Beginning his second effort that fall, West would invest two million dollars and take over a year to craft his second album. West was significantly inspired by Roseland NYC Live, a 1998 live album by English trip hop group Portishead, produced with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Early in his career, the live album had inspired him to incorporate string arrangements into his hip-hop production. Though West had not been able to afford many live instruments around the time of his debut album, the money from his commercial success enabled him to hire a string orchestra for his second album Late Registration. West collaborated with American film score composer Jon Brion, who served as the album's co-executive producer for several tracks. Although Brion had no prior experience in creating hip-hop records, he and West found that they could productively work together after their first afternoon in the studio where they discovered that neither confined his musical knowledge and vision to one specific genre. Late Registration sold over 2.3 million units in the United States alone by the end of 2005 and was considered by industry observers as the only successful major album release of the fall season, which had been plagued by steadily declining CD sales. COUNT 7
QSN1 What kind of ensemble did Kanye hire to work on his second album? ANS1 string orchestra QSN2 What composer worked alongside Kanye on the album's production? ANS2 Jon Brion QSN3 What was the name of Kanye's second studio album? ANS3 Late Registration QSN4 How many copies of Late Registration sold in its first year? ANS4 2.3 million QSN5 What English music group was an inspiration for Kanye West on his second album? ANS5 Portishead QSN6 What was the name of West's second album? ANS6 Late Registration QSN7 How many copies of Late Registration were sold in the United States? ANS7 2.3 million