Reacting to 'Graduation' by Kanye West

Vid no longer works :(

Jbo

Bro the fact that you were so entranced in the music at first you forgot to look art the lyrics was amazing. Headphones for sure the move it's a must

ok

Personally, I can't wait until you get to Kids See Ghosts (If you're doing that one (please do)) and Ye. I know it will be a bit, thanks for doing these videos!

Maxwell

You should definitely buy the Yeezy gap hoodies

Bryan A

Young Thug is on the list, and his name has been coming up more often, so hopefully we'll get to him sometime soon

Bob_the_Poppop

I'm pretty sure I've heard it before. I went and listened to the Daft Punk track, and though it wasn't immediately familiar, it also wasn't new to me

Bob_the_Poppop

I had a person in Discord map out the Kanye path (1 album a month), and I think he said we'll hit Donda in September 🙄

Bob_the_Poppop

It's a mixed bag. Sometimes Genius helps me understand something obvious that I'm missing, and sometimes I think they're completely out to lunch.

Bob_the_Poppop

I’m late but most excited about this one because it’s my favorite. Also I’m interested in how you like it or don’t. Love the content!!! Also excited for 808s as it’s my 2nd favorite.

Kenyon Stafford

re: using the genius annotations, I feel like they are sometimes good to use in regulation. sometimes I find myself hoping you’ll click on a lyric so you can piece together the track, like on these walls from tpab in kendrick’s third verse, i was hoping you’d click on one of lyrics so you’d realise that kendrick is talking to the man that killed his friend on sing about me. just a thought

. .

I think Graduation has a lot more of a Pop sound compared to any other album so that might be why you thought it was overrated. They are just really catchy songs overall. 808s will be good

joe

Not even, only watch the throne which honestly is a pretty forgettable album

Jack MacArthur

I genuinely cannot WAIT for when you finally reach DONDA. There's so much peace and resolution by the end of the album. Legitimately brought me to tears.

Christopher Horton

Loved this video! My favorite fact about this album is that Kanye worked with U2 to learn how to make songs that sound good when played in stadiums. Since he had taken the thrown in the rap game he made this album to sound great in huge stadiums since he knew that’s where he was going to be performing them. That’s why there’s so many echoing sounds and easy to chant choruses. My favorite album because I was a kid when these songs were all over the radio (20 now).

lucas misclevitz

When I was younger, like 7-8 years old I remember Stronger was my favourite song for a point in time. I have no idea why, but my dad had a lot of music downloaded on our computer so my brother and I would play a lot of it and Stronger, Good Morning, and Gold Digger were songs that were genuinely my favourites at the age of 7-8. It’s crazy cuz I basically lived without Kanye for the next 10 years (I’m 18 now) and now those songs are some of my favourites again. Especially Stronger, something about that song is just amazing to me. It’s not quite top 10 kanye for me, cuz my top 10 are all sooo damn good but it’s just interesting to see how he’s came back to me. Probably a pointless comment lol, but I just wanted to say it

eich

Amazing reaction. If you like Happy Ye, you have around 3 albums left. Everything else is just sad.

Miguel Perez

Great choice of headphones. Im surprised you weren't too familiar with stronger lol it was such a huge song. its just a sample from daft punk, the rest is produced between Kanye, Timbaland, and Dean. The original Daft Punk song was also big. Love them both

Henry

Daft punk was sample but Kanye, Mike Dean and Timband produced Strobger. Ye and Timbaland went through hundreds of different kicks til they found this one, shows how particular Kanye is with his music. The kick knocks so hard. Kanye said with this album, he really wanted to make an album for stadiums . And all these songs are so full and powerful

Isaiah Piedra

Yeah one to watch with the wife for sure.

Scott Watrous

Love the reaction as always man. One thing is you have absolutely got to listen to a Young Thug album at some point, his best being Jeffery and So Much Fun imo. He is the absolute best at using his voice as an instrument and has, from my perspective, one of the most incredible vocal ranges I have ever heard. The most unique voice in modern hip hop imo

. .

The video explains Flashing Lights btw I don't want to spoil it though so check it out, nice eye candy too.

Tyrone Ross

'Everything I Am' is one of my favorite Kanye songs and was hyped to see your reaction bc the record scratching, Kanyes witty lines, and deeper meaning/self reflection is stuff you really appreciate. Knew youd be into that one 👍

Tyler Scott

Great reaction, love your stuff. Please watch the Flashing Lights video it's amazing! Kanye has some of the best music videos creatively you have to watch sometime, and also his live performances are legendary as well!

Tyrone Ross

You know, The Glory is easily my favorite track off of Graduation, and probably an all-time favorite from Kanye in general, but truth be told I don't think I have any more understanding of the track than you do haha, the song is just Kanye exuding loud and brave confidence and success, talking about how far he's made it and referencing his contemporaries along the way, and the high-pitched vocal sample is a staple for early Kanye that I've personally grown to love, so it all comes together to be a great song for me. Perhaps you'll grow to enjoy it for what it is more on further listens, I don't know, but you not really connecting with it much, while simultaneously loving Drunk and Hot Girls and Barry Bonds definitely threw me off as a big Kanye fan, regardless this was another fun one to watch, I'm glad you're still generally enjoying all of his stuff and I can't wait to see how you digest MBDTF and the rest of his albums in general. Side note: You said at the end you were expecting a different sound because of what people described, and I would suggest not putting too much into how other describe an album because ultimately, you'll never know until you listen to it for yourself, it can also set either unrealistic expectations or put you into a negative headspace if it's been described as good or bad, so take a lot of the descriptions with a grain of salt, if a lot of people are suggesting it it's well-received, and that's really all you need to know going in (in my opinion)

Lil Mac

Oh very cool. I'll definitely check that out 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

"I want Kanye to stay happy forever" as we all in the comment section shed a collective tear thinking of the next album.

FuzzyDunlop

Flashing lights definitely my favourite Kanye song

Charlie

Daft Punk was only a sample that Kanye used, they were not involved in creating the actual song

pnx

"Everything Im Not made me Everything I Am" I love this line, I think its just saying that we always try to focus on our shortcomings and flaws, but what we would not be ourselves without those shortcomings

Anonymous

Theres something you should know as a Fiona Apple and Kanye fan! Kanye loves Fiona Apple, and he poached Jon Brion (the composer of When The Pawn) to work together for Late Registration. Kanye and Fiona even have an interview together and they are both fans of each others work.

Anonymous

I would definitely recommend watching the Good Morning music video. It's amazing and I also think your son would enjoy it!

HELLCAT

For some reason when I refresh the page all my posts except this one get deleted. I'm getting annoyed now because I put a lot of effort into what I said.

Dylan Woods

Kanye College Dropout grammy award speech. "I guess we'll never know." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2-bjGkcaJI

Dylan Woods

I also love how you connect everything in your head and make your own references even if they weren’t necessarily intended by the original artist. Truly what music listening should be about, like it for why you like it.

Callum Smith

When I watched you react to Illmatic and saw enjoy the record scratching I was instantly looking forward to seeing you hear Everything I Am from this album. The best thing is Everything I am is produced by DJ Premier, one of the most prominent and highly respected producers in hip hop, who was actually heavily involved in the production of Illmatic the 13 years before Graduation!

Callum Smith

I know you have a lot on your plate you want to listen to and I love the reactions, I have been watching all of them and looking forward to each and every friday for them but I think one album that is incredible that I don't think gets enough shine is Below the Heavens by Blu and Exile. Its very soulful and inspiring and I hope you consider it! So excited for Madvillainy next week.

Christian Lourenco

It looks like some what you said got cut off. But it was so disappointing that the dad in Turning the Tables was told what to think of Drunk and Hot Girls beforehand. It is a hugely misunderstood song, as I will explain in the next comment.

Dylan Woods

very comfy!

Bob_the_Poppop

lol, fair enough man, thanks for sharing either way

Bob_the_Poppop

Yes, very cool. Thank you for this 🤘

Bob_the_Poppop

This surprises me a bit. I'm also glad I didn't know.

Bob_the_Poppop

It's just another example of my not knowing what the hell I'm talking about. I think what throws me off is Daft Punk being listed by Genius the way they are. It made me think they were featured, not sampled. But now that I realize it's a sample, I understand why I felt like I've heard that song before because I've heard Daft Punk's song

Bob_the_Poppop

I think there's a lot more going on in that track than it seems like, especially if you're not paying attention.

Bob_the_Poppop

Loved the reaction. I think you have a good grasp on the story. When listening to it again, apply the idea of homecoming to the whole album. Its kanye becoming famous, leaving chicago, becoming jaded by fame and then not being able to return home. Try to see the encounters with females as a metaphor for chicago/fame. Usually (especially in later work) when kanye mentions women it usually is a play on his relationship with celebrity. Also the samples enforce this. Homecoming samples a common song ( i used to love her) about a woman that is revealed to be a metaphor for hip hop (if you dont know by now im talkin about chi town is very similar to commons line "cause who im talkin bout yall, is hip hop"). Good life is him traveling to all of the cities he references. In flashing lights, he gets a call from chicago asking him to come back but hes addicted to the allure (woman dancing sleezy). Mentions oeur de whopee which is a chicago reference. Says the weather is breezy ( windy) Puts the album into a different perspective

Brandon Lechler

After listening to 808s, Bob, please consider listening to ''Kanye West Pinocchio Story LIve @ Hollywood Bowl HD Audio'' (it's on Youtube), you will understand why when you listen to it (but after you finish 808s album). Trust me, you will love it !

jimmyvinyl

Can't wait for 808s ! AAHHH

jimmyvinyl

the analogy you gave in the intro with us kanye fans is somewhat accurate hahah but it’s cool though cuz most artists that you have reacted to is in that same circle with ye (jay-z, carti, tyler, frank, kendrick, travis) so it’s perfect

Renz Pineda

Same here lmao. It’s how I felt during the falcons game and then against the jaguars as well, but the jaguars game would’ve been like if Bob just randomly quit making videos lol

eich

One thing that makes me happy is that your reactions can be 100% genuine. So within the Kanye community “Drunk N Hot Girls” is notoriously his most disliked song which is really a shame because it’s a great song. I remember watching Turning The Tables react to this album and it was so upsetting because the dad was told this before hearing the song and I feel the reaction he gave was biased towards that sentiment, and he ended up missing the point of the song. Thankfully you didn’t have that bias and you completely got the point of the song. Just really refreshing to see a true, unbiased reaction to the music. Anyways glad you enjoyed this album, I think it is Kanye’s 2nd best album. Although personally I enjoy Yeezus, MBDTF, & 808’s more. This album doesn’t have a song on it that isn’t really good which is pretty impressive. The next two Kanye albums are going to blow your mind so I hope you’re prepared lol

MadeByMali

Stronger samples Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk. Recommend checking it out. Both fantastic songs.

Ryan Severson

Barry Bonds and Drunk and Hot Girls are widely considered to be Kanye’s worst songs by many Kanye fans. Those 2 songs for some reason are like the only ones in his discography that are consistently disliked. I love Barry Bonds, and while DAHG isn’t my favourite i still respect it as a good song. I’m glad you enjoyed those two songs, and I’m glad that you didn’t know those 2 songs were disliked beforehand because there wasn’t a chance for your opinion to be swayed.

eich

This album was supposed to be his victory lap. He didn't mean for it all to sound really loud and boisterous (like how you described Good Life) but rather for everything to have a sound like an 80s rock band would have on tour, think of like those big giant concerts you'd see, Journey in Japan or Guns and Roses in Thailand or Rush in Brazil, these enormous concerts - the songs weren't all crazy boisterous but they were anthems of sorts. In a REALLY odd way, Big Brother reminds me of Faithfully by Journey in that it isn't what you expected the show closer to be, slower and maybe more somber, but ultimately it fits thematically and feels like closure. I have like oodles I could say about this album and break it down song by song but this comment would become an essay.

Xavvi

The record s rating comes from productions done by “DJ Premier”

Duane Wright

Respect for giving Drunk and hot girls the credit it deserves because people shit on that song for its dark tones without tryin to understand its underlying meaning and sound.

Litty Again

DT 770 pro, W headphones

Z E U S

Bro everything does not go back to the hood

Duane Wright

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I listen to it constantly

Brock Asher

It’s rumored that Kanye still mixes Can’t Tell Me Nothing to this day, just for fun.

McSwagburgerXL

You’re gave Mike deans credit to daft punk

Duane Wright

As both a huge Kanye West fan and a huge Buffalo Bills fan that sports analogy at the beginning was absolutely amazing 😂

Kanye at the peak of his stardom

Dildeep Singh

You know you're early when you can't even watch in 480p 😂

shaun

i’m so excited to watch this when i get home. i’ve been anticipating this one for a while :)

Alex Bowlin

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kayen

Here we go

Finally sooo hypeddd

NecPluribusImpar

Yessir, things be gettin' real fancy in Bob the Poppop land 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

Best notification I’ve got all week! Let’s goooooo

Julian Culnane

New headphones??? 😮

TomiTom2021

YES

Adam Dobry

LET’S GO

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