Kanye West has had an hard year...and it's reflected in his latest album.
Now Ye, as I affectionately think of him, has quite the reputation as an overblown drama queen. He makes inane statements, argues on his blog, and keeps talking long after most people think he should have stopped.
I personally find the reputation and antics to be amusing and not outlandish at all. I think he recent statement at the AMA's explains it all...He wants to be Elvis.
Hmm, I think of Elvis as a bit of a repacking project targeted at young women with other people's music but I digress. The general sentiment was that he wanted to push the envelope.
Kanye did very well commercially on his last album, Graduation, and he could have stuck to that formula and found guaranteed (as much as these things are) success again.
Instead he changed his art entirely. Ye is known as a conscientious rapper, but on this album...he sings.
When I heard Ye was singing my first thought was of Andre 3000 singing on his side of the double cd Outkast put out a few years ago or Ceelo singing as one half of Gnarls Barkley but that is not the case. One has to wonder if this is the expanision of hip hop...there are an awful lot of rappers turning singers.
Instead Kanye employs the vocoder method that others like T-Pain (another "Rappa Ternt Singa") and Cher have used combined with his unique talent for beats. I meant the word beats too as the album revolves around beats....and heartbreak. Hmm, it appears the title is true to life. Now, I'm personally not a huge fan of the vocoder because I always wonder if the artist can actually sing without it...though admittedly it goes over well in a club or to workout with in the gym.
With those reservations in mind I logged into Last.fm and went to Mr. West's page to listen to the album. It's posted there in it's entirety. Off topic if you love music you must join Last.fm as you'll get access tons of music and based on your listening choices the site will recommend other artists...but I digress.
I...fell in love. I adore this album. I play it over and over again and get other people to listen to it. It's horrid because I am not an obsessed Kanye West fangirl in any shape, form, or fashion but I really do adore this album. The sparse beats and sullen songs really are enjoyable though there is irony in that I have never been in love and thus have never experienced heartbreak of that sort.
I loved it so much I bought it off iTunes, even though I abhor DRM, because I could not bear to wait for the CD to be shipped here. Yes, I know all about Amazon's MP3 service but...no if I'm going to download it I might as well download something whose quality I'm sure of...but I digress (do I love that saying or what).
As I said earlier Kanye West has had an hard year. His beloved Mother passed away and he and his fiance ended their engagement and the emotional pain of those events is found on the album. The other subject of note on the album is Ye's discovery that fame is lonely. I can't really relate to the loneliness of celebrity so much and would slam him for whining...except I CAN relate since he speaks of the isolation he experiences due to his drive to succeed . That I can utterly relate with (I won't bore you with the schedule I maintain when I'm not deployed).
My top songs include "Say You Will, Heartless, Amazing, Paranoid, See You In My Nightmares, and Robocop" although I could easily name the entire album. I quite like the freestyle "Pinocchio" regardless of it being a lament about fame.
About "Heartless"...a number of friends are pointing out my enjoyment of this song is rather ironic since I have been "that girl" to a number of people. I beg to differ...and I would defend myself but that is another blog entirely.
Some complain it is too different...life is dynamic not static...music should reflect that shouldn't it? Then again my taste in music is considered...eclectic to say the least.
Overall Mr. West (may I call you Ye?)...excellent album. Keep pushing the boundary...be "Elvis" (though I would suggest you are far more innovative than that so be Elvis in sales only)
Siobhan
Kabul, 1 December 2008, 1700
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He is the 2008 version of the 1984 version of Bruce Springstein...overrated.
Actually, I can listen to Bruce talk. Kanye makes me grab the remote.
I did mention that some think Kanye needs to stop talking :-)
Actually, personal dislike can affect your music taste because there is an artist whose music I have despised since I was a child and their activities as I got older did even less to endear them to me.
And Elvis just didn't end that well so I hope he has other role models beyond this ;0)
It was the first time that I had heard the album in full and we talked about it extensively--along with other important topics like the new Beyonce album, the whole Rihanna explosion/phenomenom and how bad Plies actually is. We fell out on 808 thusly:
Lover: hates 808. Insists that if any rapper other than Kanye tried to pull it off (i.e. Plies) it would be a career killer.
Nia: Adores 808. Like you, she claims no special allegiance to Kanye, but does admit to an Andre 3000 obsession. She compared 808 to The Love Below and also to Radiohead's "In Rainbows."
Camille: Adores 808 and Kanye. Noted that he's better suited to pull off 808 with his current status/rep when compared to other artists.
Marcus: Somewhat indifferent. He likes some elements, but is generally annoyed by the vocoder effect.
Brittnay: Likes 808 for the lyrics.
Me: Unsure of what to think just yet. Like my friends, I think that Kanye was in a unique position to drop this record. The way it is being publicized (not much at all) affirms that it is personal concept album--but I still think it will sell well. I respect that Kanye went out on a limb to do it. I do like the beats and I admire Ye's willingness to implement such a heavy and sparse electronic sound throughout.
One thing that is clear to me is that Kanye has learned from Outkast. No other rap acts have been so good at reinventing themselves (while at the height of their popularity, no less) to attain even higher levels of success. Outkast and Kanye are like the Beatles, or Radiohead. And if so, then Jay-Z in the Stones--the act that doesn't really have to reinvent to maintain booming sales...
Overall Consensus: The 808 album artwork is pretty damn cool. You should probably pick up the physical c.d. once you get the chance.
(thanks for the post... glad to see another hip hop fan around here).
@ Dorinda...if you can't tell by my post I"m not a fan of Elvis' s (ahem) "work" and I hope he comes to a better end also. I just read the Salon review and Kanye apparently said this album was therapeutic and better than suicide...oh my.
@ Edgar...Ye is definately in a unique position to drop this album. He has always carried himself as apart from mainstream or more accepted forms of rap. He said it himself on Graduation on "Big Brother." It does remind me of VERY MUCH of Radiohead and Andre 3000. I can't say how I much adore it enough. I previously only enjoyed Kanye albums (though Graduation had some winners). The iTunes version came with a digital booklet which does look very cool (the picture with his Mom is sad though) and whenever gets to the BX/PX on my Camp I'm picking it up.