Graduation

Product Information

The album prematurely concludes the education theme of West's first two studio albums, The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005), as his aborted "Good Ass Job" album would have concluded the concept album's themes as a tetralogy, rather than a trilogy. As he races down sidewalks, populated by multi-eyed, living mushrooms, Dropout is pursued by a monstrous rain cloud that attempts to swallow him whole.

He continued writing, "Gangsta rap, street music, and the like have yet to recover from that showdown, as only two albums of the sort have gone platinum in the 2010s— Kevin Gates' Islah and Meek Mill's Dreams Worth More Than Money—If anything, street music has also made a shift since Kanye began to peal back more layers of himself on Graduation; 50's whole get up was about being an indestructible, emotionless robot. Graduation was later included on Rolling Stone 's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, landing at 204 on the 2020 update. It was named as one of the best albums of 2007 by multiple publications, including Rolling Stone and USA Today.

I Wonder" carries an introspective tone, retaining a chorus about finding one's dreams, while West uses the verses to describe the struggle a person experiences in determining the meaning behind their life and achieving those dreams.

The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. When writing the song, West thought of a young girl in high school dealing with people coming down on her. Using an extended metaphor that personifies the city as a childhood sweetheart named 'Windy' (a reference to Chicago's nickname of the ' Windy City'), West rhymes about his love for Chicago and his guilt over leaving "her" to pursue his musical dream. Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot commented on the incorporation of synthesizer sounds, saying he viewed Graduation as "an album steeped in keyboard tones, in all their richness and variety". West mixed the track seventy-five times, as he could not seem to get the kick drum to sound precisely the way that he wanted it to, amongst other issues.

In the United Kingdom, Graduation debuted at number-one on the UK Albums Chart dated September 22, 2007. By contrast, AllMusic's Andy Kellman wrote, "Though the synthesizer use marks a clear, conscious diversion from Kanye's past productions, highlights . While he rarely listened to house at home, he still felt it was an important part of his culture and background. This was way before EDM became mainstream, and marked the end of the jersey-wearing era in hip-hop". The whole album is an enjoyable slice of 80s nostalgia, especially on tape, but this retro hip hop song stands out, even if the line about a female President in 2016 has aged like a yogurt in the sun.

There, West explained his influences and aspirations for the album and played songs over video clips taken from a variety of futuristic sci-fi films, including Tron, Akira, 2046, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. West marries a down-tempo beat to gentle piano chords which are accentuated by soulful cooing sampled from "If We Can't Be Lovers" by Prince Phillip Mitchell. The composition then enters an instrumental passage and finishes off with a sweeping string arrangement. Change country or region: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Ireland Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Philippines Poland Portugal Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Vietnam Virgin Islands (U. The majority of song is composed of repetitive recitations of its choruses and bridges by Mos Def and Al Be Back.

It has since sold over 7 million copies in the United States and been certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was considered the favorite to win Album of the Year, [194] [195] [196] [197] [198] and its failure to win was considered by many publications to be a snub. But most retailers and radio programmers interviewed picked West, whose single, "Stronger", was Number Six on Billboard's Hot 100 -while none of 50's four singles climbed higher than the thirty-second spot. For items that are dispatched using our standard service, we ask that you wait 14 days from the date of dispatch before reporting any items as undelivered. Graduation opens on a sparse note with " Good Morning", beginning with an echoed, metronomic cowbell beat and a thumping bassline melded with a simple, arpeggiating synthesizer drone.

This album, on the other hand, included a much more electronic sound, featuring the use of layering synthesizers.The soul-fired track "I Wonder" starts off with its piano-based refrain, which contains samples of "My Song" by Labi Siffre. However, 50 Cent later retracted his statement within an MTV interview due to his contract agreements with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.