Starting off Graduation, “Good Morning” builds the foundation for the album. It builds up the instrumental slowly, starting with just the drum track and adding on each instrument one by one. Kanye always had doubts about making it big, which he talks about in his earlier albums, but this album really shows him starting to believe in himself. He becomes more confident in the rap and hip-hop world. He starts becoming bolder with his beats/instrumentals, and he starts to talk more about issues that affect people he's known. This, along with the next couple of years, was Kanye West’s peak in music. 

Going along with the theme of the first track, “Champion” follows the confidence that Kanye had gained while producing this album. The sample that starts off the track, as well as looping throughout the whole song is from Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne.” This sample and how West uses it is widely regarded as one of the best and most creative samples on Graduation-- with Jake India from the music blog Highsnobiety stating that “'Champion' packs a hell of a lot in for being the shortest track on the album, clocking in at just under three minutes.” Although this is the shortest track on Graduation, I think it has some of the most meaningful lyrics. West talks about his childhood with his father and how, even though they were not rich, his father could always pull through for him. He writes, “We was sorta like Will Smith and his son/In the movie,/I ain't talkin' 'bout the rich ones”, where West is talking about his dynamics with his father, referencing the movie that Will Smith and his son, Jaden Smith acted in: The Pursuit of Happyness. In The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith plays a homeless salesman, desperately trying to find a way to sell off his business idea while also trying to keep his family above water. Will Smith and his son, at multiple points, have to get food and beds from public shelters, only being able to scrounge up the bare minimum from Smith’s very limited job. At the end of the movie, Will Smith meets with business members, where he gained an internship and was promised a job at the business. The last scene of the movie before the epilogue showed Will and Jayden Smith walking down the road, joking and jumping around, relating to how Kanye felt about his father at the time: always being able to keep his family alive, even through the roughest of times.

Being awarded Triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, “I Wonder” is simply a work of art. Soul musician Siffre’s “My Song” is used as an opener for the track, providing the base piano part and beautifully sung vocals. This sample is looped throughout the song, similarly to “Champion.” The instrumental to this track is overall impressive. The synths hit differently than past tracks. It backs up the sample used by West just perfectly. Along with the synths, the drum pack West used is perfect for this track. The snares are sharp and short, and the kicks are perfectly bassy, and the reverb resonates just right with the already echoey sample. Halfway through the track, the instrumental switches up to a primarily string orchestra, replacing the synths as Kanye starts to look back on his life: “You ever wonder what it all really mean?/You wonder if you'll ever find your dreams?”

“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” swings a whole new mood from the rest of the album. It follows the path that “Stronger” went for, but went further. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” hits harder than other tracks off of Graduation. The snare that West uses sounds almost like two pieces of metal hitting each other, with that high, sharp ping resonating with each hit. Along with that, the synths are used in a more aggressive, forward way compared to other tracks. On top of the aggressive beat, Kanye talks about his struggles with his newfound fame: "I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny. And what do I do? Act more stupidly." 

Throughout Graduation, there have been two distinct moods. The first mood consists primarily of synths, and is usually a more aggressive and assertive track, such as “Stronger” or “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” The second mood focuses far more on the strings versus the synths, making a far calmer and more serious sound. “Flashing Lights” is the perfect in-between of those two. The instrumental flips through both moods. Strings introduce us to the track, but quickly get replaced with an array of synth chords; these two sounds flip over throughout the track as a part of the main beat. This track is probably the most ‘equal’ of all of Graduation, perfectly balancing the assertive side and the calm, smoother side of West. Other than the beauty of the instrumental itself, there are some controversies on this track (especially when you think of who Kanye West has come to be in modern times). In one of the lyrics of “Flashing Lights,” Kanye compares the paparazzi to Nazis: “'Til I got flashed by the paparazzi (razzi) Damn, these - got me. I hate these - more than the Nazis.” Kanye (more so through his early life) was very outspoken about politics, especially the treatment of young Black people in the US. In 2005, West appeared in “A Concert for Hurricane Relief”, a benefit for victims of Hurricane Katrina, in which he deviated from the prewritten script and criticized the treatment of Black victims alongside the overall treatment of Black people in the US. He finished the speech by saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people,” which caused the political scene in the music industry to erupt. Sadly, West has now deviated FAR from this (which I already wrote an article about in 2025: "The Fall of Kanye"). There are many examples of Kanye going against his older political views, but that's another article for another day.

Following the other tracks, "Everything I am” finally calms down. Kanye finds his roots in his first two albums again, even referencing that he could never be as calm as he once was: “I'll never be laid back as this beat was.” West also talks about the violence in his hometown, Chicago, and how people never want to talk or even acknowledge it, writing, “I know people. wouldn't usually rap this. But I got the facts to back this. Just last year, Chicago had over 600 caskets. Man, killing's some wack sh**.” I believe this track is the best off of Graduation. This song just gives that certain sense of comfort, only fortifying the sense of comfort brought by this album. On DJBooth, a music blog that primarily focuses on hip-hop and rap, the hosts talk about this feeling, and about how Kanye has sadly lost it throughout the years, stating, “On 'Everything I Am,' even if only for a brief, few minutes, Kanye was able to make that distinction himself, and put his soul at rest."

Sources: 

• AllMusic "Graduation" Album Review

• HighsNobiety Music Blog

• Official Graduation CD Lyric Notebook