Graduation

This article is about a music album by Kanye West. For other meanings of the term, see graduation .

Graduation
Studio album by Kanye West
Publication (s)	September 11, 2007
Label (s)	Def Jam ( Roc-A-Fella Records )
Genre (s)	Electro hop , alternative hip hop
Title (number)	15th
running time	51:17
production	Kanye West, Brian Miller, Eric Hudson, Albert Daniels, Jason T Miller, Gee Robertson, Jon Brion , Mike Dean, Nottz , Patrick Reynolds, Timbaland , DJ Toomp, Warryn Campbell
chronology Late Registration (2005) Graduation 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

Graduation is the third studio album by American rapper Kanye West . It was released on September 11, 2007. The title continues the college- related title selection of the previous works The College Dropout and Late Registration . Graduation was awarded 2 × platinum . At the Grammy Awards , the album won in three categories, including Best Rap Album . Along with Eminem, West is the only rapper to win three times in this category. The cover and the music video for "Good Morning" were designed by the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami .

background

Apron

In June 2007, Kanye West moved the album's release from August 19th to September 11th, making it the same day as 50 Cents Curtis . The rivalry thus fueled made the rappers make increasingly daring statements. So 50 Cent finally announced that he wanted to end his career if Curtis did not sell better as a graduation in the first week . Critics pointed out that the entire rivalry was just a PR gag, which was later confirmed by both artists. Nevertheless, the marketing strategy worked and both albums sold very well. West was able to win the competition worldwide, with this being particularly due to the success in the strongest market, the USA . In contrast, 50 Cent was able to prevail in Europe. In retrospect, both rappers admitted that the rivalry was largely a marketing strategy.

Content and style

West wanted to create an album that would perform well in large stadiums and concert halls. His job is to be on stage 250 days a year. He wanted to make this job easier for himself. In terms of content, the album should be a time recording of 2007. If someone wants to travel back in time to 2007, they should do graduation. This can be seen in various references to actual events such as the Kate Moss drug scandal in Stronger or the Barry Bonds doping affair in the title of the same name.

Track list

1. good Morning
2. champion
3. Stronger * (feat Daft Punk )
4. I wonder
5. Good Life (feat. T-Pain ) *
6. Can't Tell Me Nothing *
7. Barry Bonds (feat. Lil Wayne )
8. Drunk and Hot Girls (feat. Mos Def )
9. Flashing Lights (feat. Dwele ) *
10. Everything I Am
11. The Glory
12. Homecoming (feat. Chris Martin ) *
13. Big Brother (feat. Al Be Back & Mos Def)

* Singles

The following bonus tracks were released:

• Good Night ( iTunes / Australia / Japan / UK )
• Bittersweet Poetry (Australian / iTunes / Japan pre-order bonus track)
• Can't Tell me Nothing (Remix) (feat. Young Jezzy)

Samples and Features

Good Morning uses samples from Someone Saved My Life Tonight by Elton John and an a cappella version of Jay-Z's The Ruler's Back . In Champion Parts come from Steely Dan Kid Charlemagne used for Stronger is Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk , for I Wonder Labi Siffres My Song , at Goodlife parts of Michael Jackson's P.YT (Pretty Young Thing) and sampled at Can't Tell Me Nothing Young Jeezys I Got Money . T-Pain , Lil Wayne, Mos Def , Dwele , Chris Martin and Al Be Back have features on the album.

reception

success

Graduation sold 957,000 copies in the US in the first week. It seemed like this was the highest result in 2007 until Lil Wayne's album Tha Carter III stormed the charts and narrowly trumped Graduation . Graduation sold 1,153,000 times worldwide in the first week.

On January 15, 2008, the album was awarded double platinum by the RIAA .

In Germany, Graduation rose to number 10 on the album charts in the 39th calendar week of 2007. Overall, the sound carrier was able to stay in the list of the 100 best-selling albums for five weeks.

Reviews

Graduation was largely rated positively by the critics. The Rolling Stone magazine wrote: "... This is an album that you like and later first loves." Overall, West's talent as a songwriter and producer was praised more than his skills as an interpreter .

Chart placements

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	10 (5 weeks)	5
Austria (Ö3)	26th (4 weeks)	4th
Switzerland (IFPI)	3 (9 weeks)	9
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (40 weeks)	40
United States (Billboard)	1 (151 weeks)	151

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
2007	Can't Tell Me Nothing Graduation	-	-	-	UK- silver UK	US41 (19 weeks) US	R&B20 (25 weeks) R&B	First published: May 15, 2007 Sales: 2,235,000
	Stronger graduation	DE17 (18 weeks) DE	AT22 (22 weeks) AT	CH18 (31 weeks) CH	UK1 (39 weeks) UK	US1 (27 weeks) US	R&B30 (20 weeks) R&B	First published: July 31, 2007 Sales: + 6,887,500
	Good Life Graduation	DE78 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK23 (21 weeks) UK	US7 (21 weeks) US	R&B3 (32 weeks) R&B	First release: October 2nd, 2007 feat. T-Pain ; Sales: + 2,200,000
	Flashing Lights Graduation	-	-	-	UK29 (15 weeks) UK	US29 (15 weeks) US	R&B12 (27 weeks) R&B	First release: November 12, 2007 feat. Dwele ; Sales: + 1,200,000
2008	Homecoming graduation	DE17 (20 weeks) DE	AT27 (12 weeks) AT	CH38 (13 weeks) CH	UK9 (22 weeks) UK	US69 (7 weeks) US	R&B53 (7 weeks) R&B	First published: February 18th, 2008 feat. Chris Martin ; Sales: +1,592,500

Individual evidence

1. ^ Searchable Database . RIAA. Retrieved May 14, 2008
2. ↑ Jokesta (July 19 2007). Kanye Competes with 50, Album Pushed st 9 ( Memento of the original from August 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 50 Cent: Outsell Kanye or Stop Trying ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Def sounds. Accessed August 11 2007.  
3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ European Top 100 Albums - Curtis ( Memento October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). Billboard . Accessed September 30 2007.
5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Geoff Mayfield (September 18, 2007). Kanye crushes 50 cents in Huge Album Sales Week . Billboard . Accessed September 19 2007.
7. ↑ Nathan Brackett (September 4, 2007). Kanye West - Graduation Review . Rolling Stone . Accessed September 6 2007.
8. ^ Kanye West: Graduation (2007): Reviews . Metacritic. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US