No, this isn't an album review.
Okay. Commenting on the whole Kanye West going pop, perpetuating the autotune trend might be a little passe at this point, but I've been meaning to say something about the whole matter.
Yeah, Kanye has an ego. Yeah, he thinks he is the voice of our generation. Yeah, he thinks he is all that. Of course, all of this narcissism and pretentiousness has caused a great deal of criticism and hate to be thrown his way. When he decided to go pop and try his hand at singing, it came as no surprise that people were ready to jump at the chance to tear his new project apart. Even before 808s & Heartbreak people thought he should stop rapping and only concern himself with producing.
I might just be feeding his ego here, but cut the man some slack. For one, this album is highly personal. It is his way of dealing with the loss of his mother and the dissolution of his engagement. This album solidifies, at least for me, that he is a true artist. He could have easily played it safe and released another rap album, but instead he decided to take a risk and put out 808s. I'm sure he probably didn't think at all about the album's possible commercial failure, but, nevertheless, it was a bold move to make artistically after he had already established himself as a successful rapper, able to sell a lot of albums. 808s, while not having sold as well as his last two efforts thus far, has still managed to move a lot of units.
Honestly, I have only heard "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless." I'm not really making a case here for the music as much as I am for what the record represents. Yeah, he's relying on autotune when he sings, and, yes, with Lil Wayne and T-Pain before him, he is only helping to tire out the autotune/vocoder sound. However, 808s & Heartbreak finds a successful rapper taking a chance, trying to mix things up and stepping outside his comfort zone. It is one thing to make a few songs of this nature and include it on an album, but to make an entire album in this vein is quite a feat considering his musical background.
Personally, I feel like he is making music with a passion and drive that not too many other artists are exhibiting these days. Sure, he enjoys making the money, but it appears he really puts his soul into what he does and that is something to appreciate and respect. I may not have heard the bulk of 808s & Heartbreak, so it may be not such a great album...maybe it really is terrible...maybe it is incredible...but props to Kanye for not relying on his past successes and writing what would have to be considered pop music.
Again, I'm not speaking for the quality of the music. I have not heard the album.
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