page_title: Homecoming (Kanye West song)
section_title: Recording
hierarchical_section_title: Homecoming (Kanye West song) / Recording
caption_attribution_description: English: John Legend performing at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania on December 5, 2008.
context_page_description: "Homecoming" is a song by American hip-hop recording artist and record producer Kanye West. It was included as the twelfth song on the track-listing of his third studio album Graduation. The track was produced by West with Warryn Campbell and features a guest appearance from Chris Martin, lead vocalist of the British alternative rock band Coldplay. Chris Martin sings the song's chorus and outro and provides a piano-driven motif. The instrumentation combines rhythmic, gospel style piano riffs with spare, reggae-tinged grooves of a heavy yet buoyant drumbeat and ponderous bass line. The song features pop-oriented refrains while also integrating elements of post-punk and new wave with arena rock sensibilities. "Homecoming" is written as a tribute dedicated to West's hometown of Chicago, Illinois. His conceptual lyricism expresses an extended metaphor where he personifies Chicago as a childhood sweetheart to convey his relationship with the city.
  A reworking of a track entitled "Home," the song first originated from a 2001 demo tape.
context_section_description: The recording sessions for "Home (Windy)" and "Homecoming" took place over the course of several years at five different studio locations. These recording studios include the Fever Recording Studio in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, the Abbey Road Studios in London, England, the Sony Music Studios in New York City, and The Record Plant and Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, California. The track was mixed at Chalice Recording Studios in Hollywood, California and Chung King Studios in New York City. The earliest studio recordings of "Home (Windy)" were made as far back as the year 2001. The track's instrumental brandished the hallmarks of West's once trademark hip-hop production technique. It featured a soulful vocal sample of harmonious belting vocals from Patti LaBelle and the BlueBelles's cover of the 1945 show tune, "You'll Never Walk Alone." Meanwhile, the original lyrics of the song's chorus were sung by singer John Legend. He at the time was a largely unknown recording artist and went by the name of John Stephens. "Home (Windy)" is among the earliest in a long history of the two close friends collaborating with one another, as West would go on to produce the singer's debut studio album Get Lifted (2004) the very same year he released his own first album The College Dropout, whose tracks Legend in turn also lent his vocals to.
  Years later, Kanye West and Chris Martin met each other for the very first time by chance on February 14, 2006 at Abbey Road, the iconic recording studios in London, England. At this point is his career, West was traveling the world rather than have recording artists and producers come to him for musical collaborations. He would go around and meet other record producers in locations such as New York, Atlanta and London, then return to The Record Plant for additional sound treatment. One day, West had just finished up a show at Abbey Road and Coldplay happened to be recording music in a studio there at the same time. As the rock band was recording a radio gig they held at Abbey Road for the national radio station BBC Radio 2, West was producing the theme song for the soundtrack of the 2006 action film Mission: Impossible III. According to audio engineer Andrew Dawson, Martin showed up after discovering that West was working in the very next studio. Upon their encounter, West did not mind the interruption by Chris Martin and after the band's show, the two joined in a recording booth for an impromptu jam session.
  West and Chris Martin recorded "Homecoming" in the same room that The Beatles recorded their music, using the very same microphones. Martin reportedly wore exactly the same attire over the course of the several days the track was recorded, which is something of a habit for the musician. At the time of the re-recording, West had ready an unused hip-hop beat intended for what went on to become "Heard 'Em Say," the third single from his sophomore album Late Registration (2005). But Chris Martin reportedly advocated, "No this track's beat needs to be more like a homecoming or something." West subsequently retracted the looped soul sample repeated that was throughout "Home" and had it replaced insead with a pompous piano riff, which he decorated over stadium-friendly drums. Most of the tracks on Graduation had contained glossy, layered synthesizer-based productions influenced by West's experimentation with electronic music. But on "Homecoming," he opted for different, more stripped-down instrumental to complement the introspective quality of its triumphant yet melancholic lyrics.
  For the track, West reduced usage of synthesisers and effects, stripping its backbeat down to the sparest stomp and clap to accommodate his poignant storytelling rhymes. Rather than synths, the syncopated piano part acts as the centerpiece of the song and works with a ponderous, melodic bassline to form a rhythmic figure which generates interlocking grooves. The track was ornamented with the use of additional percussion instruments and is subtly layered by a monotonous presence of crowd cheers that West injected into th
caption: The original incarnation of the song featured a different chorus sung by John Legend.
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