This is and probably always will be my favorite album ever.

  I still remember the first time I saw the "Through the Wire" video. I just remember hearing the beat and being like, daaamn that beat is ridiculous. It wasn't your typical "boom-bap" beat. The drum patterns were complex, the sample was catchy, and the music was...soulful. I sat down and watched it like it was the most interesting movie ever made. I still remember the way it was shot. The camera would pan to different photos tuck to a bulletin board, then the photos would come to life. I remember the "without an arm I spit!" part, lol. I would watch BET's "The Bassment" eeeveryday just to see that damn video. I even taped it on a VHS (YES, VHS) tape. As time passed, I kinda forgot about the tape, and even the song.
  One night I couldn't sleep and I had to go to school the next day, so I went through my older brother's CD's and low and behold the College Dropout CD. I put it in my CD player and lay in bed listening to it. I have never experienced music the way I experienced music listening to that CD for the first time. Every beat was insane, you could tell that so much time and care went into every detail of each track. And though Kanye was lacking as far as wordplay, cadence, and the popular simile style of rap that is so overdone today, he made up for it with his wit, his honesty, and his overall passion for what he was rapping about. I'll give you an example of each.
Wit: "Nice as Bun B when I met 'em at the Source Awards, girl he had with 'em ass coulda won the horse awards" - Last Call
Honesty - "I get down for my grandfather who took my momma, made her sit in that seat where white folks ain't want us to eat/ at the tender age of SIX she was arrested for the sit-ins, with that in my blood I was born to be different - Never Let Me Down
Now niggas can't make it to ballots to choose leadership, but we can make it to Jacob's and to the dealership/ That's why I hear new music and don't be feelin' it, RACISM STILL ALIVE, they just be concealin' it.
- Never Let Me Down
I remember listening to that album over and over and before I knew it, the sun was in my eyes and my alarm was going off. It was time for school.
I don't know if there will ever be an album that captivated me the way The College Dropout did. It's moments like these that make life worth living. This album created a whole new niche in hip-hop music. One that challenges us to think for ourselves. To be true to ourselves. Thank you Mr West.