Rewind: Kanye West 'Late Registration' (Part 2)

Welcome to the second part of our look at Kanye West's second album 'Late Registration'.

To me, one of the best sample flipped on 'Late Registration' is that of Gil Scott-Heron's forever chilling junkie dirge 'Home is Where the Hatred Is' used for Kanye and Common's 'My Way Home'. West's track leaves much of the sample intact, but the original track is still necessary for complete music collections. Nas makes an appearance on Kanye West's 'We Major' produced by West, Jon Brion, and Warryn Campbell. The song uses samples from Stevie Wonder's 'Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)' from his 1972 album 'Music of My Mind'. Kanye, Cam'ron, and Consequence rhyme over portions of Otis Redding's 'It's Too Late' on the late album track 'Gone'. Finally, the lead single 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone' produced by Kanye, Brion, and Devo Springfield flips Shirley Bassey's theme to 'Diamonds are Forever' from the James Bond film soundtrack of the same name.

'Late Registration' was more successful than its predecessor, 'College Dropout', but both were later eclipsed (in terms of sales) by Kanye West's third album 'Graduation' (which was previously reviewed on this blog).

The Lowdown:
Kanye West 'My Way Home', 'We Major', 'Gone', and 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone'
from 'Late Registration' (2005) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'My Way Home', 'We Major', 'Gone', and 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone'
Gil Scott-Heron 'Home is Where the Hatred Is'
from 'Pieces of a Man' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Stevie Wonder 'Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)'
from 'Music of My Mind' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Otis Redding 'It's Too Late'
from 'The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads' (1965) (MP3/CD)
Shirley Bassey 'Diamonds are Forever'
from 'Diamonds are Forever OST' (1972) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 1)
Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 2)

Rewind: Kanye West 'Late Registration' (Part 1)

In 2005, following the success of his debut album 'The College Dropout', Kanye West dropped his follow up album 'Late Registration'. This two part post will cover the sample sources from Kanye's sophomore effort.

The single 'Heard 'Em Say' (with a hook by Maroon 5's Adam Levine for whatever reason - they're famous?) produced by West and Jon Brion contains a sample of Natalie Cole's 'Someone That I Used to Love'. Just Blaze produced the much higher charting single 'Touch the Sky' with Lupe Fiasco, which utilizes as excellent (and very much slowed down) sample of Curtis Mayfield's 'Move On Up' from his essential 1970 album 'Curtis'. The album's biggest hit and an inescapable single for 2005 and 2006 is Kanye's 'Gold Digger' with Jamie Foxx. The song famously samples Ray Charles' 50s hit 'I Got a Woman' from his 'Rock and Roll Forever' LP. The slow motion track 'Drive Slow' with Paul Wall and GLC finds Kanye West using the track 'Wildflower' from Hank Crawford's album of the same title.

Check back for the second part of our look at 'Late Registration'.

The Lowdown:
Kanye West 'Heard 'Em Say', 'Touch the Sky', 'Gold Digger', and 'Drive Slow'
from 'Late Registration' (2005) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Heard 'Em Say', 'Touch the Sky', 'Gold Digger', and 'Drive Slow'
Natalie Cole 'Someone that I Used to Love'
from 'I've Got Love on My Mind' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Move on Up'
from 'Curtis' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Ray Charles and His Band 'I Got a Woman'
from 'Rock and Roll Forever' (1956) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Hank Crawford 'Wildflower'
from 'Wildflower' (1973) (MP3/Import CD)

Related Posts:
Rewind: Kanye West 'College Dropout' (Part 1)
Rewind: Kanye West 'College Dropout' (Part 2)

Rewind: Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 2)

Welcome to part 2 of this blogs look at Kanye West's 'Graduation' album.

'Graduation''s lead single, just missing the Billboard top 40, is the Kanye and DJ Toomp produced 'Can't Tell Me Nothing'. Call it inspiration, recycling, or just getting bonus production credits; but a previous production by Toomp, Young Jeezy and T.I.'s 'I Got Money', is a sample source on 'Nothing'. Clever. The mighty Mos Def appears with Kanye on one of the album's stranger cuts, the West and Jon Brion produced 'Drunk and Hot Girls' that plunders Can's 70s Krautrock freak out 'Sing Swan Song' from Ege Bamyasi. 'Ege Bamyasi' is notable for it's breakbeat heavy 'Vitamin C', so it's odd (and refreshing) to hear another track being sampled. Even more clever.



One of the album's better singles (you can't hate on the remix verse by R. Kelly - brilliant) is the Kanye / Eric Hudson track 'Flashing Lights' which sneaks in a sample of 'Little Child Runnin' Wild' from Curtis Mayfield's 'Superfly' (covered in depth in a previous post on this blog). 'The Glory', produced by West, Plain Pat, and Gee Robertson incorporates Laura Nyro's late 60s folk joint 'Save the Country' into the mix.

Though 'Graduation' met uneven reviews upon its release, especially in comparison to its predecessors, it still pushes hip-hop and sampling further when the art is seemingly devoid in mainstream hip-hop. Who else at this level of fame is still digging deep for weird beats to put on their album?

The Lowdown:
Kanye West 'Can't Tell Me Nothing', 'Drunk and Hot Girls', 'Flashing Lights', and 'The Glory'
from 'Graduation' (2007) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Can't Tell Me Nothing', 'Drunk and Hot Girls', 'Flashing Lights', and 'The Glory'
Young Jeezy and T.I. 'I Got Money'
from 'The Inspiration' (2006) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'I Got Money'
Can 'Sing Swan Song'
from 'Ege Bamyasi' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Little Child Runnin' Wild'
from 'Superfly' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Laura Nyro 'Save the Country'
from 'New York Tendaberry' (1968) (MP3/Import CD)

BONUS CUTS:
As Mentioned above, Can's 'Ege Bamyasi' is known for it's beats-for-days breakbeat track 'Vitamin C', but also features some sleeper cuts like the song 'Spoon'. 'Ege Bamyasi' is an adventurous listen, but rewarding for beat heads.