808s & Heartbreak

influence and relevance became the most tangible after West’s fourth studio album, 808’s & Heartbreak, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 450,145 copies in its first week. In the years since its release, 808s & Heartbreak has been cited as a prominent influence on subsequent hip hop, pop, and R&B music, as a new wave of rappers, singers, and producers came to adopt aspects of its style and thematic content. In 2014, Rolling Stone named it one of the 40 most groundbreaking albums of all time. Kanye West’s redefinition of popular music with the release of 808’s & Heartbreak reflected the musical and creative movements of the youth. This album cemented his place as an icon, and West continues to accurately communicate the values of youth…

Both of these losses were taken personally with West publically citing his everything from his wealth and success to his narrow-minded pursuits and selfish endeavors as his fatal flaws. Regarded as the black sheep of West’s discography, reception was anything but positive with the album receiving a 7.6, an all time low, from industry leading reviewer Pitchfork. The album was like nothing ever seen before, featuring prominent use of the Roland TR-808 drum machine with stacked synthesizer samples…

makes sense, but the line and execution itself ins’t stellar. Some whole verses even seem senseless in regards to the whole album. “Send it Up” may be the only track that has it’s presence on the album questioned. However, it becomes difficult to nit pick the lyrical choices on this album, which is why it’s lyrics are at times forgiven. Trying to pick apart whether this album’s lyrical prowess is a detriment to the album would be negating the album’s whole intention, to confidently proclaim…

The Life of Pablo, which was originally supposed to be called So Help Me God and Swish and many other trial and errors that did not make the cut. The Life of Pablo is Kanye West’s 7th studio album, which was first released only through streaming. Although the album is Kanye Wests’, he had plenty of help with engineering and creating lyrics for the album with others and even Grammy nominee musicians. Some of the musicians who were featured on the gospel-rap album were Kid Cudi; Chance the Rapper,…

Kid Cudi, the Man on the Moon, or even Mr. Rager are a few of the nicknames artist Scott Mescudi is known by. His influence and talent has been appreciated by many since he first emerged as a rapper from Cleveland in 2008. Since then, he's produced countless classics for our generation and has experimented with different sounds for our hearing pleasure. Last week I got the chance to see him perform for the second time at Revention Music Center and he had me leaving the venue an even bigger fan…

If I had the chance to talk to anyone for 30 minutes living or dead I think I would have to talk to an artist by the name Kid Cudi. He is a rapper who i have grown up listening to since i was 12 years old. His music is a mix of hip hop and alternative rock and it has such a unique twist to it. His real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, but he goes mostly just by Kid Cudi. I would want to have a conversation with Kid Cudi and ask him about his experiences that have shaped him as the person he…

background, after the first few seconds a fast paced piano comes in. The rapping starts to pick up its pace and the lyrics get sadder. Kanye Wests Heartless has been considered a masterpiece, and in my opinion it has been. Various artists had rarely used the auto-tuned sound, and Kanye brings it back with recent album “The College Dropout” and more in “808’s and Heartbreak”. Kanye wanted the fans to feel and take his words into their soul, and have it lodged into their spirit and energy. The…

Kanye West’s Album 808 and Heartbreak was the first time I had any exposure to the feeling of heartbreak. At the age of only 8, I listen to the lyrics and his cries throughout the album made it clear the man was hurt. For many years I’ve always thought that heartbreak was just an abstract concept, but actually experiencing it in my teenage years and reflecting back to my younger self, I’ve learned that there is nothing fake about it. It actually does play a role in your everyday life. The…

Before 2009 Drake was a no name actor-artist that nobody cared about, and that all changed after Kanye’s release of 808s & Heartbreak. “The sensitivity found in 808s opened the lane for Drake’s So Far So Gone.” (Fairfax). Kanye allowed for it to be socially acceptable for a rapper to have a sensitive side and Drake capitalized on this, by drawing on Kanye’s musical genius. “Tracks such as “Brand New” possess similarities to the musical elements on 808s & Heartbreaks, which have become Drake’s…

While many argue that autotune hurts the music industry by blurring the lines between what is and what is not talent, auto-tune can be used as a creative tool that allows artist who cannot sing to expand their audience through melody. This creative use of auto-tune is best exemplified through Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak. The album was the first of its kind, incorporating auto-tune ballads with rap instrumentals. In a CNN article titled “The Invention That Changed Music Forever”, author…