Kanye West
The College Dropout

THE REVIEW

I put on a record, not just any record, no, no. I put on the one that over time has become our record....

There are others, it’s true, but this is the one that most reminds me of you: sweet, direct, sometimes you need to pay particular attention, but in the end the beautiful characteristics emerge; tender, maybe ironic, maybe biting, but tender. You were like that.

I’m writing to you because I feel the need, because it’s something beyond my understanding; not because I want to show you how down I am, nor because I'm relying on hope. No, my words are in vain, and you won’t come back, I know. Oh the record has started... eh, "we just don’t care"…..do you remember it? You told me it should become an anthem. The looks of people, those looks that watched us with superiority, with that irresistible desire to categorize us and throw us into the "different" drawer, were heavy, and why not, unbearable. Yet you would smile at me, hug me and tell me "listen to the song, and learn this phrase, we don’t care. No matter what limits the world imposes on you, you have to surpass them". "Through the Wire" starts, and Chaka Khan's voice gives me chills every time.

You are missed, during one of the most important days of my life. I finally graduated: years and years of sacrifices led to this. The satisfaction on my mother’s and father’s faces repays me for all the efforts made; despite the trials endured because of me and the thousand misunderstandings, in the end even they look at me with happy faces. Yet I will always remember that night when my father shouted and cursed about my life choice, and you, with a calm and gentle spirit, appealed to his Christian soul and reminded him that Jesus walks among us. "Jesus walks", tribal rhythms, dreamy choirs... tears come to my eyes when I think of the wonderful lyrics.

You always liked RnB and this "slow jamz" was always your favorite track (and mine too): you and me, under the blankets, those damned blankets that protected us from the screams of an angry world, venting all its rage with its icy winter; you and I lost in each other’s eyes. No words to say, just a silence that said everything.

Now I’m leaving, or rather fleeing this place; you know it’s one of those opportunities that happen only once in a lifetime and since nothing holds me back, I’m taking it. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I’ll be fine. "All falls down", and indeed, since everything is collapsing, I’m fleeing before being buried by the rubble of my memories.

Just two words for you, "two words", but I won’t tell you them: I’ll keep them to myself, because I know the wind has never been good at holding onto things. Goodbye Andrea, yours Matteo.

You didn’t expect this, did you? The college trilogy-to be continued.....