Late Registration

Late Registration
Late Registration
Studio album by Kanye West
Released	August 30, 2005
Recorded	2004–2005
Studio	Record Plant Studios; Chalice Recording Studios; Grandmaster Recording Studios (Hollywood, California); Sony Music Studios (New York, New York);
Genre	Hip hop; soul; R&B;
Length	70:26
Label	Roc-A-Fella; Def Jam;
Producer	Kanye West; Jon Brion; Devo Springsteen; Just Blaze; Warryn Campbell;
Kanye West chronology
Singles from Late Registration
	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone"; Released: May 31, 2005; "Gold Digger"; Released: July 12, 2005; "Heard 'Em Say"; Released: November 8, 2005; "Touch the Sky"; Released: March 7, 2006; "Drive Slow"; Released: June 6, 2006;

Late Registration is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released on August 30, 2005, by Roc-A-Fella Records. Late Registration debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 860,000 copies in its first week. The album has thus far sold over 3.1 million units in the United States and has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	A+
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	8/10
Pitchfork Media	9.5/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	7/10

Late Registration received rave reviews from music critics.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Kanye West.

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Wake Up Mr. West"	Kanye West	0:41
2.	"Heard 'Em Say" (featuring Adam Levine)	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	3:23
3.	"Touch the Sky" (featuring Lupe Fiasco)	Just Blaze	3:57
4.	"Gold Digger" (featuring Jamie Foxx)	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	3:28
5.	"Skit #1"		0:33
6.	"Drive Slow" (featuring Paul Wall & GLC)	Kanye West	4:32
7.	"My Way Home" (featuring Common)	Kanye West	1:43
8.	"Crack Music" (featuring The Game)	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	4:31
9.	"Roses"	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	4:05
10.	"Bring Me Down" (featuring Brandy)	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	3:18
11.	"Addiction"	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	4:27
12.	"Skit #2"		0:31
13.	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)" (featuring Jay-Z)	Kanye West, Jon Brion, Devo Springsteen	3:53
14.	"We Major" (featuring Nas & Really Doe)	Kanye West, Jon Brion, Warryn Campbell	7:28
15.	"Skit #3"		0:24
16.	"Hey Mama"	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	5:05
17.	"Celebration"	Kanye West, Jon Brion*	3:18
18.	"Skit #4"		1:18
19.	"Gone" (featuring Cam'ron & Consequence)	Kanye West	6:02
20.	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (bonus track)	Kanye West, Jon Brion, Devo Springsteen	3:58
21.	"Late" (hidden track)	Kanye West	3:50

UK edition
No.	Title	{{{extra_column}}}	Length
21.	"We Can Make It Better" (featuring Common, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli & Rhymefest)	Kanye West	3:52
22.	"Late" (hidden track)	Kanye West	3:50

Japan and Australian Tour editions
No.	Title	{{{extra_column}}}	Length
22.	"Back to Basics" (featuring Common)	Kanye West	1:39
23.	"We Can Make It Better" (featuring Common, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli & Rhymefest)	Kanye West	3:52

(*) designates co-producer

Notes:

"Wake Up Mr. West" and "Heard Em Say" both contain excerpts of "Someone That I Used to Love" as performed by Natalie Cole
"Touch the Sky" contains samples of "Move On Up" as performed by Curtis Mayfield
"Gold Digger" contains samples of "I Got a Woman" as performed by Ray Charles
"Drive Slow" contains samples of "Wildflower" as performed by Hank Crawford
"My Way Home" contains samples of "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" as performed by Gil Scott-Heron
"Crack Music" contains samples of "Since You Came in My Life" as performed by New York Community Choir
"Roses" contains samples of "Rosie" as performed by Bill Withers
"Addiction" contains elements of "My Funny Valentine" as performed by Etta James
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" contains samples of "Diamonds Are Forever" as performed by Shirley Bassey
"We Major" contains samples of "Action" as performed by Orange Krush
"Hey Mama" contains samples of "Today Won't Come Again" as performed by Donal Leace
"Celebration" contains samples of "Heavenly Dream" as performed by The KayGees
"Gone" contains samples of "It's Too Late" as performed by Otis Redding
"Late" contains samples of "I'll Erase Away Your Pain" by The Whatnauts

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Instrumentalists

Susan Chatman – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Daphne Chen – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Terry Glenny – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Marisa Kuney – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Victoria Lanier – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Alyssa Park – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Julie Rogers – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Audrey Solomon – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Amy Wickman – violin (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Eric Gorfain – violin, strings orchestration (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Piotr Jandula – viola (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
David Sage – viola (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Tom Tally – viola (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Marda Todd – viola (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Richard Dodd – cello (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Mathew Cooker – cello (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Armen Ksadjikian – cello (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Victor Lawrence – cello (tracks 10, 17 and 19)
Stephen Holtman – trombone (tracks 10 and 17)
Andrew Martin – trombone (tracks 10 and 17)
Bruce Otto – bass trombone (tracks 10 and 17)
Gary Grant – flugelhorn, trumpet (tracks 10 and 17)
Dan Fornero – flugelhorn, trumpet (tracks 10 and 17)
Denise Briese – double bass (tracks 10 and 17)
Francis Senger – double bass (tracks 10 and 17)
Jason Torreano – double bass (tracks 10 and 17)
Rick Todd – French horn (tracks 10 and 17)
Dave Tozer – guitar (tracks 13 and 20)
Brad Warnaar – French horn (tracks 10 and 17)
Tom Craskey – additional keyboards (tracks 13 and 20)
Ervin Pope – keyboards (tracks 9 and 17)
Robert Glasper - piano

Production

Kanye West – executive producer, primary artist, producer (all tracks except 3)
Devo Springsteen – producer (track 13)
Richard Reitz – recording engineer (track 6)
Brian Sumner – recording engineer (tracks 8, 9, and 21)
Anthony Kilhoffer – recording engineer (tracks 3-4, 6, 8-14, 16-17, 19-20)
Tom Biller – recording engineer (tracks 2, 4, 11-14, 16-17), string recording engineer (10, 17, 19-20)
Andrew Dawson – recording engineer (tracks 2-4, 6-8, 16-17, 21), mixing (8, 16, 17, and 19)
Mike Mo – assistant recording engineer (tracks 2-4, 6, 10, 14)
Ryan Neuschafer – assistant recording engineer (tracks 9-12)
James Auwarter – assistant recording engineer (tracks 9-12)
Nate Connelly – assistant recording engineer (tracks 2-4, 6, 9-10, 14, 21)
Taylor Dow – assistant recording engineer (tracks 2, 7, 16, 17, and 19)
Matt Green – assistant recording engineer (tracks 3, 4, 8, 10, 16, and 17)
Jon Brion – brass arrangement (tracks 10 and 17), producer (2, 4, 9-11, 13-14, 16-17, 20), string arrangements (10, 17, and 19)
Warryn Campbell – producer (track 14)
Just Blaze – producer (track 3)
Kyambo Joshua – executive producer
Doug Joswick – package production
Mike Dean – mixing (tracks 2-4, 6, 7)
Craig Bauer – mixing (tracks 9-12)
Manny Marroquin – mixing (tracks 13 and 20)
Kris Yiengst – art coordinator, photography
Sarah A. Friedman – photography
Louis Marino – creative director
Eric Weissman – sample clearance
Vlado Meller – mastering

Vocalists

Paul Wall – featured artist (track 6)
Cam'ron – featured artist (track 19)
Brandy – featured artist (track 10)
Common – featured artist (track 7)
Consequence – featured artist (track 19)
Lupe Fiasco – featured artist (track 3)
The Game – featured artist (track 8)
GLC – featured artist (track 6)
Jay-Z – featured artist (track 13)
Adam Levine – featured artist (track 2)
Nas – featured artist (track 14)
Really Doe – featured artist (track 14)
Jamie Foxx – featured artist (track 4)
Tony Williams – additional vocals (track 9)
Charlie Wilson – additional vocals (track 8)
Keyshia Cole – additional vocals (track 8)
DeRay Davis – additional vocals (track 1)
John Legend – additional vocals (tracks 16 and 17)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	14
Austrian Albums Chart	53
Belgian Albums Chart	43
Canadian Albums Chart	1
Danish Albums Chart	11
Dutch Albums Chart	24
European Top 100 Albums	6
Finnish Albums Chart	18
French Albums Chart	36
German Albums Chart	14
Irish Albums Chart	2
Italian Albums Chart	65
New Zealand Albums Chart	11
Norwegian Albums Chart	4
Scottish Albums Chart	3
Swedish Albums Chart	11
Swiss Albums Chart	9
UK Albums Chart	2
US Billboard 200	1
US Top Pop Catalog Albums (Billboard)	6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	1
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	83
UK Albums Chart	43
US Billboard 200	21
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	11
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)	3
Worldwide Charts	14
Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	89
US Billboard 200	71
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	38
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)	20

Decade-end charts

Decade chart (2000–2009)	Position
US Billboard 200	156

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by Most Wanted by Hilary Duff	Canadian Albums Chart number-one album September 17, 2005 – September 23, 2005	Succeeded by A Bigger Bang by The Rolling Stones
Preceded by Most Wanted by Hilary Duff	*U.S. Billboard* 200 number-one album** September 17, 2005 – September 30, 2005	Succeeded by The Peoples Champ by Paul Wall
Preceded by Harlem: Diary of a Summer by Jim Jones	*U.S. Billboard* Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums number-one album** September 17, 2005 – September 30, 2005	Succeeded by The Peoples Champ by Paul Wall
Preceded by Harlem: Diary of a Summer by Jim Jones	*U.S. Billboard* Top Rap Albums number-one album** September 17, 2005 – September 30, 2005	Succeeded by The Peoples Champ by Paul Wall

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)	Platinum	70,000^{^}
Canada (Music Canada)	2× Platinum	200,000^{^}
Ireland (IRMA)	2× Platinum	30,000^{^}
New Zealand (RMNZ)	2× Platinum	30,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum	600,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)	3× Platinum	3,000,000^{^}
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^{^}shipments figures based on certification alone

References

↑ Kellman, Andy. "Review: Late Registration". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
↑ Christgau, Robert (n.d.). "Kanye West: Late Registration". Robert Christgau. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
↑ Browne, David. "Review: Late Registration" Archived 2009-11-01 at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
↑ Late Registration Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
1 2 Late Registration (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2005.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Kanye West – Late Registration. aCharts.us. Mark Wegener. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Late Registration – Kanye West". 'Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. (2005–2007). Retrieved August 19, 2011.
↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100: 01 May 2005 - 10 September 2005". Official Charts. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
1 2 Verkade, Herman (January 21, 2006). The Official UK Albums Chart of 2005 at the Internet Archive. ChartsPlus (originally from OCC ∞ The Official Charts Company). Chris Wall. (228): 4. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
↑ Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. ARIA. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
↑ Archived September 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. (November 26, 2005) Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
↑ ch (June 6, 2008). Archived 2011-04-10 at the Wayback Machine(PDF). IFPI. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
↑ "ARIA CHarts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2006". Archived from the original on 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2022-08-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). ARIA. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
↑ Archived 2012-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
↑ "Best of 2000s – Billboard 200 Albums" Archived 2010-07-15 at the Wayback Machine. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
↑ "Canadian album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". Music Canada.
↑ "The Irish Charts - 2005 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.
↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". Recorded Music NZ.^{[dead link]}
↑ "British album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Late Registration Kanye West in the "Search:" field.
↑ "American album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". Recording Industry Association of America.

[Kellman-1] Kellman, Andy. "Review: Late Registration". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved October 6, 2009.

[2] Christgau, Robert (n.d.). "Kanye West: Late Registration". Robert Christgau. Retrieved January 24, 2015.

[Browne-3] Browne, David. "Review: Late Registration" Archived 2009-11-01 at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 2009-10-06.

[Metacritic-4] Late Registration Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 2, 2015.

[linernotes-5] 1 2 Late Registration (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2005.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[acharts-6] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Kanye West – Late Registration. aCharts.us. Mark Wegener. Retrieved August 3, 2007.

[b1-7] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Late Registration – Kanye West". 'Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. (2005–2007). Retrieved August 19, 2011.

[8] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100: 01 May 2005 - 10 September 2005". Official Charts. Retrieved June 29, 2015.

[ukac-9] 1 2 Verkade, Herman (January 21, 2006). The Official UK Albums Chart of 2005 at the Internet Archive. ChartsPlus (originally from OCC ∞ The Official Charts Company). Chris Wall. (228): 4. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved 2011-08-19.

[10] Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. ARIA. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.

[11] Archived September 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. (November 26, 2005) Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.

[12] (June 6, 2008). Archived 2011-04-10 at the Wayback Machine(PDF). IFPI. Bundesverband Musikindustrie. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.

[13] "ARIA CHarts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2006". Archived from the original on 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2022-08-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). ARIA. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.

[14] Archived 2012-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-19.

[15] "Best of 2000s – Billboard 200 Albums" Archived 2010-07-15 at the Wayback Machine. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved August 20, 2011.

[AustraliaKanye_WestLate_RegistrationalbumCertRef-16] "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.

[CanadaKanye_WestLate_RegistrationalbumCertRef-17] "Canadian album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". Music Canada.

[IrelandKanye_WestLate_RegistrationalbumCertRef-18] "The Irish Charts - 2005 Certification Awards - Multi Platinum". Irish Recorded Music Association.

[New_ZealandKanye_WestLate_RegistrationalbumCertRef-19] "New Zealand album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". Recorded Music NZ.^{[dead link]}

[United_KingdomKanye_WestLate_RegistrationalbumCertRef-20] "British album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Late Registration Kanye West in the "Search:" field.

[United_StatesKanye_WestLate_RegistrationalbumCertRef-21] "American album certifications – Kanye West – Late Registration". Recording Industry Association of America.