Anyone who’s been reading my articles for a while, probably knows I am a fan of Kanye West. I love his music and am always intrigued by his carefree and unfiltered (that some would call abrasive) attitude.
So let’s go back to August 30, 2005 when his sophomore album “Late Registration” was released. It continues the college theme found in his debut “The College Dropout” and contains similar production elements and lyrical themes to the album.
However, this sequel improves on the previous album in every way. The soul samples are more obscure, the production is tighter and includes more layered and complex instrumentation, featuring orchestral arrangement at times. The lyrics are stronger on this one as well.
Kanye talks about a variety of topics, including poverty, drug trafficking, racism, healthcare, rap culture and the blood diamond trade.
Also different was West’s choice of producer for the record. He hired acclaimed film score writer Jon Brion after hearing his work on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Despite Brion having no experience working in hip-hop, he and West clicked instantly.
Brion describes the sound of the album and responds to people wondering if his presence made the album less hip hop:
“There are colors and ideas that make [the album] different from average hip-hop, but Kanye is already different from the average hip-hop guy,” Brion said. “He’s got this sense of pop record-making which is really solid, and he likes tracks with a lot of things going on in them – which is not necessarily common for hip-hop. He was already barking up that tree. This is definitely not just a hip-hop album. But it is also by no means overtly arty, or non-hip-hop. I don’t think it’s a weird record by any means.”
West’s most famous production element was taking samples of older soul music and speeding them up and using it as beats, sometimes called “chipmunking.” After his first album released, the technique was copied and used by several other musicians. This made West decide to distance himself from the practice.
To accomplish this, he implemented an idea he had for “The College Dropout” that he couldn’t afford: a live orchestra accompaniment. With the success of “Dropout” he hired a 20 person group that played instruments hand selected by West.
“Late Registration” includes a very diverse group of collaborators. Opening track “Heard ‘Em Say” features Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine singing the hook. Levine and West bonded on a flight from the MTV Europe Music Awards.
After seeing him perform in “Ray” West had Jamie Foxx sing the hook of “Gold Digger” as an interpolation of a Ray Charles’ song “I Got a Woman.”
The album also includes contributions from Consequence, Brandy, Paul Wall, Common and Lupe Fiasco.
West also featured Jay Z and Nas on the album, contributing guest verses on “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” and “We Major,” respectively. He didn’t tell either man the other was collaborating with him, as Jay and Nas were embroiled in a feud at the time.
West later revealed he did this in an effort to end the beef between the two, and they ultimately did later in 2005.
Lyrically the album goes deeper than “College Dropout.” West desired for the lyrics to be relatable to everyone, while still staying true to himself and his struggles. He says in Time magazine:
“[I wanted to have] raps that were just as ill as Jadakiss and just as understandable as Will Smith.”
This is seen in tracks such as “Roses,” where West raps about his family and him visiting his ill grandmother in the hospital, and the effect being there has on her. Another example is “Hey Mama,” West’s ode to his mom Donda, who supported him throughout his life.
Then songs like “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” talk about darker topics, like the conflict diamonds mined during war and used to fund armies.
“Late Registration” was a critical and commercial success. It received an 85 out of 100 on review aggregator site Metacritic, and took home several honors from various award shows such as the 2006 Grammy Awards and the NAACP Image Awards.
It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 860,000 copies in the U.S. during its first week of release, which was double the first week sales of “The College Dropout.” In total, it sold 3.1 million copies in the U.S. as of 2013.
“Late Registration” is one of my favorite Kanye West albums, and probably features the best collection of singles out of them all. It showed that he was more than a one trick pony, with his use of a live orchestra adding a unique sound to the album. This was no sophomore slump, and it stands out as one of West’s most consistent projects.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor