rapper made plans to begin recording material after finishing his support of R&B singer Usher's Truth Tour. By November, West had completed around 75 percent of the album. However, he felt unsatisfied with the outcome and this led to Brion becoming involved in March 2005, which drastically altered the project's direction. The album's recording sessions between West and Brion were largely exploratory, as the pair experimented with a broad spectrum of sounds. West would construct a song's basic structure, bringing in a sample, drum beat programming, and occasionally unfinished rap verses. After thinking through what musical direction to take, he would then select from a variety of unique instruments that Brion both provided and played, including drums and strings. With the instruments, West attempted to incorporate a distinctive sound into the song's texture. West envisioned the recording as the creation of a film: visualizing the songs as scenes, outlining each in such a way that they efficiently conveyed their respective social or introspective context, and ensuring all were synchronized within the fabric of the complete set. This sentiment was shared by Brion who said, "He thinks in frequency ranges. I can recognize when someone sees music architecturally, which is how I work. I see it as a spatial thing: left to right, front to back, up and down. It's animated and it's moving in real time. Kanye has that. He tries things out until it fits, until it sits where it is supposed to sit and everything has the correct emotional function." For Late Registration, West also collaborated with guest artists, whom he selected based on the effect each of their voices had on him upon hearing them. He cited the serene vocals of pop rock band Maroon 5's lead vocalist Adam Levine, the trademark voice of Brandy, the rap skill of his frequent collaborator Jay-Z, and the lyricism of fellow rapper Paul Wall as primary examples. Levine is featured on the album's opening track, "Heard 'Em Say". The two had previously collaborated on a remix for "This Love" (2004) that Maroon 5 commissioned West to work on and later became good friends when sitting together on a flight to Rome for the 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards. While playing songs from his second album via his iPod for him on the flight, West presented the demo for "Heard 'Em Say", to which Levine added a hook he had recently