Graduation Album

“If there’s a hall of fame in my memories, Graduation is definitely on the wall.”

Intro

This one took me a while to write because Graduation means a lot to me, and anything I say about it feels like I’m leaving something out. I didn’t want to make this too long, but I also didn’t want to rush it. That album sits in a weird place where it’s hard to explain how important it is without underselling it.

Kanye West has been part of my life musically for a long time. The time where I really took a deep dive into his music — really consuming it as an adult and as a more mature artist — was around 2020. That’s when everything started to click. I never really put Kanye in my top five, but when I think about how much I listen to him and the impact he’s had on my life artistically and musically, it feels like it’s time to really re-evaluate that list. People always talk about “old Kanye,” and he even joked about it himself on The Life of Pablo (I Love Kanye), but that version of him really had something special. In an era where rap felt split into certain lanes, Kanye carved out his own. And for me, the project where all of that came together was Graduation.

Living Inside Graduation

Graduation shifts for me depending on the day. Some days it’s my favorite album of all time. Other days it might be number two, maybe even number three — but it never leaves that top three. Ever. That’s how special this album is to me. I could really go on and on about the impact it had, starting with the era it dropped in. The timing was perfect. Rap at the time felt split — you had a lot of gangster and hustler music on one side, and conscious rap on the other. Kanye managed to pull from both without forcing it, while still sounding like himself. Even thinking back on it now, I picture Kanye in polos, bright colors, the backpack — it stood out. I was young, so some of it isn’t crystal clear, but the feeling of it always stuck.

Just looking at the tracklist alone, it’s an insane run.

Good Morning.

Stronger.

I Wonder.

Good Life.

Can’t Tell Me Nothing.

Flashing Lights (my favorite song of all time).

Honorable mention: Champion.

That’s crazy. Each of those songs feels like it lives in its own space, but together they build something bigger. I could do a deep dive into how every one of them made me feel, but what stands out most is how complete the album feels. For me, this is the best example of someone creating a world through an album. The cover art, the songs, the production, the energy, the fashion, Kanye himself, even the way it was marketed — everything worked together. I don’t know if anyone’s really been able to recreate that or take it further. Everything lined up exactly how it needed to.

A Soundtrack to My Memories

I can remember where I was in my life when I first heard a lot of these songs, and more importantly, how they made me feel. “Stronger” stands out immediately. I remember watching the music video on 106 & Park, seeing Kanye locked up like a patient in that futuristic chamber. As a kid, it low-key scared me a little. The whole video felt cold and intense, but I couldn’t look away. It felt different from anything else on TV at the time.

“Good Life” takes me somewhere completely different. That’s one of me and my mom’s favorite songs together. Just the feeling of it — bright, uplifting, easy. “Flashing Lights,” like I said before, is my favorite song of all time. Every time I hear it, I picture myself walking through a city late at night, either Tokyo or New York. Neon lights, tall buildings, people moving past you, everybody on their own path. The song puts me in a trance. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” feels heavier. I remember being young, maybe six or seven, sitting in the backseat while it’s raining, watching traffic lights glow through the window. The world still felt new back then — colors brighter, everything bigger. I was starting to get into things like comic books around that time, so it felt like all of it was blending together into one big experience.

“I Wonder” took longer for me. It wasn’t one of my favorites at first. I didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t fully click until I got older. When it did, it really did. I was in my early twenties, around the time my brother passed away, and that song started hitting different. I remember driving through the rural areas of Alabama, early in the morning, hot and bright outside, just trying to make some money. “I Wonder” would come on and it felt like a pink sky moment — calm, heavy, peaceful all at once. Wondering where my brother was. Thinking about life. Looking back, that’s what makes this album so special to me. It created a world of its own, but each song also feels like its own world living inside that universe. And those worlds are tied deep into my life.

Cover Art

And like I mentioned earlier, the cover was a huge part of this album too. I really mean this when I say it — Graduation has one of the greatest album covers of all time. There aren’t many that top it. It doesn’t feel dated at all. It still feels alive, like something that could come out right now and still make sense. When I think about album covers that really stick with me, Lil Uzi Vert always comes to mind — Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World, Luv Is Rage, Luv Is Rage 2, Eternal Atake, The Perfect LUV Tape, 1017 vs. The World. Those are some of my favorite covers ever, and every time I look at them, they take me back to Graduation. That connection has always been there for me.

I remember Kanye being on 106 & Park talking about the cover and shouting out Takashi Murakami, who designed it. Hearing him explain how it came together made it hit even harder. The cover set the tone for the world you were about to step into. Seeing that same world come to life in the “Good Morning” music video was beautiful — it felt like everything came full circle. That whole approach stuck with me and really inspired me when I first started getting into graphic design, trying to create my own worlds and connect them to music. It showed me how powerful that connection could be.

Culture & Impact

This album meant a lot to me personally, but it also had real presence around it when it dropped. I remember the whole conversation around it — especially the 106 & Park moment where Kanye and 50 Cent were going back and forth about whose album would sell more, with all that talk about whoever lost retiring. Kanye winning felt like a moment everybody remembers.

I also remember how visible Graduation felt at the time. I don’t know if FYE was just in my city or a Southern thing, but I remember going to the mall and seeing stores like that with the whole Graduation setup — the visuals, the displays, the artwork. It felt like the album was everywhere. Years later, that stuck with me, especially when I started really trying to find the vinyl. I was searching online, asking around, even when I was in Tampa and got surprised with a trip to St. Pete to check out a record store. They had a lot of classics, and when I asked about Graduation, they started explaining how hard it was to even get pressed or shipped. That’s when I really thought I might never find it.

So when my sister was on a work trip and FaceTimed me one day like, “Guess what I just found,” then flipped the camera around and showed me the Graduation vinyl, I lost it. I didn’t care how much money I had — I had to get that. Especially knowing how long I’d been looking.

I still have the Graduation CD cover too — the CD’s gone, but the case was my uncle’s, and I grabbed it from my grandma’s house because I just had to keep it. I even have the Stronger comic book. That’s how deep this album goes for me. It really did create its own universe, and within that universe, each song feels like its own world. You can move from “Flashing Lights” to “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” to “I Wonder” to “Good Morning,” and even though they share the same aesthetic, each one lets you live inside it differently. That’s why this album never leaves my top three. Some days it feels like number one, mostly because of the impact and the nostalgia — and with this album, that impact is real.

Closing

I know this ended up being pretty long, and I could really do a deep dive into just the cover, the songs, the impact — all of it. But this album means a lot to me. I’d love to pay tribute to it in the future, whether that’s through film, photography, or some other form of art. This just felt like the first real opportunity I had to finally put into words how much I love it.

Graduation shaped how I view the world, how I see art, and even how I move through life. I’ve had plenty of late nights with these songs playing, just sitting in the moment, enjoying life, or replaying memories tied to that time period. I’m forever grateful for that. Like Kanye said on Flashing Lights, “In my memories museum.” If there’s a hall of fame in mine, Graduation is definitely on the wall.