Kanye West struggles with post-Graduation blues.
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DISCOGRAPHY
Late Registration
Graduation |
808s and Heartbreak
(Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam)
Rating: 
Penthouse Pick: “Tell Everybody That You Know”
Kanye West is not the same man he once was. Between 2007’s Graduation Day—his last release and the final entry in a collegial trilogy—and the new 808s and Heartbreak, West’s mother died and he split with his fiancée. It was time for the Bush-bashing megawatt star to get serious while ditching his adoration of labels and the “good life.”
That’s not to say he doesn’t still have cash to burn: The album was recorded in Hawaii and features Young Jeezy, who busts the album’s sole rap lyric on “So Amazing.” Later, Lil Wayne chimes in on the heavy, rock-charged track “That You Know.” But a somber vibe pervades the proceedings. And it isn’t just champagne beats that are missing—so is West’s voice. Throughout the record, from the sparse single “Love Lockdown” to the telling “Welcome to the Heartbreak,” the rhymes come in higher pitches, with so much reverb it leaves your head ringing, and not necessarily in a good way. The words still matter—it’s just harder to understand them.
For purists, this might feel like a misstep (“Robocop” is an ostensible love song that invokes the twisted obsession of Stephen King’s Misery). And yes, this album marks West’s move away from his well-formed fierceness, in exchange for a meandering existential meditation. But perhaps it’s just an unexpected chess move by a master that temporarily leaves the player vulnerable, then perfectly positioned to steal your queen.
