Stronger (Kanye West song)

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Stronger
Kanye West
publication July 31, 2007
length 5:11 (album version)
4:04 (radio edit)
Genre (s) Hip-hop , rap
Author (s) Kanye West ,
Thomas Bangalter ,
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo ,
Edwin Birdsong
Producer (s) Kanye West, Mike Dean
Label Roc-A-Fella Records & Def Jam Recordings
Award (s) Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance ( 2008 )
album Graduation

Stronger is a song by the American rapper Kanye West . The piece was released on July 31, 2007 as the second single from his third studio album, Graduation . It reached high chart positions in numerous countries, received a Grammy for " best rap solo performance " and was named the best song of 2007 by Rolling Stone and Spin magazines .

Emergence

The song was produced by Kanye West in collaboration with Mike Dean. A snippet of the piece was published on May 27, 2007 as part of the mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing .

Vocals from the French House band Daft Punk were used as the basis of the production . This is the 2001 project Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger , written by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo . Kanye West's management made a request to Daft Punk's Pedro Winter manager . The sampling of the song was finally approved. In a later interview, the band members rated the creation process as positive. The band members liked the sampled version. They said: "Hip-Hop has always been exciting and interesting for us". In another interview with Billboard, they said that “our song had a good sound, but when [the radio DJ] put on Kanye's record, the sound was pretty fat. It sounds really awesome. ”Later, Kanye West made direct contact with the two band members on the sidelines of the Lollapalooza Festival.

The original Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk is based on a revised instrumental by Cola Bottle Baby . It was written by Edwin Birdsong in 1979.

The song was recorded at Sony Music Studios ( New York City ), Ape Sounds ( Tokyo ) and Record Plant ( Los Angeles ). West worked with 8 sound engineers and 11 sound mixers during production . This resulted in a total of 50 versions of the record. The mastering was done by Manny Marroquin.

Cover

The cover of the single was posted on the website on June 28, 2007. It was designed by Japanese visual artist Takashi Murakami , who also worked on the cover of the Graduation album .

There is a cartoon on the cover . It depicts the Dropout Bear , which is a trademark of West. He's wearing sunglasses similar to the ones West wore in the music video. Robot helmets based on the musicians Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo from Daft Punk are also shown.

Music video

The music video was made under the direction of filmmaker Hype Williams . Filming locations included Tokyo and New York City . Kanye West wears white sunglasses. The two robots are played by Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich, who already played the role of band members in the film Daft Punk's Electroma . R&B singer Casandra Ventura took on a leading role.

Chart placement

Stronger first reached number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, 2007 . The song stayed in the charts for several weeks and finally reached first place on the singles chart on September 29, 2007, where it could last a week. After Slow Jamz and Gold Digger , it was the third single from Kanye West to make it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chart placements
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 17th (18 weeks) 18th
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 22nd (22 weeks) 22nd
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 18th (31 weeks) 31
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (39 weeks) 39
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 1 (27 weeks) 27

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jonathan Cohen: Exclusive: Live Album To Chronicle Daft Punk Tour. Billboard , August 14, 2017, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Mark Pytlik: Interview with Daft Punk. Pitchfork Media , October 2, 2007, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Graduation (media notes). Roc-A-Fella Records , 2007.
  4. ^ Luke Bainbridge: It's Kanye's World , The Guardian . August 11, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2017. 
  5. ↑ Paul Tingen: Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Manny Marroquin . Sound on sound. December 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  6. ^ Bernard Lumpkin: Kanye West Album - Cover Artist Takashi Murakami Talks About Working With 'Ye, At His NYC Exhibit Opening. MTV , April 4, 2008, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Stronger (Official Video). VEVO , accessed on March 17, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Shaheem Reid: Kanye Added Perfectionist Touch - And Venetian-Blind Glasses - To 'Stronger' Video: VMA Lens Recap. MTV , September 5, 2007, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  9. ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH , US & UK