Every artist, mainstream or not, deserves to have the chance to experiment with new sounds. The ability to put your established sound to the side for one conceptual album is something that can be rewarding for both the musician and the listener. The follow up to Kanye West’s most popular and acclaimed LP, 2007’s Graduation, is one of those albums.
Say what you will about West’s antics, the man can produce a solid hip-hop tune. Ever since his masterpiece debut album The College Dropout, West has been a hot name in hip-hop and pop music. His production skills are nearly unmatched in his genre and his likeable persona and catchy tunes have been the foundation of a broad and eclectic fan base. But not all things have been easy sailing for West over the past year. The emotional early passing of his mother in November of last year, followed by a breakup with his long time girlfriend, lead to the “therapeutic” writing and recording of this album, 808s & Heartbreaks. The album is no doubt a major departure from West’s previous trio of albums. Rarely to do we hear the hip-hop artist actually rap on 808s, instead Kanye sings with the help from an auto-tune device that both distorts the singer’s voice and matches it to the perfect pitch. While it may seem odd to release an emotionally distraught disc full of heartbreak songs on auto-tune, which all but strips the natural emotion from one’s voice, 808s & Heartbreak is surprisingly an album that works wonderfully well on its own merit.
Don’t get me wrong here; I was skeptic number one upon hearing the album’s first single “Love Lockdown,” which is really one of the weaker songs on the disc, repetitive and unimaginative sans the marching band drum beat. But as soon as I was able to listen to 808s & Heartbreak in its entirety, I was able to figure out just what West is trying to accomplish here and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As always, the production is top notch; West samples obscure pop tunes and jazz numbers, and adds a healthy layer of piano and strings to create a moody atmosphere. One of the most interesting things about the disc is the darker and much more brooding sound than what Kanye has ever experimented with in the past, if the vocals themselves don’t set the melancholy mood than the surrounding music does the job on its own.
Lyrically the fun loving flow of West has been completely replaced with a love scorn mess of heartfelt poetry. It’s an interesting look at a side of the artist that was only touched upon in earlier songs. In the unexpectedly poignant “Welcome to Heartbreak,” West laments that his flashy life is at times unfulfilling,
“He said his daughter got a brand new report card/And all I got was a brand new sports car.”
Though the heavily depressing subject matter may be a bit of a drag, 808s & Heartbreak’s palpable mood music becomes a perfect compliment to a night drive. Songs such as the piano filled “Street Lights” and the ethereal album closer “Coldest Winter,” will wrap you up in its deep moving progression. West doesn’t completely abandon his hip-hop roots either. Though West’s rapping input is very minimal, he garners the help of Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne on a couple of songs, the latter being a terrific performance by two of the most popular artists in the scene. Though a couple of the songs on the disc do fall flat, such as the regrettable “Robocop,” West isn’t usually recognized for creating seamless albums and the inevitable filler track is expected.
While it’s not likely that 808s & Heartbreak is going to be as successful as previous West albums, I have to applaud him for even giving an album like this a chance. It’s a disc that will undoubtedly grow on you if given the chance. I’m willing to make the prediction that this album, though not terribly successful upon release, will probably end up being a fan favorite among the Kanye diehards in the future. This is the role that any good concept album should play.
"808s & Heartbreak" is on sale November 24, 2008 from Rock-A-Fella.
