Recording
West began working on Graduation immediately after the release of his second studio album Late Registration. By late September 2005, he had already completed three songs for the album, which he intended to contain a total of twelve tracks. Around the time of the recording of the studio album, West listened to songs by folk singer-songwriters Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash in hopes of developing methods to augment his wordplay and storytelling ability. The former had been recommended to him by multiple friends, including English disc jockey Samantha Ronson, who all claimed that the way West dealt with the press reminded them of Dylan. West also listened to his favorite alternative rock bands, including The Killers, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, and Keane for ideas on making his music more stadium-friendly. In comparison to previous albums, Graduation includes fewer guest appearances. T-Pain, Detroit R&B singer Dwele, and New York rapper Mos Def are featured within individual tracks to sing hooks and choruses. Multiple songs on the album contain background vocals provided by Connie Mitchell of the Australian electronic group Sneaky Sound System. The collaboration came about when West met Mitchell's bandmates Angus McDonald and Daimon Downey at a diner in Sydney, Australia. Seeking musical inspiration, West asked McDonald for ideas, who suggested that he be introduced to Mitchell. Mitchell later admitted that while she previously didn't know who West was and never really cared for hip-hop, the collaboration had changed her views.
In January 2007 interview with Billboard, West revealed that he had collaborated with Coldplay lead vocalist Chris Martin on "Homecoming", and that the song might possibly be released as lead single of Graduation. The collaboration came about the year before when the two met during an impromptu jam session at Abbey Road Studios. The song itself is a revamping of the song “Home” taken from West’s Freshmen Adjustment mixtape. Though he originally intended Graduation to be completely devoid of guest rap verses, West later invited New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne on the track "Barry Bonds." At the time, the two had been collaborating, with West working on the production of Tha Carter III.
The album started taking definite form around the time of the filming of the music video for "Stronger", whereas prior West had been "aimlessly making songs." The sci-fi imagery of the Hype Williams-directed video inspired West to take his music in a more futuristic direction. After the filming of the video, which begun before West had even written the song's second verse, he went back to redo and re-record various portions of "Stronger", watching films like Total Recall for ideas. West cites "I Wonder" as one of his three favorite tracks from the album. The album sees the return of multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion—who had played a key role as co-execute producer on Late Registration—for the track "Drunk and Hot Girls."
The beat for "The Glory" was originally conceived for West's G.O.O.D. Music associate, close friend, a fellow Chicagoan MC Common, whose seventh studio album Finding Forever was being produced and recorded by West simultaneously with Graduation. As was the case with their previous albums, certain tracks West originally crafted for Finding Forever that Common passed on subsequently ended up on his own album. "Everything I Am" was yet another song made for Common that he passed on, a fact which West addresses within the song's intro. Though "Bittersweet Poetry" appears as a bonus track on the album, the recording had actually been one of the very first tracks made for Late Registration. After seeing the 2004 biographical film Ray together, West and John Mayer decided to collaborate on a recording and immediately went back to the studio to compose the song "Bittersweet". The two had previously worked on Common's "Go!", which had come about when Mayer went to visit West at The Record Plant in Los Angeles.
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Famous quotes containing the word recording:
“Write while the heat is in you.... The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Too many photographers try too hard. They try to lift photography into the realm of Art, because they have an inferiority complex about their Craft. You and I would see more interesting photography if they would stop worrying, and instead, apply horse-sense to the problem of recording the look and feel of their own era.”
—Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870–1942)
“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)