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Concept
Graduation (album)
Summary
Graduation is the third studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West, released on September 11, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions took place between 2005 and 2007 at several studios in New York and Los Angeles. It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers, including DJ Toomp. The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Mos Def, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.
Inspired by stadium tours, house-music and indie rock, Graduation marked a departure from the ornate, soul-based sound of West's previous releases as he musically progressed to more anthemic compositions. West incorporated layered synthesizers and dabbled with electronics while sampling from various music genres and altering his approach to rapping. He conveys an ambivalent outlook on his newfound fame and media scrutiny alongside providing inspirational messages of triumph directed at listeners. The album prematurely concludes the education theme of West's first two studio albums, The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005), as his aborted "Good Ass Job" album would have concluded the concept album's themes as a tetralogy, rather than a trilogy.
Graduation debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling over 957,000 copies in the first week of sales. It has since sold over 5 million copies in the United States and been certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Five accompanying singles were released, including the international hits "Stronger", "Good Life" and "Homecoming", with the former of the three topping the US Billboard Hot 100. The album received widely positive reviews from music critics, with several of them praising the production, and earned West his third Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, as well as his third nomination for Album of the Year.
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