Since he dropped The College Dropout back in 2004, Kanye West has emerged as music's most divisive voice. The glowing reviews, the hit singles, the awards.....the tantrums, the rants, the outlandish comments. No one has generated more praise, and yet more controversy, than 'Ye.
The thing that makes Kanye such an alluring figure is his honesty. No one calls it like he sees it quite like him. Some artists say they speak their minds, but Kanye's one of the few who holds true to this mantra. The man openly complains about not winning awards that he feels he deserves. The mere fact that he openly admits that he deserves recognition for his works is something of an anomaly, and it's this very reason why so many hate him while others adore him.
Kanye also doesn't shy away from acknowledging the music that inspires him. Prior to the release of the synth-heavy Graduation, Kanye admitted a growing fondness for new wave pop rockers The Killers, whose own sound was heavily defined by their usage of synth chords. As of late, however, it's no secret that Kanye has developed an affinity for radio hit machine T-Pain, whose use of Autotune has become popular music's biggest fad. Kanye has used the technique on a number of recent guest appearances including John Legend's Evolver and the aforementioned T-Pain's Thr33 Ringz.
Outside of the music, Kanye's personal life has been filled with turmoil. The well-publicized death of his mother, Donda, and his split from now ex-fiance Alexis Phifer. And with any artist in any given field, it seemed only natural that at some point Kanye would have to do some major venting.
And that all leads us to this: 808s & Heartbreak, a conceptual album of sorts, that features Kanye making use of the influential singsongy Autotune to bear his soul in a way he's never done before. When the first single "Love Lockdown" dropped, it left many (myself included) scratching their heads. What on Earth was Kanye doing, and why was he doing it? This couldn't possibly be the same man who gave us Late Registration, could it? Needless to say, the doubt over the merits of this album are as high as they've ever been in West's illustrious career.
So the ultimate question is: what are we to make up 808s? Is it really the disaster that everyone believed it would be?
Well, in a word........no. It isn't. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Kanye has done something many of his contemporaries could never dream of saying: he's crafted a genuinely great pop album.
Now this isn't to say I'm still not conflicted. Because, boy, am I ever. I'd go as far as to say that this album has left me more indifferent than any piece of music I've ever heard. And yet, the problem isn't the album itself. The problem is the man behind the music.
See, here's the thing: as an album, 808s has some genuinely beautiful moments. Kanye has created some of the most brilliantly hypnotic slices of electro-pop I've heard in some time. The problem with this is, it's Kanye. While you want to feel the sense of pain and torment spilt across the lyrics, it's hard to do so when you're aware of the man behind it all. And it doesn't help that said man is incredibly limited as a vocalist. To use an analogy, it'd be like Jay-Z recording a swing album about how hard it is to be a teenage girl living in Indonesia. Even though he may pull it off, it's hard to fully appreciate it because it's fucking Jigga.
Hearing Kanye try to be a brooding pop vocalist is painful, yet at the same time, the album somehow manages to sound convincing. So, in a nutshell, Kanye is as capable of writing and producing gorgeously dark, engrossing, and unnerving pop as well as anyone in mainstream music, but his limitations as a vocalist and his baggage as an individual make it a conflicting listen.
With all that being said, let's take a listen to the songs themselves:
1.) "Say You Will"
The album gets off to a pitch black start. It's a haunting, minimalistic song, that features Kanye crooning through it's opening three minutes with lines like "When I grab your neck, I touch your soul". Then Kanye leaves, and we're left with three minutes of a cryptic electronic choir and desolate electronic pulses to keep us company. It's a fascinating listen, and certainly an eye-opening start.
2.) "Welcome to Heartbreak"
Beginning with some somber chamber strings, the song transitions into a dark synth/string driven number in which Kanye laments, seemingly, on how vapid and fruitless his life really is: "My friend showed me pictures of his kids/And all I could show him was pictures of my cribs"
It's another brooding song, but it's another great listen. Kanye's vocals are funneled, which makes him sound like he's reflecting from a great distance away.
3.) "Heartless"
The second single, it's also one of the better Autotune'd singles on the radio right now. It may be the only song on the album that could be considered a true "club track". It's a solid electronically tinged "hip pop" song.
4.) "Amazing" (feat. Young Jeezy)
Tribal drums, dark bluesy piano chords, and extremely funneled vocals define the fourth track. Kanye's crooning here is a little grating, but the track is decent. The Jeezy verse literally comes out from nowhere, and it's forgettable.
5.) "Love Lockdown"
The first single, and it's one of my least favorite tracks from the album. It just starts and never really goes anywhere. Although, Autotune be damned, the bass is still hypnotic.
6.) "Paranoid"
And there goes the momentum. This track is a flat out mess. Some bizarre, electro 80s dance song that sounds like a train wreck with vocal harmonies. Skip skip skip.
7.) "Robocop"
Another mess of a track. Digital effects zoom in and out chaotically, and the hook is downright laughable. I pray this doesn't become a hit, because it'd only go to prove how awful radio pop is at the moment. Again, skip skip skip.
8.) "Streetlights"
The album gets slightly back on track with this one. It's a beautiful track with thudding bass, haunting piano work, and a cascading electronic melody. Kanye's vocals, again, are the weak link, although a random female vocal takes it up a notch.
Surprisingly, no Autotune in sight.
9.) "Bad News"
A hand clappy beat, funneled Kanye vocals, and gospel-esque piano chords get this song off to a decent start. But once Kanye stops singing, a beautiful string arrangement kicks in and the rest of the instrumental is minimalistic and flat out sick.
10.) "See You In My Nightmares (feat. Lil Wayne)"
Ah, the Weezy joint. Some questionable lyrics at the end aside, this is one of the strongest songs on the album. Weezy and Kanye exchange affected vocal performances behind a slick pulsating beat. The album is coming to a strong finish.
11.) "Coldest Winter"
A terrific final song. Again, Kanye's vocal limitations are the track's weakest aspect. The deep electronic chords and thundering drums are a wonderful backdrop for the moody lyrics, and a sequence of electronic keys post-chorus just heighten the desperate tone of it.
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And there you have it. This album is going to be dissected for months (if not years) to come. Some will defend it. Some will want to burn Kanye at the stakes for it. You'll need an incredibly open mind, but if you try to listen to the album for what it is, you'll find a fascinating piece of music. However, if it had been handled by a more fitting vocalist, it could have been more.
On the flip side, I applaud Kanye for the effort, but I'll be waiting impatiently for his genuine follow-up to Graduation. One hopes for hip hop's sake, this is just a detour.
Grade: B
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