After Franz Ferdinand met Kanye West earlier this year, frontman Alex Kapranos suggested that the urban star would influence the band's new album, saying "We've been talking a lot about production and we really feel the most cutting edge stuff is being done in the world of hip hop right now. Kanye West's a good example. We met him at the MTV Europe Awards and we were talking for quite a while. I think that's maybe where we'll look for inspiration on the next record."
West has now spoken to NME about that conversation, and about how the influence cuts both ways, saying "I just told them I really liked how grimy their drums were, that was really important to me. I wanted to know how they got their sound. I was asking them all types of questions. I told them they were my favourite band, there's a bit of their feel in my new album. I've just tried to push the envelope. Hopefully people will hear it and feel it. This record is edgier, that would be the best way to describe the difference between this and 'College Drop Out'. The album is very dark. I still have a sense of humour but I guess it's a dark humour. It's more Bill Murray than Bill Crosby."
West appears to have coined a new genre created by Franz Ferdinand, that of 'White Crunk', and says that of the tracks on new album 'Late Registration', released 15 Aug, the one most Franz-influenced is planned first single release 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone'.