The College Dropout (studio album) by Kanye West

The College Dropout by Kanye West
Year: 2004
Release date: 2004-02-10
Overall rank: 180th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,414 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 2004 (4th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 2000s (30th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (180th)

Kanye West bestography

The College Dropout is ranked 2nd best out of 14 albums by Kanye West on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Kanye West is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy which is ranked number 33 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 24,979.

Kanye West album bestography « Higher ranked (33rd) This album (180th) Lower ranked (205th) »
My Beautiful Dark Twisted FantasyThe College DropoutYeezus

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The College Dropout track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The College Dropout rankings

The College Dropout collection

The College Dropout ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,414 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,414 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
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45 hours ago Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,08076/100
 
70/100
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11/26/2024 17:02 davidleewrong  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,11981/100
 
90/100
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11/25/2024 14:47 Spinningdisks83  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 24885/100
 
85/100
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11/11/2024 02:09 frankoceanlover  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 24480/100
 
95/100
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11/07/2024 20:02 mash  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,15588/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.6/100, a mean average of 80.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 19.3.

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The College Dropout comments

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Rating:  
90/100
From 08/03/2024 14:03
A very good album with some memorable hits. It's a little too long and lacks enough excellent album tracks, but it's still worth a listen. It has a nice combination of R&B, Soul, and Rap. It makes a few key observations regarding education, racism, and religion. 9/10!
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Rating:  
85/100
From 03/20/2023 14:57
Kanye West is on fire on this release with this sounding like someone who is determined and hungry for success. We get tracks like Through The Wire, Jesus Walks, All Falls Down and We Don't Care being the evidence for this as they demonstrate everything that is great about Kanye. The features on this album are fantastic as well and elevate the music so much. This is definitely one of his more consistent releases and his ideas stay fresh the whole way through on here. Despite this, there is a significant amount of filler with just less than half the tracks being skippable as they are mediocre. The run time is another issue I have also as there isn't an hour and 16 minutes worth of content on here and it could be reduced. Overall, this is probably Kanye's most consistent release and his passion for music shines through on this release which makes it one of his most enjoyable to listen to.
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Rating:  
80/100
From 07/18/2022 19:33
I tend to find myself surprised, repeatedly, by the creativity behind the rhymes and flow in Kanye’s flow. Strong debut album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/24/2022 11:08
One of the best debuts off all time. Kanye West's College Dropout set the tone for Rap, and marks a switch in rap as popular music, and he is definately top 5 ever in my book. Tracks like Jesus Walks, All Falls Down, Through the wire, Family Business, and my fav: Slow Jamz are classics, still today. Some weak points, and i personally think some of the takes on the school spirit skits are plain wrong, but that doesn't distract from the point that this is a masterpiece. Kanye may be crazy, may be a Genius, but his discography proves he is a musical Genius. 9/10
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Rating:  
85/100
From 02/04/2022 22:27
85

El debut de Kanye y no podría ser para menos. Pese a que tenga muchos interludios, se siente que todos aportan al concepto del album y tiene muy buenas canciones, siendo mis preferidas Through the Wire, All Falls Down y Jesus Walks. Hasta ahora me parece el segundo mejor disco de Kanye, después de MBDTF.
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Rating:  
100/100
From 01/13/2022 16:35
This album is probably Kanye's best. The chipmunk soul production is on full display and Ye sounds so hungry. Incredible features as well.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 01/08/2022 22:06
Some great tracks on this. Not a fan of albums that contain too many filler 40-second tracks (I don't see what it adds personally), but the sheer quality and consistency of the full-length tracks make up for this for me. One of my favourite rap albums ever. Highlights are Through The Wire, Slow Jamz and Jesus Walks.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 07/04/2021 21:41
Highlights:

- We Don't Care
- Spaceship (Feat. Consequence & GLC)
- Jesus Walks
- Never Let Me Down (Feat. Jay-Z & J. Ivy)
- The New Workout Plan
- Slow Jamz (Feat. Twista & Jamie Foxx)
- Through The Wire
- Family Business
- Last Call
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/05/2021 18:25
Great album, but the skits on this album make me lower my ranking
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/09/2020 15:31
Kanye changed the Hip Hop landscape with this album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 2004
1. Funeral by Arcade Fire
2. Madvillainy by Madvillain
3. American Idiot by Green Day
4. The College Dropout by Kanye West
5. Hot Fuss by The Killers
6. Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand
7. Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse
8. Antics by Interpol
9. Mm.. Food by MF DOOM
10. Hopes And Fears by Keane
11. The Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom
12. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
13. Brian Wilson Presents Smile by Brian Wilson
14. A Ghost Is Born by Wilco
15. Seven Swans by Sufjan Stevens
16. Sung Tongs by Animal Collective
17. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance
18. The Libertines by The Libertines
19. Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine
20. From A Basement On The Hill by Elliott Smith
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