page_title: Graduation (album)
section_title: Marketing
hierarchical_section_title: Graduation (album) / Marketing
caption_attribution_description: Rapper 50 Cent in concert sporting Bling-Bling
context_page_description: 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. Recording sessions took place between 2005 and 2007 at several studios in New York and Los Angeles. It was primarily produced by West himself, with contributions from various other producers. The album also features guest appearances from recording artists such as Dwele, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, DJ Premier, and Chris Martin of Coldplay. The cover art and its interior artwork were designed by Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami.
  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. West incorporated layered synthesizers and dabbled with electronics while sampling from various music genres and altering his approach to rapping. He conveys an ambivalent outlook on his newfound fame and media scrutiny alongside providing inspirational messages of triumph directed at listeners.
context_section_description: While hosting a listening session for his second studio album Late Registration on August 3, 2005 at Sony Music Studios, West revealed that he wanted to schedule the release of Graduation sometime around October 2006. Several months later, on March 28, 2007, West appeared on the Los Angeles radio station Power 106. He said that he was working on his third album and Common's seventh album Finding Forever and rapped a few lyrics from one of his songs in a cappella. On May 11, it was announced that the release date for Graduation was September 18. West debuted the album's lead single "Can't Tell Me Nothing" on the New York radio station Hot 97 on May 15. He then released a free mixtape under the same name onto the Internet on May 27. The mixtape features preview clips of songs that would appear on Graduation and showcases various artists signed onto West's record label GOOD Music as well as collaborations with other unaffiliated musicians. It also contains "Us Placers", the debut song of Child Rebel Soldier, a supergroup West formed with Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell.
  At the end of May, Island Def Jam pushed forward the release date for Graduation up from September to an unspecified late August date, a decision that West first announced on the introductory track of his Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape. On July 19, the album's release date was changed once more and moved to September 11, 2007, the same US release date as rapper 50 Cent's third studio album Curtis. When first presented with the proposal of his label moving the release date of his album yet again as well as the idea of a sales competition between him and 50 Cent, West initially expressed his indifference towards the thought, saying, "When I heard that thing about the debate, I thought that was the stupidest thing. When my album drops and 50's album drops, everybody wins because you're gonna get a lot of good music at the same time". However, then Def Jam president and CEO Jay Z welcomed competition, feeling that it would be prosperous for hip-hop and the date became permanent.
  The album's release generated much publicity over a sales competition with 50 Cent's Curtis. Three months that were prior to the September 11 release date, West extended his gratitude towards 50 Cent for the enthusiasm and excitement the friendly competition had produced. Though confident that he would emerge victorious, West said that he would be perfectly fine with losing to 50 Cent, saying that he'd rather, "be #2 on that day rather than come out and be #1 on a day nobody cares about". In an interview for USA Today, 50 Cent expressed his view on the idea of a sales competition, stating "It's great marketing – for Kanye West. But I sell way more records than Kanye West, and I generate way more interest than Kanye West. They think they can match us up, but they'll find out when that week goes by and the sales come back. This is no rivalry". "Mine will sell and his will still be on the shelf," 50 Cent tells ROLLING STONE". On August 10, 50 Cent confirmed during an interview with SOHH that he would end his career as a solo recording artist if Graduation were to sell more copies than Curtis in the United States. However, 50 Cent later retracted his statement within an MTV interview due to his contract agreements with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. But most retailers and radio programmers interviewed picked West, whose single, "Stronger", was Number Six on Billboard's Hot 100 -while none of 50's four singles climbed higher than the thirty-second spot.
  West spent a significant amount of time promoting Graduation during his trip to the United Kingdom. On August 17, West guest starred on the British comedy-variety show The Friday Night Project. He played preview versions of the songs "Big Brother" and "Champion" from his forthcoming third album while making an appearance on DJ Tim Westwood's radio show on August 18. Later that day, West performed at V Festival in Chelmsford, England before an audience of over 50,000 people and again played new material from Graduation as well as a tri
caption: Publicity over the album's release date pitted West in a sales competition against rapper 50 Cent (pictured).
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