Kanye West’s Top 5 Most Underrated Songs
“You can be my intern and in turn, I’ll show you how I cook up Summer in the Winter”
It’s been almost 20 years since a young Kanye Omari West began making beats for local rappers in Chicago and since then, he’s amassed a global cult-like following — none bigger than amongst our group here at GeniusTalk. Ye has been quite the center of controversy over the years and there has never been a more troubling time to be a Kanye West fan than in 2017. Leaving shows early. Dying his hair blonde. Posing for photos with President Trump. Our allegiance and devotion to the man has been tested but regardless of his personal antics, the music is all that matters in the end.
I thought this post was appropriate after listening to that 17 minute track he uploaded to Soundcloud earlier this week. There’s no denying Kanye West has produced and released classics however for a deeper appreciation of his work, I wanted to list the 5 songs from his catalog that I believe to not have received enough credit for their innovation and genius. You’re welcome!
5. Bad News — 808’s & Heartbreaks
To start off the list, I’m going with possibly the best musically arranged and produced track on Kanye’s most underrated album IMO, 808’s & Heartbreaks. “Bad News” might be tied with “Street Lights” for my favorite song off of Ye’s fourth studio album but the reason the former made the cut is because of the sheer emotion derived from the melody. The lyrics are super simple but you feel the pain when Ye says “Let me ask you how long have you known dude”. Ugh. RIGHT. TO. THE. FUCKING. HEART. Then you get 2 amazing minutes of straight uninterrupted orchestra, drums, and harmonics. *kisses fingertips
Without question, the entire production throughout 808’s was stellar, innovative, and really provided the platform for the emergence of emo-rap (Drake, Cudi, Kyle, etc.). This album is truly undervalued when put against the rest of Kanye’s catalog and dismissed when talking about the influence on today’s music. Sad.
4. Everything I Am — Graduation
What else is there to say about this joint? Common passed on this beat and Kanye made it into a jam. Some people will argue between Graduation or MBDTF being Kanye’s best album and even though this wasn’t my personal favorite Kanye album, there’s no denying this was arguably his most commercially successful album. With that said, this song is so important to the Kanye discography because it represents the last of the soul-sampling, backpack wearing, humble Kanye we all grew to know and love. I’ll always be a huge fan of this simple beat and the near comical lyrics.
I’ll never be picture-perfect Beyoncé
Be light as Al B or black as Chauncey
3. Roses — Late Registration
I never realized how many people thought Late Registration wasn’t that good. THIS is my favorite Kanye West album! Yeah, I said it! Anytime I listen to it, I can recall precisely exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard this album. This was actually the first album I legitimately bought off iTunes and listened to constantly on my iPod Shuffle. #throwback
This album had so many gems and amongst said gems was “Roses”. Obviously this song wasn’t meant for the radio and it won’t get played at parties but this song just does something to you — I absolutely loved the Bill Withers sample. You also can’t help but feel anger when the nurse asks him for an autograph in the hospital but then feel pure joy when you hear that his grandma pulled through.
This is the type of song made to make you appreciate your family while also exposing the truth that Magic Johnson did indeed find the cure of AIDS and has been hoarding it all these years. #staywoke
2. Addiction — Late Registration
Quite possibly the best song on this album with no featured artists, Kanye shows that he’s only human when faced with the temptation of available cheeks. Kanye is every man on succumbing to the temptations of the flesh while he also represents every man in hoping that his girl will be down for a threesome. Just playing….unless you gon’ do it!
Why everything that’s supposed to be bad make me feel so good?
Everything they told me not to is exactly what I would
Man, I tried to stop man, I tried the best I could
- Last Call — College Dropout
I don’t even know what to say about this song. This song almost doesn’t belong on this list but when I saw that it has less than 10M streams on Spotify, the lowest amount for any non-skit song on that album, I couldn’t believe it. It’s preposterous! I get not making it through the whole 12 minutes and 41 seconds but to not even click play!? This song is so epic! Once you hear JAY Z laugh and he says, “Fuck you Kanye, first and foremost, for making me do this shit…”, super obnoxiously loud into the mic, you already know that this song will be life changing.
‘Ye drops so many bars on this track. It’s like every slick punchline he ever thought of since he was 13, he unloaded on this one song.
If Kanye West did nothing ever again in his career after College Dropout and this was the last Kanye West song ever recorded, this song would serve as a testament to his perseverance, determination, creativity, and genius. Who else you know can explain pretty much their whole life story with such imagery and detail on a track? You’re fave could never! (This doesn’t count) They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore.
Honorable Mention: Throw Some D’s (Remix) — Can’t Tell Me Nothing (Mixtape)
We all remember 2007's “Throw Some D’s” by Rich Boy but not many people were even aware Kanye decided to make a full length remix celebrating an ample buxom. The video is just as hilarious as the lyrics themselves but this song is super important because it represents an oft forgotten era of Kanye West remixes, between 2007–2009, when Kanye was featured on a number of remixes with everyone from Ne-Yo to Lil Wayne to T-Pain to Fall Out Boy.
And she gon’ finish school and get all type of degrees
But I bet she never had them D’s
Leave some comments or tweet me and let me know your favorite Kanye West songs that you think are underrated!
