West began working on Graduation immediately after releasing his second studio album Late Registration.[20] By late September 2005, West had already completed three songs for the album, which he intended to contain a total of twelve tracks.[20] Around the time of the recording of the third studio album, West would often listen to songs written by folk and country singer-songwriters Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash in hopes of developing methods to augment his word play and storytelling abilities. The former musician had been recommended to West by multiple of his friends, including English disc jockey Samantha Ronson, all of whom claimed his music and the way he dealt with the press reminded them of Dylan. West also listened to his most favorite alternative rock bands, including The Killers, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, and Keane, in order to gain new ideas on how to make his hip-hop production style more stadium-friendly.[21] Additionally, West would often test his new songs on his iPod, in his office, in dance clubs and just about anywhere people might listen to his music. He would then make adjustments to the tracks based on feedback he received, repeating the process as many times as necessary.[17]
Kanye West Late Registration 2005 Zip Zip
While hosting a listening session for his second studio album Late Registration on August 3, 2005, at Sony Music Studios, West revealed that he wanted to schedule the release of Graduation sometime around October 2006.[104] Several months later, on March 28, 2007, West appeared on the Los Angeles radio station Power 106. He said that he was working on his third album and Common's seventh album Finding Forever and rapped a few lyrics from one of his songs in a cappella.[105] On May 11, it was announced that the release date for Graduation was September 18.[48] West debuted the album's lead single "Can't Tell Me Nothing" on the New York radio station Hot 97 on May 15.[106] He then released a free mixtape under the same name onto the Internet on May 27.[107] The mixtape features preview clips of songs that would appear on Graduation and showcases various artists signed onto West's record label GOOD Music as well as collaborations with other unaffiliated musicians.[108] It also contains "Us Placers", the debut song of Child Rebel Soldier, a supergroup West formed with Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell.[107] 2ff7e9595c
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