Kanye West created a voluminous catalog of demo and mixtape tracks in the early days of his transition from buzzing producer to superstar rapper, and lines from those songs were often revised and reused throughout his first three albums. Kanye released an early version of “Homecoming” nearly five years earlier To celebrate the album’s 10th anniversary, here are some things you may not know about Graduation.
This focused collection of 13 songs touched on his complex relationships with fame, his father, his hometown of Chicago and his “big brother” Jay-Z and leaped into the world of experimental art via the Takashi Murikami album cover.
But, 10 years later, we can see how it also pointed the way towards the AutoTuned vocals, EDM and arena rock influences that would help define the next decade in rap. When Kanye West released Graduation on September 11, 2007, it was the candy-colored, beatwise album that, famously, beat 50 Cent for a battle over release date bragging rights.
