

Along with house music, Graduation contains samples and music elements of euro-disco, hard rock, electronica, lounge, progressive rock, synth-pop, electro, krautrock, dub, reggae, and dancehall. West further broadened his musical palette on Graduation by not limiting himself to his customary use of samples and interpolation from classic soul records and instead drew influences from a far more eclectic range of music genres. While he rarely listened to house at home, he still felt it was an important part of his culture and background. West has stated that growing up, he would listen to hip-hop music at home or in his car, but when he felt like dancing, he would attend a house club.

West was particularly influenced by house music, a subgenre of electronic dance music that first originated in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois in the early 1980s. In West's attempt to accomplish this "stadium-status" endeavor, West incorporated layered electronic synthesizers into his hip-hop production, which also finds him utilizing slower tempos, being influenced by the music of the 1980s, and experimenting with electronic music. After spending the previous year touring the world with Irish rock band U2 on their Vertigo Tour, West became inspired by watching Bono open the stadium tours every night to incredible ovations and sought out to compose anthemic rap songs that could operate more efficiently in large stadiums and arenas. The album demonstrates yet another distinctive progression in West's musical style and approach to production. Graduation is the third installment of West's planned tetralogy of education-themed studio albums, which West subsequently later deviated from due to the events surrounding the conception of his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). This is credited with paving the way for other hip-hop artists who did not conform to gangster conventions to find commercial acceptance. The success of the former and the outcome of its competition with the latter marked the end of the dominance of gangsta rap in mainstream hip-hop. The coinciding release dates between Graduation and fellow American rapper 50 Cent's Curtis generated much publicity over the idea of a sales competition, resulting in record-breaking sales performances by both albums. It was named as one of the best albums of 2007 by multiple publications, including Rolling Stone and USA Today, while also listed among numerous decade-end lists and later named to the lists of Rolling Stone 's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and NME 's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album received widely positive reviews from music critics, with several of them praising the production, and earned West his third Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, as well as his third nomination for Album of the Year. Five accompanying singles were released, including the international hits " Stronger", " Good Life" and " Homecoming", with the former of the three topping the US Billboard Hot 100. It has since sold over 5 million copies in the United States and been certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Graduation debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling over 957,000 copies in the first week of sales.
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The album concludes the education theme of West's first two studio albums, The College Dropout (2004) and Late Registration (2005). He conveys an ambivalent outlook on his newfound fame and media scrutiny alongside providing inspirational messages of triumph directed at listeners. West incorporated layered synthesizers and dabbled with electronics while sampling from various music genres and altering his approach to rapping. Inspired by stadium tours, house-music and indie rock, Graduation marked a departure from the ornate, soul-based sound of West's previous releases as he musically progressed to more anthemic compositions. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Mos Def, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin of Coldplay.

It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers. Recording sessions took place between 20 at several studios in New York and Los Angeles. Graduation is the third studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West, released on September 11, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records.
