‘Ye provided rappers with a platform to share their art, which is the whole point of G.O.O.D Music’s mantra: getting out our dreams. Yes, emotional rappers were nothing new (Joe Budden has made a career out of it), but outside of Drake, you’ve now also got Travi$ Scott, whose entire discography sounds like a rebellious 808s and Heartbreak. Influence is everything.ĭrake‘s whole sound is a more refined, clean-cut and thought-out version of 808s and Heartbreak. Kid Cudi is one of the leaders of the new school, and his upcoming Speedin’ Bullet To Heaven should be nothing short of amazing. Cudi himself has mentioned that if he rapped about money, cars, and hoes, there would be no Drake. 808s and Heartbreak is essentially Cudi’s sound with Kanye’s voice – similar to Drake’s Take Care being so heavily influenced by The Weeknd’s moody temperament. And after Man on the Moon: The End of Day, the sound is technically grandfathered by Kid Cudi. What was sing-rapping before Kid Cudi? Sure, there’s Drake, but So Far Gone dropped seven months after A Kid Named Cudi came out. How often do we actually get to hear Kanye sing? The only thing more entertaining is his dancing. The Auto-Tune highlighted Kanye’s shortcomings, but ironically, the weakest part of 808s is also its biggest strength. It was also refreshing to hear someone other than T-Pain using Auto-Tune. On top of the vulnerability in his music, the earnestness in ‘Ye’s voice added another layer of emotion. We all know Kanye West can’t really sing, but watching him belt out notes he can’t hit was such an endearing quality about the album. Here are five reasons 808s and Heartbreak is Kanye West’s best album yet. It’s safe to say the rap/singing game has changed since, and Kanye had a huge part in that.
But back in 2008, it was a few years ahead of its time, and like any worthwhile piece of art, it drew both good and bad criticism. An album of its sort today would be more expected and lauded by the public. If he runs all its tracks through Auto-Tune, it isn’t just to get the notes right, but to convey the reality of what it means to try to feel everything at once: You go numb.It’s been seven years since Kanye West dropped the boundary-pushing 808s and Heartbreak. And for all its robotic austerity, 808s is a kind of kids’ album, or at least one that taps into the rush of unsorted emotions that comes with youth. Kanye says he started exploring melody because that’s how teachers taught concepts to him when he was a kid-learning through song. And no matter how alienated fame makes him feel (“Welcome to Heartbreak”), he can’t quite give it up (“Amazing”). He recognizes the transitory nature of life (“Street Lights”), but it doesn’t stop him from holding a grudge (“Heartless”). His pain is real (“Coldest Winter”), but his arrogance is, too (“RoboCop”). But in the intervening years, the album has become a blueprint for an entirely new wave of rap: introverted, melodic, melancholy, confessional-the sound of Drake and The Weeknd on down to Juice WRLD and Lil Uzi Vert. At least, it certainly wasn’t when it came out in 2008. It isn’t hip-hop in the conventional sense. But you’d have to have a pretty good internal compass to bet your future on where that wind’s gonna take you. You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, Dylan sang-a line, incidentally, from the first electric song of his that most people would have heard (“Subterranean Homesick Blues”). Like Dylan, the new direction made him a genius to some and a traitor to others-a split that highlighted both the divisiveness of his art and the conservative streak in a scene where the imperative to keep it real can be as stifling as it is comforting. Like Dylan, Kanye didn’t need the fame or credibility: His third (and third multiplatinum) album, 2007’s Graduation, had come out only a year earlier, and he’d already established himself as the kind of visionary who could steer the conversation while hovering somewhere above it. Perhaps the best comparison for 808s & Heartbreak is when Bob Dylan went electric in 1965.
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