Kanye West is the Dave Eggers of rap-either you’re instantly enamored with his ability to simultaneously begin every sentence with either “I” or “me” and then efface himself parenthetically moments later to such a cutting extent that any attempt at critical detraction is made null and void or you find him to be the single most annoying thing ever. Either way, he’s impossible to avoid.

Kanye welcomed 2007 with the announcement that his third solo record, the end of his “trilogy”, Graduation, will be released to the world at large. In typical Kanye fashion, he’s seemingly unable to do a damn thing without some sort of jets-cake-girls sort of fanfare. And so, to whet appetites and get tongues wagging for a full-length, he’s decided to throw some Ye on a mix.

The Can’t Tell Me Nothin‘ mixtape is exactly what it should be: about an hour of Kanye’s now-familiar self-servicing, balanced out with self-criticisms and utterly awesome beatcraft.

Kanye West: Can’t Tell Me Nothing (mixtape version)

One of the first singles from Graduation, and a moment of Kanye proving that he can remove the Jenga block of detraction before the haters start hatin’-no, you can’t tell him nothin’, but when he takes himself apart over a slow-burner like this, why would you want to? Let’s face it-maybe Ye knows best.

Kanye West: Young Folks

Kanye West: Interviews interlude

…or maybe Ye doesn’t know best. If you’re one of the 50% of the public who, every time Kanye opens his mouth to speak, hears a pooping sound followed by a “woosh” of air, I recommend you skip these two.

I’d rather, though, you cue them up back to back, mixtape style, and listen to Kanye warp Peter Bjorn and John into an essay on, amongst other things, himself…himself…and…himself. (Pros: we get to find out what “paraphrase” means! Thanks Kanye! Cons: the missed opportunity for Kanye to change the chorus of the original to “George Bush don’t care about the black folks”. Wait for it. WAIT. FOR. IT….and it never comes.).

Kanye West: Throw Some Ds

The song’s everywhere-and Kanye’s mix (aka THIS ONE) has been fingered by many as “the downfall of modern youth culture”. Um…apparently, those critics have never heard “irony” outside of the context of what would happen if it rained on your wedding day. As Prince would say, it’s in the dictionary-see “i”.

Kanye West: Hater Family

And then…this. The closing moment of Can’t Tell Me Nothing has Kanye sampling himself (of course), turning a tossed-off moment from “Bring Me Down” (one of Late Registration’s most stand-out stand-up tracks) into a mantra that may be the closest to thrown-gauntlet catharsis-and-attack Kanye’s ever come. This is a fucking phenomenal track, and one that I hope is slated for the real album. Funny how Kanye can quiet the haters…by..playing their game.