Late Registration

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Professional reviews
Late Registration

Studio album by Kanye West
Released	August 30, 2005 (U.S.)
Recorded	2004-2005
Genre	Hip-Hop Rap
Length	70:25
Label	Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam
Producer(s)	Kanye West Jon Brion Devo Springsteen Just Blaze Warryn Campbell
All Music Guide Image:4 stars.svg link Blender Image:4 stars.svg link Pitchfork Media (9.5/10) link PopMatters [7/10] link Q Image:4 stars.svg Robert Christgau (Favorable) link Rolling Stone Image:5 stars.svg link Slant Magazine Image:3.5 stars.svg link Stylus Magazine (C+) link XXL Magazine Image:Xxl rating xxl.gif
Kanye West chronology
Freshmen Adjustment (2004)	Late Registration (2005)	Freshmen Adjustment 2 (2005)

Late Registration is the critically acclaimed, second major label album release from Roc-A-Fella hip hop artist and producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, and debuted at #1, selling over 904,000 copies in its first week. Film composer Jon Brion was the co-executive producer of the album, and created the string arrangements found in several songs such as "Bring Me Down".

The first single released from the album was "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", which contains a sample from the James Bond theme "Diamonds Are Forever" performed by Shirley Bassey. The song was originally a reference to his record label Roc-A-Fella, which is known for its "diamond" hand gesture. The song's title was subsequently changed from its original one ("Diamonds Are Forever") due to confusion with another song featured on Jay Z's The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse titled "Diamond Is Forever". The title of the single as well as a subsequent remix (with Jay-Z) directly address the issue of conflict diamonds, which are a major factor in Sierra Leone's civil war. The second single released from Late Registration was "Gold Digger", which contains a vocal sample from Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" sung by Jamie Foxx, who starred as Charles in the biopic Ray. It became his second single to top the Billboard Hot 100. The third single released was "Heard 'Em Say" featuring Adam Levine from Maroon 5, and the fourth was the Just Blaze helmed "Touch the Sky". The track "Hey Mama" was intended to be released as a single, but never actually was. A video was later made for the song "Drive Slow", and it featured Atlanta based rapper T.I.. This version of the song was included on the bonus DVD for T.I.'s platinum-selling album King. The original version of Drive Slow also appears on Paul Wall's CD, The People's Champ.

The title of "Late Registration" is explained by Kanye in the song "We Major" [1]:

"So they ask me - why you call it "Late Registration" 'Ye? Cause we takin these muh'fuckers back to school'"

It was the only album from 2005 to receive a 5-star review from Rolling Stone, and it was ranked #1 on their end-of year list of the year's 50 Best Albums. [2]

The album was nominated for Best Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 2006 and received the award for Best Rap Album.

1 Track listing
2 Samples
3 Charts
4 Chart trajectory
5 External links

[edit] Track listing

All tracks produced by Kanye West except "Touch the Sky".

"Wake Up Mr. West" (Masser/Goffin) – 0:41
"Heard 'Em Say" (featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5) (West/Levine/Masser/Goffin) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 3:23
"Touch the Sky" (featuring Lupe Fiasco) (West/Smith/Jaco/Mayfield) (Produced by Just Blaze) – 3:57
"Gold Digger" (featuring Jamie Foxx) (West/Charles/Richard) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 3:28
"Skit #1" – 0:33
"Drive Slow" (featuring Paul Wall and GLC) (West/Slayton/Harris) – 4:32
"My Way Home" (featuring Common) (West/Lynn/Scott-Heron) – 1:43
"Crack Music" (featuring The Game) (West/Meeks/Taylor) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 4:41
"Roses" (West/Withers) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 4:05
"Bring Me Down" (featuring Brandy) (West/Williams) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 3:19
"Addiction" (West/Rodgers/Hart) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 4:27
"Skit #2" – 0:31
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)" (featuring Jay-Z) (West/Carter/Harris/Barry/Black) (Co-produced by Devo Springsteen and Jon Brion) – 3:53
"We Major" (featuring Nas and Really Doe) (West/Trotter/Jones/Williams/Campbell/Simmons/Smith/Reid) (Co-produced by Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell and Jon Brion) – 7:28
"Skit #3" – 0:24
"Hey Mama" (West/Leace) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 5:05
"Celebration" (West) (Co-produced by Jon Brion) – 3:18
"Skit #4" – 1:18
"Gone" (featuring Cam'ron and Consequence) (West/Mills/Giles/Willis) – 6:02
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (bonus track) (West/Harris/Barry/Black) (Co-produced by Devo Springsteen and Jon Brion) – 3:58
"Late" (hidden track) – 3:50

Bonus tracks not included on the track listing

"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (Original Version) 3:58
"We Can Make It Better Ft. Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Common, & Rhymefest" (Exclusive to Japan, UK, & AU version only) 3:52
"Back to Basics Ft. Common" (Exclusive to Japan & Australian version only) 1:39
"Late" 3:50

[edit] Samples

The following songs were credited for being sampled on Late Registration:

Natalie Cole's "Someone That I Used To Love" on "Wake Up Mr. West" and "Heard 'Em Say"
Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" on "Touch The Sky"
Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" on "Gold Digger"
Hank Crawford's "Wildflower" on "Drive Slow."
Gil Scott-Heron's "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" on "My Way Home"
New York Community Choir's "Since You Came Into My Life" on "Crack Music"
Bill Withers' "Rosie" on "Roses"
Etta James' "My Funny Valentine" on "Addiction"
Shirley Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever" on "Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix)" and "Diamonds From Sierra Leone"
Orange Krush's "Action" on "We Major"
Donal Leace's "Today Won't Come Again" on "Hey Mama"
KayGee's "Heavenly Dream" on "Celebration"
Otis Redding's "It's Too Late" on "Gone"
The Whatnauts' "I'll Erase Away Your Pain" on Late (Hidden Track)

[edit] Charts

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2005	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone"	The Billboard Hot 100	43
2005	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone"	UK Singles Chart	8
2005	"Gold Digger" (featuring Jamie Foxx)	The Billboard Hot 100	1
2005	"Gold Digger" (featuring Jamie Foxx)	UK Singles Chart	2
2005	"Heard 'Em Say" (featuring Adam Levine)	The Billboard Hot 100	26
2005	"Heard 'Em Say" (featuring Adam Levine)	UK Singles Chart	22
2006	"Touch The Sky" (featuring Lupe Fiasco)	The Billboard Hot 100	42

[edit] Chart trajectory

Billboard 200 Chart trajectory — Late Registration
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11
Chart position/copies sold	1 (906,000)	1 (283,000)	2 (165,000)	3 (126,000)	5 (110,000)	6 (110,000)	5 (83,000)	10 (78,000)	8 (56,000)	11	13

[edit] External links

KanyeWest.Com - Official Site

Albums and EPs
Kanye West
The College Dropout \| Late Registration \| Graduation\| Freshmen Adjustment \| Freshmen Adjustment 2 \| Late Orchestration
Singles
Slow Jamz \| Through the Wire \| All Falls Down \| Jesus Walks Talk About Our Love \| Diamonds from Sierra Leone \| Gold Digger \| Heard 'Em Say \| Touch the Sky
Related articles
Production Credits