Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak (YK Review)

Kanye West

808s & Heartbreak

4/5

Many people deal with grief in different ways, and rapper/producer Kanye West vents on his sonically charged album 808s & Heartbreak. After enduring a tumultuous year (losing his mother and splitting with Alexis Phifer), Kanye entered the studio, and delivered one of the most poignant albums of his career. On Kanye’s fourth album 808 & Heartbreak, he delves into tear-jerking territories—while filtering his raw emotion on wax. Kanye sought refuge in Hawaii while recording this album, and it’s certainly clear, he is cleansing his soul.

On the track “Heartless,” he is the disgruntled victim in a relationship gone sour. With the enraged lines “How could you be so Dr. Evil you bringin’ out a side of me that I don’t know,” there’s no telling; how far Mr. West was pushed to the brink—of eventually snapping. On the disheartening song “Say You Will," he is an individual who attempts to set himself free of a daunting ex-girlfriend, which entails his displeased frustration. This is short lived; because on the songs “See You In My Nightmares” featuring Lil Wayne, and the Young Jeezy assisted “Amazing,” he passionately obtains the upper hand.

Euphorically, Kanye continues to push the boundaries with the songs “Robocop”, “Love Lockdown”, “Bad News”, & “Paranoid.” Therapeutically, Kanye attempts to discover comfort on 808s, and with his confessional experimentation—he embarks on a new found man. He closes the set by paying ode to his late mother, and with the tracks “Coldest Winter” & “Pinocchio Story,” he completes his own quest of self purification. The late great poet Elizabeth Bishop said it best “The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster," and “808s & Heartbreak” is Kanye’s first step of moving on.