Kanye Last Song Standing

The plan is to do a Last Song Standing episode, in the spirit of the Dissect podcast, with Lucas in which we nominate Kanye songs from various albums, put them in a March Madness-style bracket, and find the last song standing. Here's my documentation of my nomination process.

4/4/26: College Dropout

We Don't Care (5)

All Falls Down

Spaceship

Jesus Walks (2)

Never Let Me Down

Get Em High

The New Workout Plan (4)

Slow Jamz

Breathe In Breathe Out

School Spirit

Two Words

Through the Wire (1)

Family Business (3)

Last Call (6)

If I had to pick today, I'd kill New Workout Plan and Last Call. The former is surprisingly fun, the latter was an old favorite of mine, but neither shines brightly enough. Family Business is a personal one for me, so it's tempting to kill. We Don't Care was never a highlight for me personally, but it stands taller than something personal like Family Business. I'd have to sort through the influence of Jesus Walks and try to map the quality. I never liked Through the Wire when I was growing up, but now I feel like it's so iconic that he's rapping through the wire; "they can't stop me from rapping" is such a Kanye thing.

4/5/26: Late Registration

Heard Em Say (3)

Touch the Sky

Gold Digger (2)

Drive Slow

My Way Home

Crack Music

Roses

Bring Me Down

Addiction

Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)

We Major (1)

Hey Mama

Celebration

Gone

Diamonds from Sierra Leone

Late

4/6/26: Graduation

Good Morning

Champion

Stronger

I Wonder (1)

Good Life (4)

Can't Tell Me Nothing

Barry Bonds

Drunk and Hot Girls

Flashing Lights (2)

Everything I Am (3)

The Glory

Homecoming

Big Brother

Good Night

4/6/26: 808s

Paranoid (2)

Street Lights (1)

4/6/26: MBDTF

Dark Fantasy

Gorgeous (4)

POWER

All of the Lights (5)

Monster (3)

So Appalled

Devil in a New Dress (2)

Runaway (1)

Hell of a Life

Blame Game

Lost in the World

4/7/26: Yeezus

On Sight

Black Skinhead (1)

I Am a God

New Slaves (3)

Hold My Liquor (4)

I'm In It

Blood on the Leaves

Guilt Trip

Send It Up

Bound 2 (2)

4/8/26: TLOP

Ultralight Beam (2)

Father Stretch My Hands Pt 1 (5)

Pt 2

Famous

Feedback

Low Lights

Highlights

Freestyle 4

I Love Kanye

Waves

FML

Real Friends (6)

Wolves

Frank's Track

Silver Surfer

30 Hours (4)

No More Parties in LA (1)

Facts

Fade

St Pablo (3)

Also: Violent Crimes

Albums:

1. TLOP
2. LR
3. MBDTF
4. Graduation
5. College Dropout
6. Yeezus
7. 808s

Okay so TLOP has way more crap than LR. But it also has many more glorious moments. LR is more consistently strong; it's classic all the way through. TLOP is so fragmented. But LR doesn't deliver so many amazing moments. LR only offered a few songs for this project; TLOP offered 10. So it's a question of sane classic status vs bipolar glory. LR is more subtle and measured like the sermon on the mount, TLOP is just basking like the resurrection.

So my wild card options are:

• Heard Em Say
• Everything I Am
• 30 Hours
• St Pablo