The College Dropout

The College Dropout is the debut album by rapper and producer Kanye West, released February 10, 2004. It was nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for "Jesus Walks" in 2005. The album has received great acclaim from critics and mainstream fans alike, for its balance of mainstream commercial appeal and its innovative subject matter. It has been called one of the greatest albums of all time by Time and Rolling Stone.

The College Dropout
Studio album by Kanye West
Released	February 10, 2004 (2004-02-10)
Recorded	1999–2003
Genre	Hip hop soul R&B
Length	76:13
Label	Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam
Producer	Kareem "Biggs" Burke (exec.), Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter (exec.), Damon Dash (exec.), Evidence, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua (exec.), Kanye West (also exec.)
Kanye West chronology
The College Dropout Late Registration (2005)
Singles from The College Dropout
"Through the Wire" Released: September 30, 2003 "Slow Jamz" Released: December 2, 2003 "All Falls Down" Released: February 21, 2004 "Jesus Walks" Released: May 25, 2004 "The New Workout Plan" Released: August 31, 2004

Background and production

Kanye West had gotten attention for his production but was not well-known for his rapping. He was turned down by record labels because he didn't have the gangsta image that was popular at that time. He eventually signed with Roc-A-Fella Records. In 2002, West was in a bad car accident which gave him a shattered jaw, so his jaw had to be wired shut. He recorded a song called "Through the Wire" with his jaw still wired shut. This song helped him get a starting point for the album.

The album was recorded at The Record Plant in California. The beats used mainly had pitch shifted samples from gospel and soul records. Some of the beats used were gathered over a long period of time. When the album was finished, it was leaked. West used this as an opportunity to re-assess the album and improve it. He added strings and gospel choirs into his songs.

Lyrics

The album was different from the gangsta rap that was popular at that time. The lyrics were on subjects that affected West's life such as family, religion, racism, materialism and more.

Commercial performance

The College Dropout reached #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, and reached #2 on the Billboard 200. In the UK, it peaked at #12 on the album chart and spent several months in the top 20. The album went triple platinum in the United States.

The first single from the album, "Through the Wire", was recorded while West's mouth was wired shut after a near-fatal car accident in October 2002. It features a Chaka Khan sample, peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart while its successor "All Falls Down", which features R&B singer Syleena Johnson, peaked at #7. The third single, "Jesus Walks", peaked at #11 while a fourth extract, "The New Workout Plan", made a minor impression on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts (see list of US Billboard chart positions below). In the UK, "Through The Wire" peaked at #9 on the singles sales chart, "All Falls Down" peaked at #10, and "Jesus Walks" peaked at #11.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro (skit)"	Kanye West	Kanye West	0:19
2.	"We Don't Care"	West Ross Vannelli	West	3:59
3.	"Graduation Day (skit)"	West	West	1:22
4.	"All Falls Down" (featuring Syleena Johnson)	West Lauryn Hill	West	3:43
5.	"I'll Fly Away"	Albert E. Brumley	West	1:09
6.	"Spaceship" (featuring GLC and Consequence)	West Leonard Harris Dexter Mills Marvin Gaye Gwen Gordy Fuqua Sandra Greene	West	5:24
7.	"Jesus Walks"	West Che Smith	West	3:13
8.	"Never Let Me Down" (featuring Jay-Z and J. Ivy)	West Shawn Carter James Richardson Michael Bolton Bruce Kulick	West	5:24
9.	"Get Em High" (featuring Talib Kweli and Common)	West Talib Kweli Lonnie Lynn	West	4:49
10.	"Workout Plan (skit)"	West	West	0:46
11.	"The New Workout Plan"	West	West	5:22
12.	"Slow Jamz" (with Twista and Jamie Foxx)	West Carl Mitchell Burt Bacharach Hal David	West	5:16
13.	"Breathe In Breathe Out" (featuring Ludacris)	West Brian Miller	West Brian "All Day" Miller (co.)	4:06
14.	"School Spirit (skit 1)"	West	West	1:18
15.	"School Spirit"	West Aretha Franklin	West	3:02
16.	"School Spirit (skit 2)"	West	West	0:43
17.	"Lil Jimmy (skit)"	West	West	0:53
18.	"Two Words" (featuring Mos Def, Freeway and The Harlem Boys Choir)	West Dante Smith Lou Wilson Ric Wilson Carlos Wilson	West	4:26
19.	"Through the Wire"	West David Foster Tom Keane Cynthia Weil	West	3:41
20.	"Family Business"	West	West	4:38
21.	"Last Call"	West Evidence	West Evidence (co.) Porse (co.)	12:40

Notes

• "Intro", "School Spirit Skit 1", "School Spirit Skit 2", "Graduation Day", "I'll Fly Away", & "The Li'l Jimmy Skit" feature vocals by DeRay Davis.
• "We Don't Care" features vocals by John Legend and Riccarda Watkins.
• "Graduation Day", "Jesus Walks" and "Never Let Me Down" feature vocals by John Legend.
• "I'll Fly Away", "School Spirit" and "Lil Jimmy Skit" feature vocals by DeRay Davis and Tony Williams.
• "Spaceship" and "Last Call" feature vocals by John Legend and Famous Tony Williams.
• "Get Em High" features vocals by Sumeke Rainey.
• "Workout Plan" features vocals by Brandi Kuykenvall, Candis Brown and Tiera Singleton.
• "The New Workout Plan" features vocals by John Legend and Sumeke Rainey.
• "Slow Jamz" features vocals by Aisha Tyler.

Sample credits

• "We Don't Care" contains samples of "I Just Wanna Stop", written by Ross Vannelli and performed by The Jimmy Castor Bunch.
• "All Falls Down" contains interpolations of "Mystery of Iniquity", written and performed by Lauryn Hill.
• "Spaceship" contains samples of "Distant Lover", written by Marvin Gaye, Gwen Gordy Fuqua and Sandra Greene, and performed by Marvin Gaye.
• "Jesus Walks" contains samples of "Walk with Me", performed by The ARC Choir; and samples of "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go", written and performed by Curtis Mayfield.
• "Never Let Me Down" contains samples of "Maybe It's the Power of Love", written by Michael Bolton and Bruce Kulick, and performed by Blackjack; and interpolations of "Hovi Baby" (remix), written by Shawn Carter, Justin Smith and Kenneth Edmonds, and performed by Jay-Z.
• "Slow Jamz" contains samples of "A House Is Not a Home", written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and performed by Luther Vandross.
• "Breathe In Breathe Out" contains samples of "Precious Precious", written and performed by Jackie Moore.
• "School Spirit" contains samples of "Spirit in the Dark", written and performed by Aretha Franklin.
• "Two Words" contains samples of "Peace & Love (Amani Na Mapenzi) – Movement IV (Encounter)", written by Lou Wilson, Ric Wilson and Carlos Wilson, and performed by Mandrill; and samples of "The Rainmaker", written by Harry Nilsson and Bill Martin, and performed by The 5th Dimension.
• "Through the Wire" contains samples of "Through the Fire", written by *David Foster, Tom Keane and Cynthia Weil, and performed by Chaka Khan.
• "Family Business" contains samples of "Fonky Thang", written by Terry Callier and Charles Stepney, and performed by The Dells; and interpolations of "Ambitionz az a Ridah", written by Tupac Shakur and Delmar Arnaud, and performed by 2Pac.
• "Last Call" contains samples of "Mr. Rockefeller", written by Jerry Blatt and Bette Midler, and performed by Bette Midler; and samples of "She's Gone to Another", written by Kenneth Ruffin and performed by The Whatnauts.

Personnel

Information taken from The College Dropout liner notes.

Jacob Andrew – engineer Darrin Asemota – A&R Thomassina Atkins – vocals Burt Bacharach – composer Rich Balmer – engineer Miri Ben-Ari – arranger, producer, piolin Shalik Berry – A&R The Boys Choir of Harlem – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist, vocals Candis Brown – vocals Albert E. Brumley – composer Kareem "Biggs" Burke – executive producer Jay-Z – executive producer, writer, primary artist Common – featured Artist, guest artist, primary artist Consequence – featured Artist, primary artist Dave Dar – engineer Damon Dash – executive producer Andrew Dawson – engineer Eric Duvauchelle – art direction, design Michael Eleopoulos – engineer Evidence – producer Jamie Foxx – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist Ramses Francois – A&R Aretha Franklin – composer Freeway – featured Artist, primary artist Marcus Fuller – engineer GLC – featured artist, performer, primary artist Mike Godshall – art direction, design Francis Graham – engineer Terrence Hardy – vocals L.D. Harris – composer Lauryn Hill – composer Diamond Alabi Isama – vocals J. Ivy – featured artist Eric Johnson – guitar Syleena Johnson – featured artist, guest artist Kyambo Joshua – A&R, executive producer Tom Keane – composer Anthony Kilhoffer – engineer

James Knight – vocals Brent Kolatalo – engineer Brandi Kuykenvall – vocals Talib Kweli – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist Darcell Lawrence – financial director John Legend – vocals, backing vocals, piano Ken Lewis – bass, guitar, instrumentation, keyboards, percussion, sampling Ludacris – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist Manny Marroquin – mixing Beverly A. McCargo – vocals Lavel Mena – vocals B. Miller – composer C.C. Mitchell – composer Tim Morris – art direction, design Mos Def – featured artist, guest artist, primary artist Bobby Naugle – logo design Jason Rauhoff – engineer Patrick Reynolds – A&R Lauri Rowe – art Tatsuya Sato – engineer Eddy Schreyer – mastering Kevin Shannon – vocals Tiera Singleton – vocals Keith Slattery – engineer, keyboards Dante Smith – composer Tracie Spencer – backing vocals Eugene Toale – vocals Tarrey Torae – vocals Twista – featured artist, primary artist Aisha Tyler – vocals Tony Vanias – recording coordinator Cynthia Weil – composer Kanye West – main composer, executive producer, primary artist, Tony Williams – vocals Cam Wilson – composer R. Wilson – composer Carlisle Young – engineer Josh Zandman – piano

Weekly charts

Charts (2004)	Peak position
French Albums Chart	98
German Albums Chart	77
Swedish Albums Chart	39
UK Albums Chart	12
US Billboard 200	2
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	1
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
US Billboard 200	12
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	4

Chart (2005)	Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	94

Certifications

Country	Provider	Certification
Canada	CRIA	Platinum
New Zealand	RIANZ	Gold
United Kingdom	BPI	2× Platinum
United States	RIAA	3× Platinum

The College Dropout Media

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  Violinist Miri Ben-Ari contributed to seven tracks.

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  Graffiti depicting the Dropout Bear