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808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released November 24, 2008 on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii during September to October 2008. It was primarily produced by West, No I.D., and Jeff Bhasker. Conceived in the wake of multiple events that affected and distressed him during the previous year, 808's & Heartbreak marked a major musical departure for Kanye West from his previous work, lyrically, vocally, and production-wise.

Classified by West as a pop album, 808s & Heartbreak incorporates elements of synthpop, electronica, R&B, and electropop, while its tracks are primarily sung rather than rapped by West and contain lyrical themes such as love, loneliness, and heartache. The album also contains a predominant use of the Auto-Tune voice processor and the Roland TR-808 drum machine, which was utilized and manipulated by West to produce a distorted, electronic sound. Approaching the album's production in a minimalist fashion, West intended to contravene the typical sound of hip hop beat and instead evoke a presence of tribal drums.

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 450,145 copies in its first week, and it produced four singles that attained Billboard chart success. 808s & Heartbreak became his fourth album to sell 1 million copies in the United States and was certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America. Despite a divided reaction from music audiences towards West's stylistic change, the album received generally positive reviews from most music critics upon its release. In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine named it the sixty-third best album of the 2000s decade.

Conception

Background

Following the release of his third studio album Graduation, the remainder of 2007 and the following year featured events that emotionally affected Kanye West. On November 10, 2007, West's mother Donda West died due to complications arising from cosmetic surgery involving a tummy tuck and breast reduction procedure. Months later, West broke off his engagement and separated from his fiancée Alexis Phifer. At the same time, West struggled to adapt to his new found pop star status he had once strived to achieve, often becoming the subject of media scrutiny. The loss, loneliness and longing for companionship and a sense of normality served to inspire the conception 808s & Heartbreak. West stated that "This album was therapeutic — it's lonely at the top." A photograph taken by Danny Clinch of West kissing his mother on the cheek was included in the album's booklet liner notes.

West felt that the emotions he felt within his heart could not be fully expressed simply through rapping, saying that aside from the fact that rapping had limitations, there were "melodies that were in me — what was in me I couldn't stop." West went to classify 808s & Heartbreak as a pop album, asserting his disdain towards the contemporary backlash to the concept of pop music and expressed admiration for what some pop stars have accomplished in their careers. He later stated that he wishes to present the music as a new genre called "pop art", clarifying that he was well aware of the visual art movement of the same name and wished to present a musical equivalent. "Either call it 'pop' or 'pop art', either one I'm good with."

Recording

The album was recorded over a span of approximately three weeks from September to October 2008. Recording sessions took place at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and at Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii. As implied by its title, 808s & Heartbreak prominently features the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Drawing inspiration from 1980s synthpop and electropop performers such as Phil Collins, Gary Numan, TJ Swan and Boy George, West felt that the 808 is a resourceful instrument that can be used to evoke emotion; the concept was introduced to him by Jon Brion. West utilized the sounds created by the 808 and manipulated its pitch to produce a distorted, electronic sound, an effect he referred to as "heartbreak". He felt the characteristic of the sound was representative of his state of mind. According to West, the fact that Hawaii's area code was "808" was coincidental, as he had already developed the album's title before being informed. The realization inspired him to pursue his direction with the album, however. In terms of musical direction, West's intentions, according to Mike Dean, were to go against the typical sound of hip hop beat, instead evoking the presence of tribal drums. Overall, West maintained a "minimal but functional" approach towards the album's studio production.

The album makes prominent use of the voice audio processor technology of Auto-Tune. West had previously experimented with the technology on The College Dropout for the background vocals of "Jesus Walks" and "Never Let Me Down", but he had not used it for lead vocals until 2008. "We were working on the remixes for Lil Wayne's 'Lollipop' and Young Jeezy's 'Put On' and he fell in love with the Auto-Tune", producer Mike Dean explained. Towards this end, West enlisted T-Pain for coaching on how to utilize the technology. West himself openly stated that he loves using Auto-Tune and is dismayed that the term has been commonly associated with being "wack". He considers the technology "the funnest thing to use" and compared the situation to when he was a child and thought the color pink was cool until someone told him "it was gay", producing an analogy of how the views of society can rob people of their confidence and self-esteem. He later went on to state that he enjoyed the electronic feel produced by Auto-Tune and sought out to juxtapose the mechanical sounds with the traditional sounds of taiko drums and choir monks. Rapper Kid Cudi, who had signed onto West's G.O.O.D. Music label, contributed to two of the album's songs. Young Jeezy contributed a rap verse on the track "Amazing" while "See You in My Nightmares" is a duet with Lil Wayne. Singer-songwriter Esthero provided the few female vocals found on the album; credited under birth name Jenny-Bea Englishman, she co-wrote three tracks. When "RoboCop" appeared on the Internet, West refuted responsibility and was upset that the leak had occurred as the track was an unfinished version. Mike Dean had previously stated that the track was expected to receive additional treatment by Herbie Hancock before the album's release.

Release and promotion

On September 24, West announced that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November. In his blog post, he wrote "I changed my album to November something cause I finished the album and I felt like it..I want y'all to hear it as soon as possible". West later stated that the album would be released on November 25, 2008. However, Island Def Jam, the distributing label, brought the date by one day to capitalize on Thanksgiving weekend. 808s & Heartbreak was also released on November 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom and the Philippines. A limited edition in a digipak case was first released in Germany on November 21, 2008. A special edition of the album was released on December 16 that contains the album in CD and dual LP format, and also features album artwork redone by the artist of the original cover, KAWS.

On October 16, West released an excerpt of "Coldest Winter" on the radio station Power 106 in Los Angeles. The track recreates elements of the song "Memories Fade" by the band Tears for Fears. The song "Paranoid" later leaked onto the Internet and features Mr. Hudson in the chorus. A remixed version of "Paranoid" was reported to feature pop singer Rihanna, but did not materialize. Also appearing prior to the release date were "Amazing" featuring Young Jeezy, "See You in My Nightmares" featuring Lil Wayne, "Street Lights", "Say You Will", "Welcome to Heartbreak" and "Bad News". An additional track, "Pinocchio Story" is a freestyle recorded at a live concert in Singapore. It was included in the album at the request of Beyoncé Knowles.

On October 14, West, in collaboration with Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft, hosted a promotional album listening event at Ace Gallery. Over 700 guests were invited to preview the entirety of 808s & Heartbreak. Under Beecroft's guidance, the event featured approximately forty nude women wearing nothing besides wool masks who silently stood in the center of the room. The women were illuminated by multicolored lights that would change as the music progressed. When it came time for him to speak, West stated that he'd been a fan of Beecroft's work and strong imagery, saying that he liked the idea of nudity because "society told us to wear clothes at a certain point". Beecroft had been contacted a month prior and conceptualized and generated the installation in a week. Beecroft admitted that while he had caught her offguard, she had the opportunity to hear the album for herself and heard things that touched her own life. Five days later, promotional photos for the album by photographer Willy Vanderperre were released. The images portrayed West wearing a grey glen plaid suit, large browline glasses, and a heart-shaped pin.

In October 2009, West was scheduled to embark on a tour, The Fame Kills Starring: Lady Gaga and Kanye West Tour, in promotion of Gaga's The Fame, and West's 808's & Heartbreak. It was canceled on October 1, 2009, without reason.

Reception

Initial reaction

t wasn't really the traditional Kanye hip-hop album. He went out of the box, which some people loved, but for others, it took a while to grow on them.

The reaction to 808s & Heartbreak around the time of its conception was mixed, ranging from anticipation to bewilderment and indifference. Upon the unveiling of the lead single "Love Lockdown" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, music audiences were taken aback by the uncharacteristic production style and the presence of Auto-Tune. The negative feedback intensified when West eventually revealed that the entire album would be primarily sung with Auto-Tune rather than rapped and would focus heavily on themes of love and heartache. Numerous hip hop fans and certain rappers mocked West for becoming "sappy" while others deemed the upcoming LP as a throwaway experimental album. Comparisons were drawn to Electric Circus album made by West's labelmate and close friend Common. MTV eventually interviewed Common to share his thoughts and views on the artistic direction of the album. Common expressed both his understanding and his support for West's intentions, stating:

I love it. I'mma tell you, as an artist, you wanna be free. I'mma do what I feel. You can't just cater to the audience. You gotta say, 'Hey, y'all, this is where I'm at.' For him to do an album called 808s and Heartbreak, you know that's where he is at this moment. I heard some songs, and I think it's fresh. I think the people are ready for it.

West received similar approval from Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy, both of whom contributed to the album. During an interview, when asked what music today inspires him, Wayne stated "Everybody's doing their thing, but they're not exciting. Everybody is doing the same thing. That's terrible. Do I love the music that's out right now? I love it with a passion. Does it motivate me? Not one bit. That's because 808s & Heartbreak isn't out yet." Despite the approval from the rap superstars, as well as the record-breaking chart performances of the first two singles, hip hop audiences remained indifferent towards the album, predicting it would flop. Responding to reviews, West stated that he didn't care about sales or getting good ratings, saying that it came from the heart and that's all that matters to him. When asked about the current state of hip hop, West compared it to a high school, stating that hip hop used to be all about being fearless and standing out, and that now it is about being afraid and fitting in.

Commercial performance

In its first week of sales, 808s & Heartbreak reached the number one spot on Billboard 200, selling 450,145 units in its first week. The album has sold 1.5 million units according to Nielsen SoundScan. In the last week of the year, 808s & Heartbreak sold 165,100 copies, jumping from the eleventh spot back up to the number five on the Billboard 200. The album moved up again the following week, selling 70,900 units and landing at number three. On January 27, 2009, 808s & Heartbreak was certified platinum in sales by the RIAA, serving as West's fourth album to sell 1 million copies in the United States.

Despite the debate and uncertainty surrounding the album's conception, its preceding singles demonstrated outstanding chart performances. Upon its release, the lead single "Love Lockdown" debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a "Hot Shot Debut". It is the highest debut of West's career, the second highest debut on the Hot 100 that year and the tenth song of the millennium to debut in the top three. Grossing over 1.3 million copies at the iTunes Store alone, the single was certified platinum by the RIAA by the end of the year. The single was also met by positive reviews from music critics, eventually culminating with being crowned "Song of the Year" by Time. The second single, "Heartless" performed similarly and became his second consecutive "Hot Shot Debut" by debuting at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Due in part to the momentum produced by the album's release, certain tracks were met by chart success despite not actually being released as singles. The tenth track "See You in My Nightmares" became yet another "Hot Shot Debut," peaking at number twenty-one in the U.S. and at number twenty-two in Canada while the fourth track "Amazing" charted at eighty-nine on the Hot 100. Following suit, "Welcome to Heartbreak" peaked at number eighty-seven on the Pop 100.

Critical response

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(A-)
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)
The New York Times	(mixed)
NME	(7/10)
Pitchfork Media	(7.6/10)
PopMatters	(8/10)
Rolling Stone
USA Today
The Village Voice	(favorable)

Upon its release, 808s & Heartbreak received generally positive reviews from most music critics, based on an aggregate score of 75/100 from Metacritic. Reviews commented specifically on the change of style from previous West releases. USA Today gave the album a perfect 4 out of 4 stars saying, "West deftly uses the 808 drum machine and Auto-Tune vocal effect to channel his feelings of hurt, anger and doubt through his well-crafted lyrics." The Times also gave the album a perfect rating claiming, "This so should not work...Yet 808s & Heartbreak is a triumph, recklessly departing from the commercially copper-bottomed script and venturing far beyond West’s comfort zone." Vibe expressed that "Kanye has created his greatest album to date", while The Washington Post celebrated the album's cultural themes and emotional honesty, calling it "an information-age masterpiece about falling into the depths of loneliness while a nation of millions checks your blog for updates," and anointed it "the best album released this year." Newsday gave the album an A rating, calling the album "austere and disciplined", while The Los Angeles Times praised the album's oddities, saying, "But as strange and even tedious as 808s and Heartbreak might strike some listeners, it's not just a puppet show. Or rather, it is, and all the more fascinating for that."

Billboard gave a favorable review, stating that "Sonically, West pushes the envelope by relying on the drum machine from which the album takes its title, as well as the ever-popular vocoder." The Observer gave a 4 out of 5 star rating, finding that West's personal lows made for a good album, stating, "It might seem harsh but let's hope he doesn't find too much happiness in the meantime. Loneliness is proving quite the muse." The Chicago Sun-Times initially thought that the album had more potential than was reached, but still gave a positive critique, "If West had interspersed the more mechanical tracks with some that were the exact opposite--say, simple piano interludes provided by his old collaborators John Legend or Jon Brion--he might have made a masterpiece. Instead, he's merely given us an extremely intriguing, sporadically gripping, undeniably fearless and altogether unexpected piece of his troubled soul." A month later, the paper included the album on its list of the year's ten best albums and wrote, "With every listen, the poignancy of these personal tales of loss grows deeper, perfectly matched by the cold, lonely, robotic but nevertheless winning grooves that accompany them. Upon further reflection, it is a brave and daring 4-star effort that deserves to be heard by any fan of adventurous pop music." NME gave it a 7/10 rating, and concluded in its review that the album is "a surprising, but bold and brave progression from last year’s confused 'Graduation'".

In a generally mixed review, Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave the album 2 out of 5 stars and stated "For anyone sifting through a broken relationship and self-letdown, this could all be therapeutic. Otherwise, no matter its commendable fearlessness, the album is a listless, bleary trudge along West's permafrost." The Boston Globe wrote a negative review of the album, writing that West "relies so heavily on Auto-Tune, the du jour studio trick that dominates Top 40 urban radio, that you don't get a real sense of his vocal chops", and describing the lyrics as "not strong enough to build into full-blown choruses." Uncut's John Lewis disliked the album's production and sound, stating "the lo-fi production makes everything sound like an unfinished demo". Wilson McBee of Slant Magazine criticized West's singing voice, writing that "West would be unbearable without Auto-Tune, and even with the computer enhancement he sounds only a little better than the average drunk at a karaoke bar or halfway-serious American Idol reject." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times concurred with this sentiment in a largely mixed review stating, "Mr. West can't sing, and it is that weakness for which this album will ultimately be remembered, some solid songs notwithstanding. For him, using Auto-Tune, the pitch-correction software with the robotic vocal effect, is a true crutch." On his general view of the album, Caramanica wrote that "At best, it is a rough sketch for a great album, with ideas he would have typically rendered with complexity, here distilled to a few words, a few synthesizer notes, a lean drumbeat. At worst, it’s clumsy and underfed, a reminder that all of that ornamentation served a purpose." Pitchfork Media gave 808s & Heartbreak a 7.6/10 rating, and columnist Scott Plagenhoef described the album as "an introspective, minimal electro-pop record steeped in regret, pain, and even more self-examination than a typical Kanye West album."

Accolades

The album was named one of the ten best albums of 2008 by a number of publications, including The Hartford Courant (number 7), NOW (number 4), The Observer (number 8), Vibe (no order) and Time (number 6). Pitchfork Media named 808s & Heartbreak the twenty-first best album of 2008. Dan Leroy of LA Weekly cited it as one of the top ten hip hop albums of the year. Jam! named it the top album of 2008. Time Out New York featured the album on its list of the Best and Worst Albums of 2008. The magazine's writer Colin St. John cited 808s & Heartbreak as one of the worst of 2008, and editor Steve Smith named it third on his best-of list, while calling the album "the year's most misunderstood triumph." 808s & Heartbreak received a nomination for Outstanding Album at 40th annual NAACP Image Awards. The album also received a nomination for Best Album at the 2009 MOBO Awards. In 2009, Rolling Stone ranked it number 63 on its list of the 100 Best Album of the Decade.

Despite its accolades, 808s & Heartbreak was largely overlooked as a contender for the 52nd Grammy Awards. According to Vibe magazine editor-in-chief Jermaine Hall, West's controversial incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and the ensuing backlash against West "probably hurt him", but perceived West's stylistic change on the album as the primary reason for it not being nominated. West received one solo nomination, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Amazing", and five other nominations for his guest appearances and collaborational work.

Influence

Although West designed it as a melancholic pop album, 808s & Heartbreak had a significant effect on hip hop music. While his decision to sing about love, loneliness, and heartache for the entirety of the album was at first heavily criticized by music audiences and the album predicted to be a flop, its subsequent critical acclaim and commercial success encouraged other mainstream rappers to take greater creative risks with their music. During the release of The Blueprint 3, New York rap mogul Jay-Z revealed that next studio album would be an experimental effort, stating, "... it's not gonna be a #1 album. That's where I'm at right now. I wanna make the most experimental album I ever made." Jay-Z elaborated that like Kanye, he was unsatisfied with contemporary hip hop, was being inspired by indie-rockers like Grizzly Bear and asserted his belief that the indie rock movement would play an important role in the continued evolution of hip-hop. Contemporary hip-hop artists often cited as "post-808s and heartbreak rappers" include Drake and The-Dream

Track listing

Personnel

Information adapted from album liner notes.

Chart history

Chart procession and succession

Notes

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References

• Kanye West (2008). 808s & Heartbreak (PDF). (iTunes digital booklet). The Island Def Jam Music Group, 825 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10019.

External links

• 808s & Heartbreak at Discogs
• 808s & Heartbreak at Metacritic
• Lyrics and audio samples at Yahoo! Music

• Pages with empty short description
• 2008 albums
• Kanye West albums
• Albums produced by Kanye West
• Albums produced by No I.D.
• Def Jam Recordings albums
• Roc-A-Fella Records albums