10 years ago, I was in the 9th grade and the idea of being a ‘Hip Hop Head’ wasn’t exactly a word that was embedded in my mind, and although I don’t consider myself one at all, The College Dropout definitely did a lot for making me appreciate Hip Hop more beyond what I’d been used to with Wu Tang, Ruff Ryders, Dipset, and Cash Money being some of the main rap acts that dominated the late 90s/early 2000s. And then here came Kanye West (only known as a producer at the time) with this album, and the word ‘groundbreaking’ is such an overused word nowadays, because everyone and their mother has to be some type of innovator these days, when truly they’re doing something that hasn’t been seen in like 2 decades.

I blame the social networking generation – we feed into the beast, and on behalf of myself and others that share the idiocy sentiment, I apologize. Now, Kanye West went on to have one of the best runs for a rapper that we’ve seen in recent memory (Jay Z’s 7 year run is obviously in the conversation), and Kanye has given us memorable moments of controversy, but not only that, he’s given us great music for a decade. A. Decade. Much like how it was done for Yeezus, someone took valuable time out and compiled a samples mixtape from The College Dropout, and there are some familiar songs, and other pleasant surprises. A toast to Mr. West for 10 years of great work. Who knows what could happen 10 years from now; we know with Kanye – anything goes. Enjoy.