May 2005

The history of rap music has seen many artists play a dual role as performer and producer - only a handful make that profound impact on the direction of the music overall, and only one has managed to establish himself as the pioneer: Kanye West.

Just as his 'College Dropout' defied all expectations, 'Late Registration' is West steering in a whole different direction again while still maintaining his trademark brilliance. His shrewdest move is to utilise the services of composer and co-producer Jon Brion, whose previous work includes production for artists including Evan Dando, Fiona Apple and Aimee Mann and composition on several film soundtracks ('Magnolia', 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'). Understandably, Brion's influence, bringing in orchestras, harpsichords, antique pre-synth keyboards (even a mellotron!) gives Kanye's complex drum rhythms and lyrics a whole new environment, not unlike Portishead.

Kanye builds the debut single by reworking Shirley Bassey's vocal styling of theme song from the James Bond classic 'Diamonds Are Forever' with an electro-tinged twist and renaming it 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone'. The title nods at human rights atrocities in Africa with the lyrics simply toasting West's stardom.

The album also boasts an impressive list of guest performers such as rappers Jay-Z ('Diamonds From Sierra Leone'), Cam'ron and Consequence ('Gone'), The Game (discussing the fall of the Black Panthers on 'Crack Music'), Lupe Fiasco (Touch The Sky), GLC and Paul Wall ('Drive Slow') and an incredible diverse range of singers: Brandy ('Bring Me Down'), Jamie Foxx (the Ray Charles sampling 'Gold Digger'), Maroon 5's Adam Levine ('Heard Em Say'), John Legend ('Celebration') and the Gap Bands Charlie Wilson ('Crack Music').

From the first kick-drum of the Just Blaze-produced 'Touch The Sky', with its familiar horn section lifted from Curtis Mayfield's 'Move On Up', right through to 'Addiction' sampling Etta James' 'My Funny Valentine' and 'Hey Mama' sampling Donal Leace's 'Today Won't Come Again', all the way to the final closing bars of the last track 'Gone', West's ability to take the fundamental elements of hip-hop: the raps, the beats, the samples and put a completely unexpected twist on everything, makes his album such a significant listening experience.

• Uncut - 4 (out of 5) "Enthralling"
  Q - 4 (out of 5) "Another masterpiece"
  Observer Music Monthly - 5 (out of 5) "Everything he touches turns to gold"
  Sunday Times Culture - "The most original force in hip hop."
  NME - "...a compelling mix of intelligent rhymes, studio wizardry and tough tunes."
  Daily Express - 5 (out of 5) - "The COLLEGE DROPOUT was a masterpiece and this follow-up is even better"
  The Guardian - 5 (out of 5) - "Kanye West thinks he's God's gift to hip hop. He's right."
  The Sun - 5 (out of 5) - "A straight 5 star classic masterpiece"

'Late Registration' is the second album from US rapper/producer Kanye West. Mining classic soul and jazz tracks for samples and loops and mixing them with up-to-date production techinques - provided by soundtrack composer Jon Brion - the album sees West continue with his unique inventive hip hop sound. Guest appearances come from the likes of fellow rapper The Game, Ray Charles biopic star Jamie Foxx, and Maroon 5's Adam Levine.

Kanye West first gained fame as an acclaimed hip-hop producer, working with Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Mase, and others. West's solo debut was delayed due to a serious car accident, but when THE COLLEGE DROPOUT finally appeared in 2004, it took the hip-hop world by storm with its combination of old-school R&B samples, inventive contemporary production, and clever rhymes. And while West continued to churn out hot tracks for a bevy of artists, popping up in the credits of what seemed to be an impossible number of CDs, he was still able to continue his run of critically and commercially successful releases, 2005's LATE REGISTRATION and 2007's GRADUATION, and become the undisputed King of Hip-Hop in the '00s.