Late Registration is the second studio album by
Chicago hip hop artist
Kanye West. The album was released on August 30, 2005, to critical acclaim and entered the charts at #1, selling over 860,000 copies in its first week, the highest first week sales in the
Def Jam label history, until West broke his own record with his follow-up album
Graduation (2007), which sold in excess of 950,000 in its first week.
Late Registration won several awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Rolling Stone magazine named it the year's best album and awarded it a rare five-star rating. Along with its great critical acclaim, the album was highly successful commercially, selling in excess of 3 million copies.
The album spawned the number 1 single
Gold Digger, featuring
Jamie Foxx, and the award winning singles
Diamonds From Sierra Leone, with
Jay-Z, and
Touch The Sky with
Lupe Fiasco. It was re-released in a deluxe edition both digitally and in CD form in the UK, US, and Australia. The US deluxe version includes a remix for the single
Diamonds From Sierra Leone, which earned considerable commercial success.