Kanye West often lands himself in hot water due to his exploits outside of music and, subsequently, through a series of high profile antics, he has become a polarising figure. You either love him or loathe him, there is no in-between and, in defence of those haters, the rapper has given a fair amount of cause for their dislike.
However, most would struggle to talk down West’s achievements as an artist. There’s a case to be made for the enigmatic producer-turned-rapper to be labelled as one of the most influential contemporary artists on the planet, and his repertoire of material speaks for itself.
West’s career saw him begin life in the music industry as a producer, working his way up the hip hop ladder quickly after word spread of his futuristic approach to beat creation. It was an ethos that allowed West to become one of the most sought after producers in the world. Despite his rich successes behind the desk, his aim from day one was to become a rapper, and despite doubts about capabilities to make the step up, West proved them wrong with apparent ease.
Although his most recent releases have been a little off the boil, commercially and critically, as this list alludes to, Kanye is an artist that has proven time and time again that you can never write off a true innovator. Following College Dropout in 2004, fans loved and embraced his authenticity, which shined through from then on. West has made albums that are always challenging and dripping with artistic integrity.
West made the jump from behind the mixing desk to the front of the stage masterfully and, since that moment, he has released nine solo albums that have made him one of the most important artists of the century. But what are his five best albums of all time? Below, we find out.
Kanye West’s 5 best albums of all time:
5. The College Dropout (2004)
There’s no denying that West’s The College Dropout is a sublime record, and on another day, the LP would be placed higher on the list. 99% of artists would struggle to improve upon a debut album like this, but West grew with artistic confidence and defied the career trajectory that most musicians face.
West was still finding his feet as a rapper and hadn’t fully found his groove, but he was only inches away from greatness. Overall, it’s a stunning LP with very little to fault about it, and as debut albums go, it’s right up there. The College Dropout helped set a new benchmark in hip-hop as West innovated the genre for the first time, but not for the last.
4. Yeezus (2013)
West was the biggest rock star on the planet going into the release of Yeezus, and he proved why he was the notorious one with this album. He opened up his world to a list of names from all over the musical spectrum by enlisting the likes of James Blake, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Travis Scott, Frank Ocean and many more on Yeezus, who all helped to create this genre-bending piece triumph.
The album again was West operating ahead of the curve and setting the pace for every other artist. Ye adopting a more aggressive sound than ever before and showcased a whole new side that split opinion — some even saw it as commercial suicide as there was no traditional radio single. He knew that the days of radio were soon to be obsolete, and here his self-indulgent side paid off dramatically.
3. Graduation (2007)
After his first two records, West rounded off a hat-trick in style with Graduation, which cemented his place as the King. Kanye brought the synthesizer to the forefront of his work as he made a sonic departure from his first two records, and it helped seal a new era of hip-hop from a production perspective.
Graduation showed that hip-hop didn’t need to be a binary beast, it could be served up in an endless number of ways and alongside as many side dishes as you could think of.
From a lyrical standpoint, West dealt with the dark side of fame and paints an honest yet bleak view of life at the top. It’s the album that confirmed Ye was about to become an icon.
2. Late Registration (2005)
Kanye West’s debut album, The College Dropout, marked him out as a special talent, but on Late Registration, he upped the stakes and proved that he was here to stay. The orchestration on the album is heavenly, and West’s use of sampling is unrivalled.
Ye gets more expansive both musically and lyrically on the album than he did on his first effort. He grew into himself and proved that he was the real deal. Late Registration is a dopamine inducing masterclass from West that flows together beautifully and takes you on this exhilarating ride as a listener that is rare to find.
West beautifully balanced integrity and crossover appeal on Late Registration in a way that made him a talent impossible to ignore — whatever your musical preferences.
1. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
West has only eclipsed the balance he pulled off on Late Registration on one occasion, and that’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. If you doubt whether Kanye West is a genius, then you’ve probably stopped reading already, but this album is all the proof you need if you’re still not convinced on Ye.
Nowadays, it’s become all too common for West to talk the talk rather than walk the walk. Here, however, he emphatically delivers the goods. There’s an implicit biblical feel to the album, and every single track on the record is killer as West throws standard conventions to the wind. It is a pop album undoubtedly, but like all the best pop music, the chart had moved to him rather than Kanye consciously chasing commercial acclaim.
It’s a swaggering effort that remains the benchmark for his career and is the cultivation of West’s evolving sound across his first four records, blending to create a show-stopping work of art that became Kanye’s magnum opus.
