Kanye West - Late CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

about hip-hop identity. Can he get it done? Yes, he can. And like Reggie Jackson used to say, it ain't bragging if you can do it.

West blew up last year with the bling/backpack synthesis of The College Dropout, the preppy-fabulous debut smash that people still can't stop arguing about. For some, Dropout proves hip-hop is in a rut, as an example of what everybody else isn't doing; for others, it proves hip-hop is still evolving, as music nobody outside hip-hop could make. Whatever your pet theory on the state of hip-hop, Dropout gave you a challenge, flaws and all. But Late Registration is an undeniable triumph, packed front to back, so expansive it makes the debut sound like a rough draft. West has turned into a real MC, earning the right to boast about opening a store for aspiring Kanye wanna-be's: "But if they ever flip sides like Anakin/ You will sell everything, including the mannequin/They got a new bitch, now you're Jennifer Aniston."

All over Late Registration, he indulges his sentimental R&B-poet side ("Roses"), his Seventies slow-jam love jones ("Celebration"), his wit ("Gold Digger"), his hard-ass politics ("Crack Music") and his love of Maroon 5 ("Heard 'Em Say," featuring Adam Levine). He calls in the heavyweights: Jay-Z, Common, Brandy, Cam'ron, Consequence, the Game, Paul Wall. But his MVP is Fiona Apple producer Jon Brion, whose previous hip-hop experience is zero. A bold move, yet a brilliant one -- Brion brings in live orchestrations and weird instruments as raw material for West's imagination. Give 'Ye a harpsichord and he will make it funky.

If this album has an emotional stunner a la "Jesus Walks," it's "Hey Mama," where West honors his mother, who had to work nights to keep on the lights. It loops a simple la-la-la vocal hook into a soul-sonic force, like Side Two of Prince's Sign 'o' the Times after aliens hacked into it. It's the best family-affair tearjerker since Ghostface's "All That I Got Is You," as West raps, "Can I cry, please?/Gimme a verse of 'You Are So Beautiful to Me.'" He also promises her he'll go back to school, though we'll believe it when we see the tuition check. "Gone" builds a totally mental funk loop out of an Otis Redding groan. Even weir

The Windy City wunderkind continues to flaunt his production prowess and intelligent rhyme style on what's undoubtedly one of 2005's biggest releases. West's highly anticipated sophomore LP oozes soulful vibes and thought-provoking lyrics, but will still make you dance. Features collabos with Jay-Z, Common and Paul Wall.