What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

With the ongoing saga that is Kanye West's seemingly daily behavior swings, it's only appropriate that we get something completely out of the blue from the uber-talented hip-hop demigod. Something that is, oddly enough, very un-hip-hop at all. A few days ago, West claimed that he is the "voice of our generation." But honestly, who would have thought that he meant this "voice" thing literally? Because, as you'll discover, long gone is the innocuous flow that made his first three albums rap masterpieces. On 808's & Heartbreak, which comes out on Tuesday, West has forsaken rap ENTIRELY, instead choosing to focus on delicate crooning, albeit with a TON of help from his handy Auto-Tune device. As far as content is concerned, consider 808's to be hip-hop's concept album equivalent to Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness -- if you can even classify this to even be hip-hop. And much like Mellon Collie, or Kid A, or even Highway 61 Revisited, this is one is a risky shapeshifting album by an already legendary artist -- one that will be simultaneously applauded and lambasted. West has got quite the cahones for stepping out of his cash-cow of a comfort zone, but did he take it too far here?

For one, it's apparent that 'Ye is feeling pretty insecure these days. After the unexpected death of his mother, coupled with some bad break-ups, it's understandable that the guy's been a little bit of a mess (on a personal note, I can DEFINITELY identify at the moment). On the same token, he's clearly been inspired by this recent turn of events. Rather than choosing to wallow around in his own misery, Kanye has opted to constructively get it all down on paper. In doing so on Heartbreak, West invites his fans into the innermost part of his soul -- one that just so happens to be very vulnerable at the moment. By limiting collaborations and scratching the over-the-top production from The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation, West has indeed proven that he has forged ahead musically. Ironically, in this case, "graduating" is the equivalent of taking it down quite a few notches. With some exceptions, 808's & Heartbreak is as stripped down and minimalist as it gets, and this echoes the overarching themes of the record beautifully.

If you couldn't guess from album's deflated heart balloon artwork or the morose song titles, this one is, for lack of a better word, a heartbreaker. Album opener "Say You Will" features a synthetic lo-fi church choir backed by a hypnotically droning blip that resembles a heart pulse on life support. Or, if you will, video game sound effects circa 1985. Either/or, this is a completely new direction for Mr. West. We get our first taste of verbal heartbreak from Kanye's machine-enhanced "Don't say you will, unless you will" wails. The song carries on a little longer than it should for an intro track, but eventually segues into the superior "Welcome To Heartbreak," which based on title alone, would assume to be an album kickoff. Knowing Kanye's penchant for eccentricities, there's probably a reason for this sequencing strategy. The track begins with a weeping violin intro before launching headlong into a TR-808-produced synthetic beat. The song assumes the "I'm rich but because I'm lonely, I'm poor" mantra that appears to be the cornerstone of the record. Kanye confesses, "My friend shows me pictures of his kids/And all I can show him is pictures of my cribs," along with some other sob story comparisons which drive the point home pretty quickly. The track itself, although by no means backed by a traditional hip-hop beat, is textured like the Kanye of old -- a true rarity on this album. This holds true on the proceeding song/second single "Heartless," which, for the record, makes these two the only potential holdovers from "academic" era Kanye. And even this is a stretch. Off the bat, the most recognizable element to "Heartless" is the heavy Auto-Tune dubbing, which makes the cut's chorus seem aurally similar to the T-Pain-assisted "The Good Life" (from last year's Graduation). Furthermore, this one is really the only radio hit on the entire record. You'll be hard pressed to find another song that will bode well for Top-40 radio. Which, to tell you the truth, doesn't really bother me a hell of a lot. The self-defeating "Amazing" is Kanye's most confessional track to date, and brings back the synthetic choir from "Say You Will". It also happens to be one of the few tracks to feature a cameo -- Young Jeezy makes an all too fleeting appearance.

Tribal drums happen to play an omnipresent role on this album, and they're never more prevalent than on "Love Lockdown." Despite receiving the royal first single treatment, this is actually one of the album's more forgettable songs. The Auto-Tune appears to be on overdrive here, causing the single to feel all too manufactured. This is hardly the case for "Paranoid," which belongs on the opposite end of the spectrum. Although fun as hell (you can picture Kanye shedding a rare smile here), this is pure demo material. It's shocking that Kanye, being the perfectionist he is, would tolerate this as a final cut. Despite some mid-album imperfections, this is when things start to get really interesting. The first fifteen seconds of "Robocop" evoke aggressive industrial music more than anything else. If you were to play "Name That Tune," and were given the first five seconds to take a stab, 90's era Nine Inch Nails would be a worthy guess. The album digresses entirely from hip-hop on this one, and manages to go even further off the deep end on "Street Lights." Forget hip-hop -- classifying this as R&B would even be a stretch. The first thing that comes to mind here is emo-pop -- the kind of farfetched filler you would find on a Hellogoodbye or Fall Out Boy album. But it ain't half bad here. Maybe I'm biased to Kanye, but he manages to make it work. For all the skeptical naysayers, this foray is fortunately a one-off. "Bad News" follows the tribal drum beat pattern of "Love Lockdown," and features nothing more than a piano track over Kanye's no-so-perfect singing. 'Ye does manage to rebound by pulling out of all of the synth stops on what will surely be labeled 808's signature track -- the appropriately titled "See You In My Nightmares." Jeezy made an appearance earlier, so what would this album be without a cameo from Weezy? Lil Wayne does his best Kanye Auto-Tune singing impersonation on this one to mixed results. Like all of the appearances on this record, it just seems a little unnecessary. The album is intentionally meant to be barebones; adding collaborations is somewhat contrary to the point. With this being said, Kayne gets the drift on the final somber track. Inspired by the passing of his mother, "Coldest Winter" features a withdrawn Kanye and is a fitting bookend to and album that oozes all that is melancholy.

Chances are, those who have never experienced heartache won't understand 808's & Heartbreak. And those who are simply expecting an encore of his previous three opuses will certainly be disappointed. So right away, the odds are against Mr. West. Is this album flawed? Absolutely. Rushed? Without a doubt. But you know what? It's actually not bad at all. I will go so far as to say it's excellent. It's one of those rare instances where the finished product is greater than its individual parts. Furthermore, when you consider the machismo that is traditionally infused in the greater hip-hop realm, it's refreshing to see an artist take the high road and actually get personal. Kanye undoubtedly has his issues, but he's proven he's not too much of a man to bottle them up.

My Rating: 8.2/10