The College Dropout: Early Version

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.

 - The Unheard Music

Tracklisting & download after the break

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

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