Each track is peppered with angst and depression. Similar in tone to his 2018 record 'ye', 808s is a sort of electronic emo-art-pop. Kanye is dealing with a heavy load here and the lyrics show here. The use of warped electronic landscapes, tribal drums and passionless singing manipulated through Auto-Tune can be a turn off to people expecting another College Dropout. Musically, 808s is a tough album to get down.
Never the less, 808s sold and was received well and recently has been credited as his most influential album, inspiring artists like The Weeknd and Drake. Many felt Kanye had abandoned what had made him good and was now catering to a white audience with pop songs instead of rap. The famous TR-808 drum machine was vital to the album's construction and West's choice to use auto tune over his voice (mainly to produce a distorted robotic sound and to pitch correct some flat notes) was the source of some media scrutiny. Seeking change, Kanye had away with hip hop beats and samples, instead focusing on crafting a record vastly different from his previous. Now without the women he loved and the women who he idolised, Kanye was well and truly alone. Recently, his fiancé Alexis Phifer had left him, ending a longtime relationship and worse yet, his Mother Donda, the inspiration for the track 'Hey Mama' from Late Registration, had passed away due to complications following plastic surgery. It's an album dealing with personal demons and West certainly had a few af this point. There's very little fun to be had in 808s and Heartbreak (bar maybe the surprisingly bombastic yet out of place 'RoboCop'). Instead, 808s takes on distorted icy synth landscapes, lead by West's robotic auto tuned voice. Gone are the stylish beats and soul samples, the uplifting but at truthful lyrics.
Kanye 808s and heartbreak tracklist full#
While his first two records were lush, soulful upbeat hip hop and his third, a full on anthemic stadium rap album, 808s and Heartbreak takes a wildly different approach.
Kanye 808s and heartbreak tracklist series#
Recorded in a quick 3 weeks after a series of intense emotional stress and trauma for Kanye, 808s is a complete turn around from his previous work. I pray you willĨ08s and Heartbreak is the sound of a man falling apart at the seams. recruit Kid Cudi hops on "Welcome To Heartbreak" and the breezy "Paranoid." The album isn't concerned with guest spots or the usual Kanye chipmunk breaks, but Jeezy turns in a quick verse on "Amazing," and "Bad News" features a sample of Nina Simone's "See Line Woman.Review Summary: Don't say you will.
It's also crazy to hear Fool's Gold's young gun on the come-up as newly inked G.O.O.D. Personality aside, the thumping lead single "Love Lockdown" and follow-up "Heartless" are just solid joints by any standards. What's so compelling about Kanye West that makes everyone clamor for anything new the man drops? Four albums deep and I'm still not quite sure - but I do know that if you told me about some other rando artist who whipped up an album in a month using mainly Auto-Tune and a TR-808, I probably wouldn't care this much. Here's our original Lab review from 2008: Now all we need is the Graduation reissue. With the original pressing going for anywhere from $50-200, you either love or hate this reissue. As far as we can tell, this official reissue has identical specs to the 2008 release: Kaws artwork, inserts, triple gatefold, double vinyl and bonus CD.