From the baroque grandeur of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to the punk fragments of Yeezus, from the social commentary of The College Dropout to the confessional summits of 808s & Heartbreak, West has always been at the leading edge, tirelessly expanding his scope and sound-and shifting everyone else’s playing field in the process. He launched his MC career with 2004’s The College Dropout and hasn’t looked back, releasing a string of groundbreaking-and often self-contradicting-albums, each of them a pacesetter for the culture around it. His chopped-and-pitched, sample-heavy “chipmunk soul” sound would define rap for years after. After contributing production to a series of increasingly high-profile projects (including work with Foxy Brown and the Mase-fronted Harlem World), West broke through in 2001 with his work on JAY-Z’s The Blueprint, producing and cowriting some of the album’s biggest songs (“Izzo ”, “Takeover”). Raised in Chicago by his mother, an English professor, West (born in 1977) initially studied to be a painter while making beats on the side-a multidisciplinary drive that came to mark his career. On July 31st, 2007, he released the album’s second single and biggest hit, “Stronger.Few artists have had as deep an impact on pop culture as Kanye West. On May 15th, 2007, Kanye released the album’s lead single “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” The album is credited with inspiring U2 as well as pushing Daft Punk into the mainstream. Some critics argue this is the day gangsta rap was finally defeated. The album famously faced off against 50 Cent’s Curtis in a sales war which Kanye won with 957,000 copies sold in the first week. Lyrically, Kanye analyzes himself and talks about his life after becoming famous and how he is criticized from the media. This album, on the other hand, included a much more electronic sound, featuring the use of layering synthesizers. The album was inspired by stadium tours, indie rock and house-music and was a huge departure from the sound Ye had used on his first two studio albums The College Dropout and Late Registration which featured samples and inspirations from soul and orchestral music. Graduation is the third studio album from Chicago rapper Kanye West.
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