Press release
Kanye West's third album, Graduation was released on September 11, 2007 from Hip-Hop Since 1978 / Roc-A-Fella Records. One of the most anticipated albums of the year, Graduation features the smash singles "Stronger" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing," accompanied by the groundbreaking videos co-directed by West and acclaimed director Hype Williams.
Check out Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the latest videos from Kanye West, the October Artist of the Month.
As "Can't Tell Me Nothing"—the DJ Toomp banger featuring a newly remixed verse from Young Jeezy and an unlikely alternate video from comedian Zach Galifianakis—heats up in the streets, the clubs, and urban radio stations across the country, its synth-heavy, Daft Punk-sampling counterpart "Stronger," is blazing trails at Rhythmic Top 40 and pop radio.
With Graduation, West continues to break rules and obliterate boundaries, pushing the music and the genre forward as only he can. Heavy synth patches surface throughout, as the influence of global pop culture and a retro-future aesthetic seeps into Kanye's signature, soulful, sample-laden sound. Lyrically, West vacillates between the contemplative and the irreverent. On "Good Life," Graduation's third single, Kanye and T-Pain encourage us to "throw ya hands up in the sky" over a lazy, irresistible, PYT-sampled beat. On "Homecoming," a sparse, piano-and-drum driven track co-written by and featuring Coldplay's Chris Martin, Kanye continues to pay homage to his native Chicago as Martin asks, "Do you think about me now and then? Well, I'm comin' home again … maybe we can start again."
Kanye West's last album, 2005's Late Registration, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts with over 860,000 copies sold in its week of release, was nominated for the Grammy for Album of The Year, and won the Grammy for Rap Album of The Year.
Stay tuned for more on Kanye West, including developing information on Graduation, live performances, television appearances, and more.
