THE GENIUS BEHIND 808's & HEARTBREAK
Alot of fans would dismiss this Kanye release as his most experimental and would cause sour faces in most hiphop fans. But after almost a year of listening to it, I finally bumped into the genius behind the cd. Kanye, with this CD alone, found a lane of his own -- however deep or left, this was not an expedition gone wrong. After making Stronger with Timbo's help with the 808 kicks -- Kanye took everything Timbo said and ran witn it. Listen closely, the 808 drum kits, the auto tune, the big taiko drums, synths, piano & guitars -- these were all part of making Stronger. These same instruments have been used by his peers Timbaland and Daft Punk over the years, the same artists who Kanye derived his inspiration from for Stronger. Also, these same elements are the running elements of all the songs in 808's and Heartbreak. The only difference is Kanye approached everything about 808's with such a minimalistic approach on constructing beats compared to Timbo's over syncopated beats to Daft Punks dance music background.
Kanye West & Timbaland in the studio mixing Stronger
Being the depth of his motivation of doing this album are two instances of heartbreaks, I initially dismissed this as an album I can excuse him for. But the things he penned down are words people think off when in the brink of choking they girl friends, crying about a death but have tons of commitments to smile about and just mourning in front of the lights fame has put on. These are very powerful moments in anyones life which he capitalized on. Did he drag the whole heartbreak theme too much? No. Albums are made nowadays with lesser solid themes compared to how they did it before, one producer the whole album -- in return showcasing a fluidity throughout all the songs. Todays album features tons of guest producers -- and are based on A&R formulas of a club song, a chick song, a song about the hood -- so on and so on. Ginuwine's best album was the one Timbo produced all throughout -- the Beatles never had a guest on they albums -- these formulas were unheard of before.
Can you hum any of the beats from 808's? No. Why? Cause the genius behind the songs is Kanye's ear for melodies which ultimately stood out. I must say, this is the best Autotune project there is; as the use of Autotune was to just merely throw you off of normal singing and to compliment the minimalistic beat. The melodies Kanye came with on this cd are meant to stand the test of time, you'll see what I mean soon as he releases his next two releases -- you will be going back to this cd. The melodies are even interchangeable with the beats, which is why you see Kanye seamlessly bridge songs together during live performances without you realizing it. Remember Kanye has been sharing his melody inputs with likes of John Legend, Janet Jackson, Brandy and created hits for them. Why are we suddenly surprised that dude wanted to sing? We shouldn't be.
If Kanye wrote these songs for other artists, it would've been appreciated differently but some pain are meant to be dealt with alone. I have been toying with the idea of other people singing songs from this release and who would best fit them, explore this one with me.
Imagine is the most powerful word in the world.
(1) Say You Will - Radiohead. Nuff Said.
(2) Welcome to Heartbreak - Justin Timberlake would be perfect for this song. Most of the songs from his last release carried out the trademark Timbo, 808's & taiko drums and even the synths could be reminiscent of songs from that cd.
Melanie Fiona - Heartless (Cover)
(3) Heartless - So many artists already covered this song from The Fray to Melanie Fiona's reggae feel to it. Which is only a testament of how great these melodies are. But if I had to pick one, hmmmm -- listen to the stabs of the synth which is similar to what Dr. Dre does to most of his beats -- I would like to hear Christina Milan rock this one.
(4) Amazing - Kanye got this one, untouchable. But for arguements sake, I wanna hear Usher do this, tweak it up a bit and include it in his Here I Stand. It kind of lacked a track like this. The vocals' range on this songs aren't much but if Usher could flip it, it would sound crazy. Keep Jeezy on it.
(5) Love Lockedown - Listen to the drums, Cosmic Love would sound perfect. Word up Anton -- and my second pick would be No Doubt and give it a ska feel, with a horn section on the hook; which would give it more energy to perform with the band.
(6) Paranoid - The 80's band A-Ha would be perfect for this or Wham -- thats how good of a melody this song has. Rihanna, Amy Winehouse or Lady Gaga would sound hella cute on this.
(7) Robocop - Andre 3000 & John Legend would flip this crazy. Cross Legend's She Don't Have To Know with Hey Ya -- should be an amazing combination.
(8) Street Lights - I hear Brandy on this everytime, must be the girl doing the back up vocals. Its sounds exactly what Brandy would do on her songs.
What if this dude sang Kanye's Bad News?
(9) Bad News - Robi Draco Rosa, yes I'm a big fan. Imagine this song with spanish guitars. Painfully sexy. Look him up on YouTube -- Crash Push.
(10) See You In My Nightmare - Lyfe Jennings. Let him belt this song out a bit and add some of his own personal lyrics, it should be crazy similar to Jodeci performing "Lately" on MTV Unplugged back in the day.
(11) Coldest Winter - Anthony Hamilton, hands down. No heartbreaking song would be the same soon as he sings it. Imagine if it were only a piano and Anthony Hamilton crooning over it.
(12) Pinocchio Story - This is a Kanye West untouchable.
His pen game throughout this album is amazing. It almost sounds like ranting at times but yo, let me see you lose your moms and not go crazy too. He channeled his pain to something classic to hurtful to touch. Enjoy the read guys, again -- IMAGINE.
Imagine is the most powerful word in the world.
I've tried love, respect, truth, faith and even the word GOD --
but nothing works without the word Imagine.
FIN
FIN
2 comments:
Ssup ,nice album review, i would just disagree on one big point lol, its far from being the best autotune album, t pain is by far the master and vocally speaking Kanye west sounds ...flat.
He is unable to do harmonies he just sounds plain, remember when we were trippin with autotune in BSA bro, you guys were doing better haha. Kanye west writes well, produces well but hell no he cant sing, so half of the album is fucked up cause of it.
At least it's my opinion here in france as all daft punk, david guetta and shit comes from here to us kanye on that album is just a pale generic copy of it.
ps: peace and keep yur head up in pi, those typhoons are so mad, i hope the one of tonight will change direction and get lost somewhere in the ocean.
Got it my man! Dope points as well! It did sound a bit flat which also means he didnt intend to sing and become great at it! Well I think this Autotune project had a lot more soul to it. Cause I havent heard Daft Punk nor TPain sing about heartbreaks! Let me know if you have man! Heard the stuff on MYSPACE. Hotshit! Send it over to my email and I'll post it up as soon as you send it! Been slacking cause of things man, hit me up!
Post a Comment