Kanye West - The College Dropout: Early Version

I started writing this post as a discussion on why early leaks are interesting to examine, but it was going nowhere so I figured I'd be better off just getting to the point. Before the release of Kanye West's The College Dropout, a completely different version of the album had been created and was about ready for release, though somewhere along the way Kanye decided to pull the plug on that incarnation of the album and re-recorded a number of the tracks and gave some of the beats away. He also changed his vocal style whereas he sounded rougher, harder and all around less approachable than he does on the released album. In the end, Kanye made the right decision by killing this version of the album, though whether that had anything to do with his opinion of it's quality or due to it's having leaked is unknown. Regardless, the highs and lows here are all worthy of a second look, especially Kanye's version of My Way, the beat and title of which were later given to Jay-Z. On the other hand, Keep The Receipt, a team-up with Ol' Dirty Bastard credited as Dirt McGirt, is just the opposite of everything Kanye has done with his career, coming off like a calculated attempt at a commercial radio hit. Check it out and decide for yourself, it's an interesting look at the beginning of a fascinating career.


Kanye West - The College Dropout: Early Version

01 Intro
02 All Falls Down (feat. Lauryn Hill)
03 Jesus Walks (Intro)
04 Jesus Walks
05 Two Words (feat. Mos Def & Floetry)
06 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
07 The New Workout Plan
08 Keep The Receipt (feat. Dirt McGirt)
09 Heavy Hitters
10 Slow Jamz (feat. Jamie Foxx & Twista)
11 My Way
12 Family Affair
13 Through The Wire
14 Never Let Me Down (feat. Jay-Z & Saul Williams)
15 Home

PS - I'd love to know why Lauryn Hill wouldn't allow a sample of her song to be used on Kanye's record but it was okay for it to be re-recorded.