Graduation.

If you know anything about me, you know that rap and I don't mix.  You could even go so far to say that rap and I are at war.  I am constantly searching for rap music that I can wrap my head around and really get into but they always fire back with the same old stuff every week.  Well I think a treaty is in order, or at the very least a cease fire.   Kanye West's newest album "Graduation' is I am going to say the best rap album this year- take that for what its worth considering I have listened to about 10 rap albums this year, but none the less its good.  By far West's most musically ambitious album to date, and also I feel his most accomplished musically.  I feel that this is  the album he has always wanted to make, his previous works simply preludes for his final showcase.   I have always enjoyed Kanye's first albums, but never has his tight grooves and loops been more enticing to me and brought me back for listen after listen.  Lyrically  I feel that he has somewhat fell from his lofty rhymes and quick jabs of "Late Registration" the high points are high, but unfortunately the low points bring it all down a little  more than usual.   Kanye has arrived musically, he has come into his own, and has found the space he needs to truly express his gift.  To say that Kanye is setting the pace of where rap/hip-hop is going would be an understatement.  He has set the bar and is already moving on to his next musical conquest while everybody else is left to figure out how to catch up.