Graduation

Product Information

The 957,000 copies sold in the first week of Graduation 's release stood as the sixth largest first week sales in hip hop history up to January 7, 2019. Most obviously, there’s Daft Punk, whose track "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" forms the vocoder foundation to "Stronger". Graduation 's intricate musical environments take a while to comprehend, and at times they seem at odds with West's confrontational lyrics. When it came down to it, an album with a track titled ' I'll Still Kill' couldn't compete with a song sampling a French dance duo's unknown hit. It then proceeds to morph into a myriad of interlaced synths that are impacted by distorted snare drum strokes (taken from " Ambitionz Az a Ridah" by 2Pac, which samples the drums from "Pee-Wee's Dance by Joeski Love) and ethereal electric keyboards.

However, though he originally intended for Graduation to be completely devoid of guest rap verses, West decided to invite New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne on the track "Barry Bonds". He ties this into his perceived overall inability to keep himself together even as he grows into an increasingly prominent figure in the public eye. It was named as one of the best albums of 2007 by multiple publications, including Rolling Stone and USA Today. The song uses Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds as a metaphor for West's ability to create music hits.On July 19, the album's release date was changed once more and moved to September 11, 2007, the same US release date as rapper 50 Cent's third studio album Curtis. The album demonstrates yet another distinctive progression in West's musical style and approach to production. The number-one hit "Stronger" was leading part of a wave of synthesizer-driven music which combined danceable electro beats with an accessible pop format. The album registered the best first-week sales totals of any record released within the last two years, with the last being West's own Late Registration. Kanye's savvy enough (as he loves to remind us ad nauseum) to know that this music's place in mainstream culture has changed.

The collaboration came about when West met her bandmates Angus McDonald and Daimon Downey at a diner in Sydney while touring the country with U2 around November 2006. West told the crowd during his acceptance speech that despite winning the Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album award, he wanted to give the award to Lil Wayne instead.In an interview for USA Today, 50 Cent expressed his view on the idea of a sales competition, stating "It's great marketing – for Kanye West. The whole album is an enjoyable slice of 80s nostalgia, especially on tape, but this retro hip hop song stands out, even if the line about a female President in 2016 has aged like a yogurt in the sun. Along with house music, Graduation contains samples and music elements of euro-disco, hard rock, electronica, lounge, progressive rock, synth-pop, electro, krautrock, dub, reggae, and dancehall. These 4 or 5-star reviews represent the opinions of the individuals who posted them and do not reflect the views of Etsy. West crafted the album to contain less ornate production, not have any hip-hop skits, and be sequenced to produce a tighter, more cohesive package.