Late Registration is the second studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions held at studios in Hollywood and New York City, in collaboration with Jon Brion. The album features guest contributions from Adam Levine, Jamie Foxx, Common, Brandy, Jay-Z, and Nas, among others.
West's production for Late Registration departed from the sped-up soul samples of his debut studio album, The College Dropout (2004), moving towards a more elaborate and orchestral style with a 20-piece ensemble. Drawing creative inspiration from alternative acts such as Fiona Apple and Portishead, he experimented with musical shifts, string arrangements, and a variety of instruments not usually associated with hip hop, including a celesta, harpsichord, and Chinese bells. In an effort to write authentic yet relatable lyrics, West engages in storytelling while showcasing his Christian heritage that informed his relationship to the capitalist market economy. He critiques multiple issues, such as institutional racism, higher education, health care, and the blood diamond trade.
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Late Registration is the second of Kanye West's planned four education-themed studio albums, following the major success of his 2004 debut The College Dropout.[1][2] The album showcased his signature production style of using sped-up vocal samples from soul records, known as "chipmunk soul".[1] However, because of its success, other hip hop artists widely imitated this sampling style. In response to this, and fearing his own dependence on the technique, West decided to find a new sound and progress in both songwriting and stylistic range.[1][2] West enlisted film score composer and record producer Jon Brion for Late Registration, resulting in Brion serving as co-executive producer for several tracks.[3] The rapper heard and liked Brion's score while watching the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and also listened to songs he had produced for singer-songwriter Fiona Apple's second album When the Pawn... (1999).[4] Apple was another one of West's favorite acts and sources of musical inspiration for Late Registration,[3][4] whose direction West described as "that Coldplay, Portishead, Fiona Apple style".[2] Portishead's 1994 album Dummy was another reference point for West's direction with the album.[4]
For Late Registration, West also collaborated with guest artists, whom he selected based on the effect each of their voices had on him upon hearing them. He cited the serene vocals of pop rock band Maroon 5's lead vocalist Adam Levine, the trademark voice of Brandy, the rap skill of his frequent collaborator Jay-Z, and the lyricism of fellow rapper Paul Wall as primary examples.[11] Levine is featured on the album's opening track, "Heard 'Em Say". The two had previously collaborated on a remix for "This Love" (2004) that Maroon 5 commissioned West to work on and later became good friends when sitting together on a flight to Rome for the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards.[12] While playing songs from his second album via his iPod for him on the flight, West presented the demo for "Heard 'Em Say", to which Levine added a hook he had recently written and thought was an ideal fit.[12] The song was recorded quickly because the singer only had a couple of hours free for studio time, and Brion was able to effectively work with the composition and Levine's vocal track in a few hours.[3]
West first crafted "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" as a song about his friendship with his crew, until he learned of the civil war in Sierra Leone financed by conflict diamonds and re-recorded it.[19] While the original version of the song featured West as the sole performer, he decided to record a remix with a guest verse provided by Jay-Z.[20] Both the original and remix versions of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" appear on the album, with the former included as a bonus track.[7] The original contains live drums played by Michel Gondry, the director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and later the first music video for "Heard 'Em Say"; he had visited the studio one day when a drum kit was set up by Brion.[3][12] According to Jay-Z, West mixed "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" about 14 times before he felt comfortable with premiering it.[21] The recording was further delayed when West and Brion were required to wait two weeks to rent the harpsichord that they used for the percussion.[22] West recorded a verse by fellow rapper Nas for the track "We Major", even though the rapper was engaged in a feud with Jay-Z at the time. Despite this, West revealed that the song is regarded by Jay-Z as his favorite on Late Registration.[23] "Hey Mama" was first recorded by West as early as 2000.[24]
Brion experienced difficulty conducting a 20-piece orchestra for "Celebration", as its musicians were distracted when giggling at West's humorous lyrics. West and Brion had some minor discord for "Roses"; Brion initially layered it with keyboard arrangements, only for West to remove his keys along with the beat and completely reconfigure the entire song so that the verses are built around the rhythm of his vocals, while Brion's arrangements arrive during the choruses. Brion later lightheartedly compared the indecision surrounding the construction of the track to that of Prince's well-known last-minute removal of the bassline from "When Doves Cry" (1984).[3] Singer Patti LaBelle recalled having contributed vocals to "Roses": "I was in [West's] studio one night, and he and his mother both asked if I'd just sing something on this song."[25] The singer further stated that she was not credited because the album's liner notes "had already been printed up".[25]
"Heard 'Em Say" is told from the perspective of an afflicted, impoverished American quietly lamenting the fallacies of society and questioning the ways of the world around him. According to rap scholar and author Mickey Hess, West's lyrics contemplate "being honest with yourself in a world that is not".[48] On "Touch the Sky", West expresses wonder about his good fortune,[49] while also admitting that his mistakes helped him with songwriting despite trying to put them right.[35] West speaks about women that drain men of the money in their pockets on "Gold Digger", accompanied by Jamie Foxx's ad libbing.[50] However, another story arises within the third verse, which illustrates a formerly destitute black male who abandons a non-gold digger for a white woman.[26] "Drive Slow" acknowledges car culture and features West reflecting on when he was young, poor, and ambitious.[36][42] In West's description, "Crack Music" delves into "how crack was placed in the black community".[11] West delivers poetry on "Roses", which sees him criticizing the quality of American health care.[2][51]
The art direction and music packaging design for Late Registration were both handled by Brooklyn graphic design studio Morning Breath, Inc, while Louis Marino served as creative director. The photography was done by Sarah A. Friedman and Kris Yiengst, the latter of which also did art coordination. Styling and grooming were handled by Charlene Roxborough and Ibn Jasper, respectively, for the company Partos, while Doug Joswick was responsible for package production.[7] Similar to the cover art of The College Dropout, the artwork features West's "Dropout Bear" mascot, showing it at a child's size and stood in the center of two large wooden doors at Princeton University.[53][71] The mascot has goggle eyes, perky ears, and a collegian outfit, wearing a blazer with a school insignia.[72] In the album booklet, Dropout Bear appears in the university, sitting alone in classrooms and reads books before exiting. The booklet includes a banner that reads Tardus Subcriptio, translated as Late Registration.[7][71] West's vision for the style of the pictures was inspired by the works of American satirical painter John Currin, one of his favorite artists.[71]
Writing in Rolling Stone, Sheffield deemed Late Registration "an undeniable triumph" throughout, seeing it as expansive enough to make "the debut sound like a rough draft" and adding that West proves he is a real rapper.[2] The Guardian lead critic Alexis Petridis highlighted West's topicality and subversive studio production on the album; he noticed the indication of "an artist effortlessly outstripping his peers: more ideas, better lyrics, bigger hooks, greater depth".[51] Andy Kellman from AllMusic said the rapper "can be tremendous" as a songwriter and noted his production style had gone from unrefined and erratic-tempo samples to "a more traditionally musical touch" contributed by Brion.[97] Sean Fennessey of Pitchfork felt West provided a worthy successor to The College Dropout with an "expansive, imperfect masterpiece" that draws on his enthusiastic, ambitious, and scattered personality.[43]
Late Registration was a contender for numerous industry awards. In December 2005, prior to the nominations being announced for the 2006 Grammy Awards, West complained that he would have a problem with not winning the Album of the Year award.[129] Late Registration received a nomination for the award at the ceremony, and West recalled himself and Brion saying in the studio, "We're making the Album of the Year!"[130][131] At the 2006 Grammys, the album won the award of Best Rap Album, becoming West's second consecutive album to do so and he delivered an acceptance speech that night.[130][132] "Gold Digger" and "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" were winners of the awards for Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song, respectively, at the same ceremony, while the former was also nominated for Record of the Year.[130] West's nominations for the album were six of the eight awards that he contended for at the 2006 Grammys, tying with Mariah Carey and John Legend for the show's most nominations.[129][131] Despite West having stating he would have a problem with not winning, he was happy with eight nominations.[129] However, Late Registration won the Best Album award at the 2006 MP3.com Awards.[133] 2ff7e9595c
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