808's & Heartbreak-Review

'I'm a problem that'll never ever be solved'

-Kanye West

808’s & Heartbreak is far more than a rendition of Ye’s innovative sound, or controversial commentary: it’s a product of his heartfelt experiences: and it’s amazing.

The first listen to 808’s & Heartbreak will make you feel like a tourist being thrown into the Amazon rain forest, without a map. You will wonder ‘where the hell am I?’ And Ye will sadly respond: 'Welcome to Heartbreak.' Shock and confusion is what the new listener will experience, as Ye’s jungle can be bewildering at times; but amazement will prevail when the terrain becomes more familiar. You will have to get used to the new sound-but once you are, it quickly taps into the emotional core and an addicting yet depressing, Hollywood motion picture sound quality is revealed. Kanye has been a little cold and even brash on past hits (Can't Tell Me Nothing), but never this… sad. Nonetheless, the throbbing ache permeates throughout the entire album with a cinematic elegance. Ye seemingly borrowed Mr. Holland’s Opus, the Daft Punk dudes, and kidnapped a few Morris Brown drum majors and threw them into his pot of inspiration on 808’s & Heartbreak. The strong presence of synthesized voice seems like a guise which Ye explores to get the hurt out-yet, that ‘Yeezy’ factor is there. It’s unlike a typical ‘baby, baby please’ R. Kelly plea or the classic ‘Dear Mama’ ode as achieved by Tupac; but only the way that Mr. West delivers. And it’s unlike anything you will ever hear. Ever.

The mash-up of drums, synthesizers, singing and sadness are what gives method to the madness of 808’s & Heartbreak. Ye delves into a neglected emotion that he never fully explored on 'The College Dropout,' 'Late Registration,' or 'Graduation:' heartache. While all three albums maintained metaphoric and animated flow with tracks that tell his stories, boasting of victory, (Through the Wire) conscientiousness (Diamonds) or just plain 'Good Life,' Kanye's art always reflects his life. As we all know, life isn't always fun, fabulous and fresh-and 808's & Heartbreak is his testimony. He makes you feel his pain as he croons and speaks of his mother’s death in a synthed out, numbing rhythm on ‘Bad News.’ The production seems more emphasized as the track contains a lengthy break between lyrics and Ye let’s the beats linger on- like his pain.

A vision of Kanye sitting in a studio at a soundboard, depressed, warping away at a song in a confused daze is what may come to mind.

‘Heartless’ infuses rhyme over heavy bass, light flutes and a profound, sing-songy auto-tuned chorus. Ye goes through the motions of a shorty stomping all over his poor heart while attempting to maintain some manly pride in lines like ‘you need to watch the way you talking to me, yo.’ The hard-drums and TV-static on ‘The Coldest Winter’ are hard-hitting with a very melancholic feel as he morbidly sings a farewell to his mother: and maybe even his ability to love.

The overall sound is like a doomed journey. From the Jurassic Park quality of ‘Amazing’ where calm tribal-click-clacking, a soft piano with Young Jeezy’s signature ad-libs (that make him sound more Aztec-Indian warrior than dirty South rapper), to the dramatic-overpowering-woman who tries to strong-arm Ye, emphasized by sounds of robotic movements and heightened by symphony violins in ‘Robocop.’ It's hilarious hearing him compare 'the baddest girl he ever seen' to a killing machine- who's 'up late night like she on patrol' (It can only make you wonder about Alexis). Combining unusual sound qualities such as strings with gun blasts and Tyrannosaurus Rex noises makes for a surreal listening experience.

The cosmic-collegiate teddy bear persona went full fledged grizzly, especially on ‘See You in my Nightmare’ where he and Lil' Wayne lick their wounds and annoyingly growl out at the women who hurt them.

This album most definitely deviates from the fun-time, skirt-chasing, youthful Yeezy. He morphed his trauma into triumph amazingly.