At this point, I've reviewed enough of Kanye's music to skip any kind of introduction, I'll even skip past all the usual feelings of "He used to be so good" and instead, I'll now focus your attention to the album that split the fanbase. In fact, this album is the catalyst (more than just musically) to the Kanye that we see today. This album is simultaneously a break up album and an album mourning the death of Kanye's mother, both of which left Kanye an emotional wreck, which he puts on full display on perhaps his most polarizing album, 808s & Heartbreak.
Keep in mind, that last statement is made knowing full well that most of Kanye's material post Graduation has also been said to have the same effect; people either love it to death, or hate it with a passion. But this album was the originator; with a completely different sound, a severe lack of hip-hop tracks and even a lack of the signature sampling that Kanye built his reputation on, 808s was a huge slap in the face back when it came out, and even though it is far more easy to digest nowadays, due in large part to it being a huge inspiration to some of raps biggest names currently (Travis $cott, Chance the Rapper etc.) it is still a pretty jarring listen if listened in sequence with his first three LP's.
And while a lot of fans and critics have noted this album's many flaws, I've always found this LP to be perhaps Kanye's most interesting. It is, in my opinion, the kind of flawed masterpiece that many people claim that Yeezus or Life of Pablo is. And while it is evident that those two albums are definitely adventurous in terms of pushing Kanye's sound in new directions, they both, especially Yeezus, don't have as much purpose in their execution. 808s is a true moment of vulnerability for Kanye, and luckily, lacks a lot of the egotistical posturing that mires most of his more recent releases. On this album, he does indulge in some moments of TMI, but he never follows it up with some show of wealth or machismo, instead, Kanye bares it all, and doesn't try and compensate for any of it.
All that aside, there is actually a pretty great album here too. With tracks like "Heartless" and "Love Lockdown" being shining examples of this new sound working wonderfully, and even deep cuts like "Paranoid" and "Robocop" shine through. For a lot of people, this album was nearly unlistenable due to the use (or overuse) of autotune, something that the last half-decade has certainly made less of an issue. And while to some degree it is true that Kanye relies on the effect a bit too much, it is important to put it all in the correct context; Kanye is emotionally devastated on the majority of this LP, and the cold, calculated nature of the beats and his vocals, show just alienated and lost he felt at the time, just like the track "FML" off of Pablo.
And while I'm on the subject, 808s is one of the most emaculately produced LP's I've ever heard. If I had to point to the zenith of Kanye's work as a producer, this would be it. Every inch of this thing is creative and gorgeously arranged. From the tribal robotics of "Love Lockdown" to the absolutely heart wrenching loneliness evoked by the instrumental on "Coldest Winter", Kanye crafted this album, and the result is nearly flawless.
Still, there are flaws, most of which can be blamed on the trendy nature of the features (Jeezy and Wayne aren't awful, but feel out of place) and the closing freestyle is simply unnecessary, and is the lone miss on the entire album production-wise; though it was recorded live, so that's not much of a surprise. But, again, this album is simply amazing and is, in my opinion, one of Kanye's finest, easily.
9.2/10
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