808s & Heartbreak
Island Def Jam Records, 2008
REVIEW BY: Melanie Love
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/13/2009
To call Kanye West a blowhard is nothing short of an understatement. Thankfully, his music more than backs up his ego, as shown on his latest, 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak. This is a disc that I’ve found myself returning to constantly over the past year; it’s a soundtrack to shattered relationships and loss, as the title illuminates, but one that’s completely devoid of saccharine sentiment or weepy regret. The beats here are all chilly, remote Auto-Tune wizardry, sometimes masking West’s voice, sometimes serving as a stark contrast to his clear vocal hooks. Meanwhile, the frequent empty spaces in between the instrumentation add a layer of tenseness to the proceedings; this is clawing silence, not calming. In comparison to the swagger and bravado of Graduation, West here is bitter, wrecked, and removed – and he’s never sounded better.
Launching out with “Say You Will,” the album sets up its robotic, cramped tone, outfitted with simple bleeps of synths, muted drums, and vocals that echo like they’re reverberating off the walls of an empty cave. Though at six minutes, the repetitive nature of the track becomes plodding, it showcases West’s stark turnaround, abandoning Graduation’s boasts and thick, driving beats entirely. Even the blasts of energy are swathed in cynicism. The Auto-Tuned choruses of “Heartless” are strangely catchy when matched with chugging synths, but the lyrics run a predictable post-breakup gamut, combining a faux-confident kiss-off with utter emptiness. “Love Lockdown” is another radio staple and an album standout; jammed with throbbing drums and piano runs, there’s a fullness to this track that makes it a welcome break from 808’s relatively bleak spaciousness.
What works so well on this record is that it takes worn, almost predictable emotionalism and reworks it, giving it a brashness and an attitude you wouldn’t expect, especially considering West’s lack of rapping and his heaping everything in Auto-Tune. On “See You In My Nightmare” (featuring Lil Wayne), Wayne’s increasingly hysterical growls pair with West delivering lines like “Tell everybody that you know that I don’t love you no more” as the synths swell behind them; it’s an unsettling combination of elements, but strangely, it all not only comes together but is totally affecting.
Even on the more pumped-up tracks – “Paranoid” and “RoboCop,” in particular, which slide along on brighter groves and more tongue-in-cheek vocalization – there’s that perpetual undercurrent of isolation, of desperation, something that all the sparkling synthesizers and posturing in the world can’t quite wash over.
In a way, 808s & Heartbreak takes the consciously crafted persona of Kane West and adds a different dimension to the constant larger-than-license he’s so intent on broadcasting. For all the pathos here, there is still a resoundingly human beauty that even robotic Auto-Tuning and forced coldness can’t mask.