244. Kanye West, "808s & Heartbreak"

 


Famously recorded following the death of his mother and the breakup of his engagement to designer Alexis Phifer, Kanye's fourth album seemed like a bizarre outlier at the time, a rap album that's mostly sung, a cold and sparse cry from the heart.  Little did we know that it would go on to become a template for an entire genre, spawning all kinds of Soundcloud rap that would eventually take over the world.  Oh, and Drake's entire sound.

The 808s of the title refer, of course, to the Roland TR-808 drum machine that Ye used extensively (he only later learned that 808 was also the area code of Hawaii, where a good bit of the album was made), and it's appropriate in that the whole album sounds metallic and cold and machine-made.  Richly instrumented it is not.  The first song, for example, is punctuated by a drum machine track and a "bloop....bleep" that could be a game of Pong or a heart monitor; Kanye's vocals are wildly Autotuned, giving the whole thing an even icier effect.  Good thing, because it sounds like it's about tearing yourself away from someone.

This may sound crazy, but the musical reference I kept getting was Stevie Wonder.  Take away the effects and a lot of the vocal melodies are just great.  Take "Amazing," for example:


Now, regardless of how you feel about Kanye, that "No matter what, you'll never take that from me/My reign is as far as your eyes can see, it's amazing" melody is just great.  Then a song like "Paranoid," which somehow mixes new wave and funk.  There are just a ton of musical ideas on here which is characteristic of Kanye albums.  Even at their worst, they're still overflowing with cool new ideas.

OK, time to play my cards.  I kinda love this album.  I appreciate what he's trying to do here, and for the most part I think he succeeds.  Of course, this album has only gotten better every year as more and more artists have knicked its sound.  It was a Pitchfork 7.6 on release; now it's probably a retrospective 10.  My fondness for good vocal melodies really influenced how I feel about this record; I think it would be perfect for a long drive or for sitting in your room at 4 am looking at the wall because you can't sleep (just as Kanye does in "Coldest Winter").  The man is a genius, I really believe it.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Yes, definitely.

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