Aside from the fact that Graduation earned Kanye a Grammy and an AMA, this last installation of his tetralogy served as the last piece of happiness before tragedy struck when Ms.
Songs like “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” “Stronger,” and “Good Life” with T-Pain on the help-out made 2007 probably the best year of Kanye’s career. Graduation offered several smash singles that gave Ye’ propelling momentum beyond his musical peers and set him well above the rest. Graduation was the obvious winner in terms of sales, selling almost a half-million copies on its first day on the shelves.
However, with West as the newer, “rookie” artist, he was the favored underdog in the competition between the two. The concurrent releases of 50 Cent’s Curtis album and Graduation also created a unique promotion of both projects. With the success of his The College Dropout debut and his sophomore Late Registration, Kanye was already on an unprecedented ascension that popular culture was totally unprepared for.
