It's A Celebration

       As the song name(Celebration) suggests this a song of celebration, just a nice toast to what Kanye has done. A song with a beautiful sound, and some humorous lyrics. Lots of the rhymes are just silly, and it is actually said that during this recording it was hard to keep the orchestra under control due to some laughter, which I think is just great. Nice for people to loosen up when making music, as that is why everyone listen's to music in the first place!
      The song is quite funny anyways, this includes: the chorus, and most of Kanye's lines. A lot of the emphasis he puts on words just makes things all the better. A few of my personal favorites:

Right now I need you to mute all the monologue

All that talking is gonna give me a tylenol 

Yep, We was practicin' till one day you bust through the packagin'

You know what though? You my favorite accident

Ah some truly fantastic flow to match the luxurious beat, and of course some clever lines. 

     The production on this track is absolutely fantastic. A vast variety of instruments. A big list of people performing in the orchestra. All arranged by Jon Brion.

• Violins: Eric Gorfain, Daphne Chen, Victoria Lanier, Julie Rogers, Alyssa Park, Audrey Solomon, Terry Glenny, Susan Chatman, Marisa Kuney & Amy Wickman.
• Viola: Marda Todd, Piotr Jandule, Tom Tally & David Sage.
• Cello: Richard Dodd, Matt Cooker, Armen Ksajikian & Victor Lawrence
• Contrabass: jason Torreano, Frances, Senger & Denise Briese
• Trumept/Flugelhorn: Gary Grant & Dan Fornero 
• Trombone: Andrew Martin & Steve Holtman
• Bass Trombone: Bruce Otto
• French Horn: Rick Todd & Brad Warnaar
• Keyboards: Ervin "EP" Pope
• Bass: Keenan "Keynote" Holloway

All this just translates to something beautiful. It all goes in place with Kanye's voice, you can tell just by listening to the first 15 seconds. Hearing all the instruments increase in intensity. Then as the verses play you will hear the synths which create an electrical tingly on the track, trombone, drums, viola and violins! OOOH!

To be honest for me it is very hard to tell a bunch of the instrument apart from eachother as this all goes in, oh well practice makes perfect!

    As for the vocals, you can barely tell that John Legend is on this track, really blending in with Kanye West on parts of his chorus. As well as the "Ba da da da!" and the "OOOOoooOOhh!" this all from "Heavenly Dream" by the KayGees. Kanye really does a lot of singing on this track, and once again it is that beautiful situation that leaves me clueless. Everytime it just works. 

So indeed a great example of the orchestration on this album, adding to the great range of emotion of Late Registration, and showcasing Kanye's singing, humor, and emotion he puts into his work.

      

Hey Mama

     
        Not only the most positive and heart-warming track on Late Registration, but 7 years later it probably still holds that record to all the rest of Kanye's library. As the title suggests, Kanye is really saying "Hey Mama!", a nice song dedicated to his mother, the late Donda West. He puts so much love into this track, singing softly when he knows he may not be the best singer, it just goes to show you he will do anything that makes him happy in music.  The song touches a lot on the story of Kanye West before he was signed. The struggles he went through and how his mother was always with them, and how their relationship only became stronger as they dealt with day-to-day conflicts.

Seven years old, caught you with tears in your eyes
Cuz a nigga cheatin, telling you lies, then I started to cry
As we knelt on the kitchen floor
I said mommy Imma love you till you don't hurt no more

That line has great emotion, and really puts warmth in your heart. With all sorts of problems he is so glad that she has, "brought me into this world, let me take you out". And now he just wants to thank her for all that she has done,"and get you that mansion you couldn't afford". A very sweet song, and a point of utter joy and happiness on the album.
        For a song like this, it only makes sense that the beat is very light and playful. The beat is actually quite simple. The only instruments are really the drums and the rest is carried by the vocals. Also West used some auto-tune as you will hear to create a staticy singing affect. While it might've clashed with the natural sound of the other singing it surprisingly doesn't. The vocals consist of John Legend, the "Hey Mama!" part. The rest is all thanks to the sample; recorded by Donal Leace; "Today Won't Come Again".Synthesizers and light keys play at the end to change it up again, much like We Major's sudden transition.Really a great track for the album, covering almost every album imaginable. And while all of them make me content, and happy. You can't help but put a smile on when hearing this track.

      One more thing I would like to cover is Ye's singing on the track. It is so light and he knows he isn't the best singer. That is what makes the track so good, knowing how much heart he put in. As mentioned before, he doesn't care if he doesn't sound amazing as a singer, he just does what feels right and doesn't restrict himself with his music. Which explains why he used an orchestra to structure Late Registration. This off key singing adds a lot of heart into the track. And when the songs breaks down, he just goes off saying, "mama" for about a minute or so. This just feels wonderful. His singing, and how it reaches my heart is something I just can't explain, it works beautifully and adds a lot of soul into his tracks as we will see on future tracks!

Very soulful. Jon Brion and Kanye West once again show what they can do as incredible producers, to use so little and create so much for the ears, brain, and heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLjQ-aJ7jLQ&feature=player_embedded (Link for Sample)