Hot on the heels of winning the Best Male Video for "Jesus Walks" at the MTV Video Music Awards, Grammy award winning dapper don Kanye West is once again redefining the term "producer" and turning the notion of hip-hop inside out. West is the rare figure who can conceptualize, program and perform his own creations, taking the do-it-yourself ethic to new heights and pushing him to the top of the charts. He is responsible for huge hits by Jay-Z, Ludacris, Common and Alicia Keys, yet had no trouble breaking out as an artist in his own right.

Kanye opens his lab to a wild range of artists, bringing different voices and viewpoints into his world, each character playing off another. Through samples, West brings James Bond diva Shirley Bassey into the fold as her grand "Diamonds are Forever" number booms on "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." Guest appearances and off the wall collaborations are present and accounted for - Jamie Foxx channels Ray Charles on "Gold Digger" (the two put on a spellbinding performance at this year's MTV Video Music Awards) and Jay-Z, Nas, Common and Brandy all add sparks when they drop their stuff. What continues to be intriguing about West is his ease at bringing the personal side of himself to the mic unapologetically. Though he's not a freshman anymore, he's still a student of the hop-hop life and 'Late Registration' is, despite its name, arriving just in time.