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Kanye West

808s & Heartbreak

Release Date: November 24, 2008
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records
Table of Contents

Abstract

After "Love Lockdown" was released, speculation began over whether or not Kanye West did it as a joke-- a way to comment on T-Pain's success, while whetting appetites for his new album, 808's and Heartbreak. However, Kanye recently confirmed via a listening party that the entire album is made up of sparse electronic production, and surprisingly, vocoder-assisted singing vocals by Kanye. That's right, "Love Lockdown" is the rule, not the exception.

808's and Heartbreak isn't completely without rapping, however. Young Jeezy pops ups for guest bars on a track that West sings on. And in a move for auto-tuner dominance, Kanye is joined on a track by Lil Wayne, who also sings.

Kanye says that the album is about emotional nakedness, and most of the songs are about his breakup with one specific woman. Kanye reserves one song for the memory of his mother, album closer, "Coldest Winter."
 
808's and Heartbreak has been slated for a November release, in order for it avoid collision with Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3, for which Kanye serves as producer.
~ Andrew Winistorfer

Review

By
Alex Thornton
Prefix Rating 9.0
Average Rating 7.3
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Kanye West’s new fondness for vocal effects has mostly been characterized as an arrogant attempt at co-opting a trend, but in the context of his latest exhibit, there seems to be more behind the choice than many have acknowledged. West is notorious for his honesty, but the bulk of his emotional expression up to this point has revolved around fairly one-dimensional constructs: happiness, anger and frustration. After a famously rocky year, things aren’t nearly that simple for him any longer.

 

West correctly recognized that this complexity could lead to some of the greatest art of his career, but discussing your own depression is never easy, especially not for someone with so much pride. The robotic combination of Auto-Tuner and fuzz filters became a security blanket for his markedly honest verse on Young Jeezy’s “Put On.” And that naturally carried over to the entirety of 808s & Heartbreak, particularly on “Love Lockdown” and, even more so, on the elegantly desolate “Streetlights.” After losing the most important people in his life while at the same time becoming even more isolated due to his fame, West has simply run out of ideas for what to do with himself. He’s been forced to live entirely in his own head, and he's apparently had trouble reconciling what he finds there.

 

The success of 808s & Heartbreak is that West accurately tells his own story while still speaking about universal themes. The project is structured much like a high-end runway show, so although most songs work on their own, they’re far more revelatory as a group. Because each track is largely built with the same set of tools, even those that don’t seem that interesting at face value (“Heartless”) or that initially come off as thematic outliers (“Paranoid”) benefit heavily from being takes on a broader motif.

 

West famously decided to put aside rapping for this album, a conceit many will be hesistant to give themselves over to. But it's only a problem from the outside looking in. He probably would have been able to communicate the same ideas with rap, but the “less is more” approach to his delivery is a stronger statement. Meanwhile, Young Jeezy’s sole rap on “Amazing” carries more weight than usual because it stands alone, making it a surprisingly appropriate cameo.

 

On the other hand, “See You in My Nightmares” suffers from Lil Wayne’s attempt to straddle the line. He’s unable or unwilling to fully commit to the assignment and drags West down with him into a rambling, insincere temper tantrum. Affected anger is in fact a common reaction after a break-up, but it may be giving them too much credit to assume that they’re being deliberately ironic.

 

808s & Heartbreak may initially seem uncharacteristic, but without the limitations of genre, West is fully embracing the grand, theatric backdrops that he’s always loved. The industrially orchestral sound of “Robocop” or the lengthy instrumental break on “Say You Will” are things he’s been circling around all along but didn’t have the leeway to pursue completely. His larger goal has always been to make music that transcends time and society, so now that he’s climbed high enough to jump off of these tall cliffs, he’s going to take full advantage.

 

West certainly sacrificed some support from his supposed core audience with this turn. In the long run, though, history tends to reward art that was jarring at first but eventually helped to change convention. If you feel deceived, remember that West took flack for the pink Polos and chipmunk samples too. Through it all, he stayed dedicated to his vision. Eventually, he'll release another groundbreaking hour of music for you to protest and 808s & Heartbreak will be part of the "old sound" you were looking for.

- September 7, 2008

Track list

Disc 1
1 Say You Will
2 Welcome To Heartbreak featuring Kid Cudi
3 Heartless
4 Amazing featuring Young Jeezy
5 Love Lockdown
6 Paranoid featuring Mr. Hudson
7 RoboCop
8 Street Lights
9 Bad News
10 See You In My Nightmares featuring Lil Wayne
11 Coldest Winter
Stumble It!
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Who rated this album?

dg3dustin
10.0
WillieBoy
10.0
WilliamTrinity
7.5
Blazes_Boylan
8.0
powers
8.0
shshsh
7.0
KyleLemmon
6.5

38 Responses

September 9, 2008 at 7:26 p.m.

Seems that it's not being called 'Good Ass Job.'
September 14, 2008 at 4:11 p.m.

just keep your love locked down daba
September 19, 2008 at 11 p.m.

i like the name good ass job. it kept in the flow of college
October 20, 2008 at 11:29 p.m.

good ass job does not keep "the flow of college"
October 26, 2008 at 4:49 a.m.

it does keep the college flow, its going backwards. like back in time.
November 7, 2008 at 10:41 a.m.

this cd is gonna be one of the best. its good to slow it down with some love songs.
November 9, 2008 at 11:51 a.m.

I've only found "808" with 4 songs included.Shall I wait for December?
November 11, 2008 at 12:09 a.m.

wikipedia. it has a list of songs said to be on the new cd..and its actually being released on the 24th if this month.
November 11, 2008 at 12:23 p.m.

CANT WAIT TO COP KANYE'S ALBUM
November 12, 2008 at 9:18 p.m.

yeah good ass job would have been better because he dropped out then registered graduated now he has a good ass job it
November 16, 2008 at 10:45 p.m.

He is going to release another album in the summer.
also most artists release albums once every 6 months, so this is about the right time.

plusss his mother just died so it could be almost a tribute album.
November 17, 2008 at 10:24 a.m.

This album is an experimental/concept album specifically dedicated to his breakup and death of his mother. It is separate from his previous 3 albums.

It is most likely that Good Ass Job will be released in June/July of 2009, following on in the 'collegiate series'. It will be Kanye's 5th, and it is speculated that he will return to rapping, his roots.
November 21, 2008 at 11:45 a.m.

ACTUALLY I LISTENED TO THE WHOLE ALBUM ALREADY AND IT IS PRETTY DAMN GOOD. YEA, ITS NOT LIKE HIS PREVIOUS ALBUMS, AND IT IF DEFINITLY SOMETHING NEW AND EXPERIMENTAL BUT ITS NOT BAD. THE MESSAGE BEHIND THE LYRICS IS VERY TOUCHING. MAD PROPS.
November 21, 2008 at 1:19 p.m.

Yo it's not experimental at all Kanye's just doin what he does and gettin away from monotony in hip-hop. If you actually listen to the songs not just play em and hear the sounds you hear the emotion in his voice and you can understand why he uses the auto tune... it's a sick album n I think the people who don't like it are gunna be the people who don't understand it... and also it's not a tribute to his mother in any way the only song he specifically made for her is "Coldest Winter" the rest is about the breakup with his ex-fiance... Listen to the whole album on myspace...
November 22, 2008 at 10:37 p.m.

With love K. West,

What you are looking for is now found with the release of this C.D. You are stepping closer into the energy that surrounds all of us. I look forward to seeing you take all the awards you will get on this one.

Love,
Your secret G.A. peach - supporting u from the distance.
November 23, 2008 at 10:40 a.m.

i love it
November 24, 2008 at 2:34 a.m.

with love KanYe

counting the days to the release.......i know you wont dissappoint.

U R The BEST thing that happened 2 HIP HOP
November 24, 2008 at 10:46 a.m.

man i just got the album yesterday, i have to say its the best album he has made yet!!! i think ppl dont understand now that music is so repetative and kanye really brought something really new and creative to the table. man its amazing album!!
November 24, 2008 at 11:46 a.m.

Mr Winistorfer, is great here. When i heard "Love Lockdown" i felt very much the same way. And as tracks have been leaked it feels like music i'm not likely to like, but because of that i feel compelled to try. Say what you will, Kanye West is a master of the "Left Turn". I once read and article where he said he wanted to beat Timberlake to being "the next michael jackson". But he'd "settle for being the next prince". Well who knows who could be the next MJ, but Kanye is def "the next Prince".
November 24, 2008 at 12:23 p.m.

I can't believe this. Kanye gets away with murder and nobody says a thing. People keep talking about this being art and blah blah blah....John Lennon was art...Pink Floyd was art...this is in no way experimental at all. It's been done before, he's just bringing 80s retro feel which needs to be left alone. This is no way any progression in Hip-Hop. Please don't get caught in the hype, keep in mind that he's just riding a trend.

Love Lockdown??...please

and NEXT PRINCE??? ARE F@#*&NG KIDDING ME??? DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW SILLY THAT COMPARISON IS??...
November 24, 2008 at 6:42 p.m.

This is my favorite Kanye album. Its to raw and cohesive and sad and beautiful all at the same time.

We did a review on my blog check it out.

http://foolishnesspersonified.blogspot.com/2008/11/808s-and-heartbreak-is-just-that.html
November 25, 2008 at 9:40 a.m.

I like what he's tried to do as a artist,
A little sick of the auto tune though.

have you heard the remake of Good Life
by Brooklyn indietronica band nite club?

one of my new fave's

http://www.myspace.com/niteclubmusic
November 25, 2008 at 11:55 a.m.

umm, ok i dig the album. but can anyone say The Love Below.
Good concept Kanye, but Andre 3000 beat you to it.
November 25, 2008 at 3:12 p.m.
10.0 out of 10

Hands down should be album of the year in every genre but country.....hiphop, r&b, pop......won't happen tho. I'm tired of the industry being flooded by the same 16 bars......
November 26, 2008 at 8:43 p.m.

album of the year :S are you sniffing something, you're going to compare this album, to top hip hop albums like, Paper Trail, The Recession, Untitled, Theater of the Mind..come on its an okay album not something il be bummpin but he steped outside the box with it so i respect him, but i hope he never does it again
November 28, 2008 at 10:42 p.m.

Kanye you are the best, playa haters, leave LEGEND KANYE ALONE, He's just too much!!!!!!!!1

Kanye I love you
November 29, 2008 at 5:15 p.m.

Yo Jessica!
thanks for the link to Nite Club
I agree, indei rockers are now the same as
hip hoppers
Loving their version of good Life
It's On Point!
November 30, 2008 at 5:34 p.m.

Kanye, where did you go? This was a little too much. The album has barely any tracks, i hope he doesnt expect for people to buy it. Also, there are only a few good songs on this album. The computerized voice is not good; i mean if thats whats going to happen, i want to become a signer as well! Well, all to say, i like Kanye but i am very dissapointed with this album.
November 30, 2008 at 6:27 p.m.

I had to listen to this album at a listening session a while ago. At first i thought it was some kind of a prank. Unfortunately it wasn't. The songs sound as if composed under the shower. It was really hard to sit through this and i sure won't do it again. I wish Kanye all the luck, though.
December 1, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.

keep up the good work and dont take over bored
December 1, 2008 at 2:37 p.m.
10.0 out of 10

No offense Shady but thats the mentality that has kept hiphop down for the last 10 years.....stifling production with the same bpm's and every album you named is just a conclusion on the same tired message...its a miracle you didn't put the Carter III in there. Hiphop used to be out there....an expression of a generation. Look back to 3 Feet High and Rising, The Love Movement and even The Slim Shady LP...you need to take a chance before you can progress. Just my view....
December 6, 2008 at 6:55 p.m.

i copped kanye's album, and clearly he's a genius....his album is so appropriately titled its scary....and WilleBoy is so right about hip hop....& first off he's THE dude thats gonna be the hip-hop savior. Bold expression and a flow his own....i wuddnt dare say he got swag cuz that word cant even descibe his genius mentality personified thru music!....maybe im goin to deep into this, so imma jus say KANYE IS THE SHYTE!!! :-D :-)
December 9, 2008 at 2:43 p.m.
8.0 out of 10

bold.

streetlights kills.
December 11, 2008 at 2:49 a.m.

I thought this review captures what I felt initially towards this album--skepticism and a feeling of being
December 16, 2008 at 2:15 p.m.

man he moves me with this album i can relate im his fan so i will follow him through out his carrer. my daddyslash idol kanye all hares go ta hell
December 23, 2008 at 10:18 p.m.

The version of Love Lockdown that 808 missed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBUBiIrggtY
January 8, 2009 at 12:41 a.m.

Kanye did it again. He switched it up and I love the guy for that. Watch the money pile up haters.
September 17, 2009 at 12:42 p.m.

omg the 808's & heartbreaks is the best i love all the songs Kanye has a great talent there

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