Graduation (album)
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Graduation will be the third major label album release from Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam hip hop artist-producer Kanye West. There is currently no official release date, but in an interview in January 2007, West said that the album will be released later than originally expected, in late 2007[1].
The first single will be "Stronger".
It is thought that the album will include the song "Bittersweet" - West's collaboration with John Mayer. The song was originally set to be on his second album Late Registration, but did not make the final tracklisting. Kanye said that this was because he felt that the song didn't "fit in" with the rest of the album.
On August 5 at San Diego's Street Scene and on August 20 at Indiana's State Fair, Kanye performed a cappella two verses which he said are from songs on the album [2].West also performed a couple of verses from an unnamed song from the album during his September 3, 2006 performance at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle. In introducing the verses, West said that he was working on the album, but that it would not be out anytime soon.
On January 14, 2007 West announced of his upcoming album:
"I can say, idea-wise, I got 10 ideas. I go back and work on ideas and tweak them. I can't say I'm halfway done. There's a lot of people I want to work with, a lot of rappers. But I don't want to give away what I'mma do. I look at music as a gift. So I'mma just keep everything under wraps until it's time. You remember, you didn't find out about the Nas joint (We Major) until real late? I waited till the last listening session a couple of weeks before the album came out. I played it in a room with 300 people and Nas' voice hit the track and it was like, 'Ah, man.' Another surprise might be there might not be anybody on it. There are a few rappers I really love and I would love to work with, but I'mma figure out what I'mma do for my album." [3]
On Tuesday, February 20, iTunes Music Store released a single for the Nike Air Force 25th Anniversary called "Better Than I've Ever Been" with Kanye serving as main artist, leading to speculation that the song was either a single or a track from Graduation. Nike later explained this song was exclusive for their anniversary, and will not be included on an album.
Recently some people caught Dr. Dre, they asked about his album and then told them the following "Right now I've been dabbling around with different artist like me and Eminem have been talking about a song with T.I., and I have just finished some tracks for Method Man's new album also Kanye West, and the new D12 album."
Recently, West has stated on his Malaysia tour that he is finishing up Graduation, and it will be released in September. “I just want people to know that it’s going to be crazy. I don’t want people to read the entire plot of the movie and then go see it and go ‘oh, he’s about to do this,’ you know?" He then added, "I’m all about surprises; I want people to feel it and experience it without having any preconceived notion. That’s just not my style..." "I’m finishing up the new album right now." [1][2]
Tentative Tracks
- "The Glory" [4] (featuring Marcus D!on)
- "Bittersweet" (featuring John Mayer & Jessica Simpson) (produced by Kanye West)
- "Homecoming" (featuring Chris Martin on vocals and as Co-Producer)
- "Stronger" [3] [4] (Samples from Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger)
External links
- KanyeWest.com - Official Site
- Kanye Talk - Kanye West Site
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- ^ Interview with West outlining his intention to release the album in 2007.
- ^ West performs two songs he advises as being from his forthcoming album as confirmed by AOL Music News Blog.
- ^ news article
- ^ Source for song title "The Glory".