Kanye West's 'The College Dropout' turns 10

Kanye is such a cultural institution at this point that it's hard to remember a time when no one knew his name. However, it was just 10 years ago today that The College Dropout was released.

While the album may seem like nothing special through the lens of 2014, at the time Dropout was at the least a gamble and, at the most, revolutionary. West, a long-time producer, proved that no one was better suited for his brand of chipmunked soul sample beats than he was, releasing an album that attempted to build a bridge between the thugged-out glamor of mainstream rap and reserved an introspective sound of backpack hip-hop.

While critics might genuinely love the aggro-noise, punk-leaning rap of Yeezus, the fact remains that Kanye was never more daring than his solo debut. The tongue-in-cheek misogyny, subversion of religious iconography and critiques on the white power structure are expected from West now that he has made a name for himself as a bit of a firebrand, just imagine how shocking they were when the same ideas came from a grown-ass kid that nobody outside of the industry knew.

And make no mistake, Kanye has included these motifs from the beginning. The parts of "I'm In It" that make you cringe got their start as "The New Workout Plan." The righteous anger of "New Slaves" and "Black Skinhead" was first hinted at in "All Falls Down." And there could be no "I Am A God" without "Jesus Walks."

Dropout kicked off a trilogy of albums where Kanye wasn't content to make his point via soundscapes. While the production work on the album is flawless, Kanye To The was still hungry to prove himself as a lyricist after the repeated rejections detailed in "Last Call." Pink Polo Kanye is what West sounded like when he was firing on all cylinders, creating music that brought disparate rap fans together much in the same way he drives a wedge between them today.

Of course, Kanye is unlikely to ever return to the sound of his first album. We should expect nothing less from an artist who kicked off his debut with a track about how little he gives a f--k.

So, if you want to remember a time when Kanye was actually thought of as the saviour of rap he believes himself to be, pop in The College Dropout and transport yourself back when we thought he'd never let us down.