and when I finally cracked it open, waiting for me was a Pink Bear that would end up changing my life.

Before Kanye, I had listened to a little hip-hop here and there - whatever was on the radio - but Kanye showed me that rappers could be so much more. For the first time, an emcee was able to really make me care. I didn't feel like a passive listener hearing someone rap about the club, murder, or dealing drugs (which as a 16-year-old white kid from suburban Maryland I knew nothing about) I was an active participant in the story. Kanye was unlike any rapper I had heard. He poured his soul into "College Dropout"; it's obvious when you listen to the intricate, perfectly composed production or the tangible fire in his voice. But more than a well-thought out beat or a great on-liner, Kanye was more honest, open, and humble than any rapper I had heard. While I couldn't relate to being a struggling producer balancing music with work with a paycheck to pick up girls by name-dropping Talib, as an undersized, husky 16-year-old, I could definitely understand being an underdog. I actually cared about the story and what he was saying.

Songs like "All Falls Down" put a smile on my face while also making me thing, songs like "Family Business" and "Never Let Me Down" pulled at the heartstrings, and songs like "Two Words" were just no-nonsense, authentic hip-hop. This album had it all, and though you could argue its importance in a more technical sense, like the beat on "School Spirit" or his verse on "Get Em High", the real power of this album can't be measured with Billboard charts. That's what I fell in love with.

That summer,and the next eight for that matter, my life was consumed by that album; sometimes, on those boring summer nights, I would spend hours just driving around (now that I finally had my license) listening to it over and over. In 2005, even after "Late Registration" dropped, it was still all about "College Dropout". My love for the independent/underground came later, but this is where it all started for me. It sounds cliche to say but this album really did change my life. To put it simply, I grew up on this album. If it weren't for College Dropout, I wouldn't have blasted Three 6 Mafia before the SAT's, I wouldn't have spend hours on hours looking up random YouTube videos at 3 A.M when I should be writing papers in college, I wouldn't have spent nights in to look up music instead of going out drinking, I wouldn't have played "808s" through my first real break-up, and I most certainly wouldn't be writing about the music love so much, because, well, I wouldn't have loved it.

Thanks Kanye, I owe you...big time. And oh yeah, I quit that shitty summer job. Y'all welcome. 

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