Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

9/10

Unbelievable.

Despite popular belief, it looks like Kanye is actually human, and it has been proven with this latest release. Finally it's more than just lyrics that portray the emotion of this hip hop star, and each song radiates with pain and heartbreak. Those of you looking for a straight up rap or hip hop album will most certainly be disappointed, but as far as I’m concerned, you can f**k off. Certainly this is a break through album, and not just for Kanye, but for hip hop, and pop music also.

The album opens with the song “Say You Will”. The song has a relatively simple beat and light texture, but being accented by choir and piano chords creates the perfect movement behind the lyrics. Kanye sings in this song, instead of rapping, and that is familiar with most of the album. There is a slight touch of auto tune through the song, and despite my recent concern for an absurd trend, it is not abused to point where he sounds like lil wayne, who quite frankly, sounds like a robot.

Following this track is “Welcome to the Heartbreak” which has an incredible hook sung by Kid Cudi. The song portrays what it’s like to be a celebrity and feel jealousy towards those who have the ability to live a so called “normal” life. This is probably the first song I listened to that made me think perhaps this album is going in a direction I may relate to. After this is a track we all know and love “Heartless”, a great track, more on the pop end but still fits in with the movement of the album as a whole.

The next track “Amazing”, along with this section of the album, is why I gave the album a 9 as opposed to a 10. Young Jeezy pretty much ruins that song for me. I can see why some people might enjoy that, if they’re serious rap fans, but otherwise, what is he talking about? Definitely nothing important, the song is decent without that, but it ruins the flow of the album and I’m not happy with his rap or his accents during the song.

“Love Lockdown” is the next track, not a bad song, but was already played to death before the album was released and that hurts this portion of the album. The song itself is great, it was the first taste we had of the “new” Kanye, and it definitely NEEDS to be on the album, but probably could have been better placed.

I don’t really know where “Paranoid” came from. I do think however, if you took the rapping out of it, it would be the sound track to an 80’s movie. The rapping and singing kind of saves the track but it’s still a weird fit with rest of the album. This is another track where on its own is a solid track but again is misplaced, I’m not sure it should even be on this album at all.

Getting back into the swing of the album we have “Robocop”, which, if I had to guess, is about his experience with women being predictable, probably a bigger problem for him than the rest of us. Either way the beat for this song is pretty awesome, the strings give it a really epic feeling and movement, and almost remind me of “Bittersweet Symphony”, and you can’t go wrong with that.

Next we move on to probably the best song I’ve head all year with “Street Lights”. This is the most heartbreaking song on the album; it has such an ambient atmosphere surrounding it, and where as I would normally choose an indie rock or ambient experimental rock song to fulfill these needs I now have Kanye, which not something I ever expected to happen. I could go on and on about how much I love this song, but I guarantee if you listen to it you’ll feel the same way.

“Bad News” fits right in after “Street Lights” and it’s another one of my favorite tracks on the record. The beat uses similar instrumentation as the rest of the album, and the song is driven by simple piano chords, but a solid progression. The auto tune in this song is a bit more evident, but again it isn’t overused. What I have neglected to mention so far, and what is absolutely prevalent in this album is the sections of instrumental music, not usually common within the genre, and it’s just another thing that makes this album stand out, and especially this song.

I’ve never been a fan of lil wayne, as you may have noticed earlier, but actually, not only can I tolerate him in “See You in My Nightmare” I think I may even like it, the chorus at least. The auto tune is pretty huge in this song, especially with lil wayne’s chorus, and his verse for the first time has a rhythm that doesn’t sound awful. It’s a sweet song, I’ll just say that.

Next is “Coldest Winter” which is another song about love and heartbreak and has a really solid hook. This is a shorter song, but it does its job and kind of sums up the rest of the album which is a nice touch. The chorus also has a loud booming tom beat, which gives it a pretty large sound and is a great touch production wise.

Finally we end with “Ponochio Story” which is a live freestyle, from a concert in Singapore. The song is just Kanye and a piano, and for lack of a better word, it's touching. The vocals have an echo on it which actually gives a nice natural sound. It being live really gives insight to the emotion he is trying to express with the album and I’m sure that’s why he included it on the track listing, because it certainly wasn't for quality reasons.

I’m not generally a hip hop fan, so I think for my perspective to say that this is an incredible album is quite a gesture. At the same time I wonder though, if rap fans will trash this album. I’m sure those who understand the difference between hip hop and rap will appreciate and respect the artistic presence that comes with this album. I think this is an album that truly is appealing to the masses, and Kanye, who is already a favored star in the indie, and rock world, is only taking it one step further, and thank god, or whoever.

Keep checking back for a comparison review from a hip hop fan's perspective.