JACQUES: After Kanye West’s 3rd studio album, ‘Graduation,’ was released,
he was on top of the world.
The project sold nearly a million copies in its first week and his cut “Stronger,”
peaked at No. 1.
However, fate would intervene and it all came crashing down.
ANCHOR: Surrounded by friends and family Kanye West arrived at the True Vine Ministry Church
to lay his mother to rest.
ANCHOR: Kanye West and his fiancé Alexis Phifer are calling it quits.
Phifer confirmed the breakup to People Magazine and says she and West are still friends.
JACQUES: Donda West’s death and the end of his engagement to Alexis Phifer weighed
heavily on Yeezy's mind and pushed him in a new direction.
Instead of the previously announced 'Good Ass Job,' his fourth album became
'808s and Heartbreak," released in November 2008 and still resonates today.
JACQUES: Kanye blamed himself for his mother Donda’s untimely death from heart disease
following plastic surgery.
JACQUES: Ms. West was very instrumental in Ye’s early career and they were incredibly
close.
JACQUES: The theme of loss runs throughout '808s.'
On “Coldest Winter,” a tribute to his mother, Kanye delivers the album's sorrow
in just a few lines.
JACQUES: On “Pinocchio Story,” performed live in Singapore, you can hear Kanye struggle
with what he believed was the cost of his fame.
JACQUES: To convey this pain on a record he used a technology that was already in vogue.
JACQUES: In 2008, auto-tune, a pitch correction technology, already ruled the charts thanks
to Florida's T-Pain.
T-Pain had 12 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits, including a collab with Kanye called
“Good Life” off of “Graduation.”
Ye enlisted T-Pain to help create ‘808s’ but the sessions weren’t always pleasant.
T-PAIN: T-Pain shit is weak. It was real like, it was actually pretty lyrical.
I actually thought he should’ve put that on the record at some point.
But you know it would've been a diss record so I thought that was pretty fucked up.
JACQUES: T-Pain later remarked that ‘808s’ essentially copied his first album,
'Rappa Ternt Sanga.'
JACQUES: In addition to T-Pain, frequent collaborator Mike Dean said West fell in love with auto-tune
while working on Jeezy’s “Put On” and a remix of Lil Wayne’s hit “Lollipop.”
On “Put On” Kanye's verse previewed the dark themes that later became '808s.’
JACQUES: West said auto-tune was quote the “funnest thing to use” because
it reminded him of his youth.
But the general public wasn’t so into it - culminating in 2009 with Jay-Z’s
“D.O.A. (Death of Autotune),” a track that was originally Kanye’s idea
and, well, Ye's stab at auto-tune took a beating.
COLBERT: I mean why buy Kanye’s album.
You can basically hear it for free, just put a tin can to your ear and lean against a PacMan
machine.
JACQUES: But Kanye then is what Kanye is now - headstrong.
KANYE: If people have a major problem with Auto-Tune or me singing or me getting my ideas
out then that’s too bad.
JACQUES: Prior to ‘808s,’ Kanye's first three albums cemented his talent for chopping
up soul samples.
But he wanted his fourth to be different.
KANYE: I was like, I want to make a whole album like that.
That just stands on its own.
That’s like “Love Lockdown” ain’t sampling nothing. Heartless ain’t sampling nothing.
JACQUES: ‘808’s’ simple, no frills beats
were created with a piece of tech from the 1980s.
ANCHOR: The Roland TR-808, a revolutionary computer controlled rhythm machine.
Offering more percussive variations and effects than virtually anything other machine
on the market.
JACQUES: West was introduced to the TR-808 by indie rock and pop producer Jon Brion,
who also co-produced West's second album, 'Late Registration.'
JACQUES: The machine also gave Kanye the same kicks and snares as his inspiration,
80s English rocker, Phil Collins.
JACQUES: Producers like No I.D, Jeff Bhasker, Plain Pat and A-Trak joined West on production.
As mentioned earlier, ‘808’s’ contained few samples but a couple snuck through.
On “Coldest Winter” West interpolates and samples mid 80s new wave group, Tears For Fears.
JACQUES: “Bad News” sampled Nina Simone.
JACQUES: And “Robocop” included composer Patrick Doyle.
JACQUES: West, fresh off defeating 50 Cent in a playful ‘sales battle,’ was in the
position to move the needle of rap music.
KANYE: And I was like, yo, let me stop fucking around.
I’m gonna just like make it be all melody!
JACQUES: The writing process involved a number of people like singer/songwriter Esthero who
assisted on “Love Lockdown” and “Streetlights,” the aforementioned T-Pain and a lonely stoner.
CUDI: He saw a common connection with our creativity and that’s why he allowed me
to work on 808s and Heartbreak.
JACQUES: Cudi has 4 writing credits on 808s and his debut album, 'Man On The Moon,'
doubled down on his talent of delivering feels to great effect.
JACQUES: ‘808’s and Heartbreak’ was a commercial success, going platinum within
only a few months.
“Heartless” and “Love Lockdown” are some of Kanye’s highest charting singles
peaking at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
But critically?
Well that was another story.
ROSENBERG: Most adults said this shit sucks, I don’t ever want to hear this from Kanye
West again, and the kids were like this is finally the Kanye West I was waiting for.
Boom!
Hip-Hop divides!
JACQUES: Rap’s youngest fans felt the raw emotion.
Now, Kanye wasn’t the first to MC to be sad or depressed on a record - artists like
Scarface and Notorious B.I.G. come to mind - but West was arguably one of the most famous
rappers to do it at that time - and it was the melody that spoke to people.
KANYE: And you know when I was a shorty when they taught us stuff, they taught it with melody.
I’m bout to express myself with melody and have it be a fine line where you don’t know
if it's rappin, or what it is.
JACQUES: In this divide, Yeezy planted the seeds for the melody driven rap that dominates
the charts today.
JACQUES: Most notably, Drake.
He covered “Say You Will” on his breakout mixtape, “So Far Gone” in 2009.
JACQUES: Drizzy later said that Kanye was quote “the most influential person” in
creating his sound and of the cover, his producer 40 said quote:
JACQUES: Today, ‘808s’ downtrodden harmonizing can be heard throughout hip-hop - and it's
something Kanye saw back in ‘08.
KANYE: If I was a new artist, I would rather have ‘Love Lockdown’ than
'Through The Wire,’ today!
Something that mixed syncopation and rhythm with melody.
JACQUES: Remember Kanye’s point about learning music through melody?
Well it worked.
JUICEWRLD: I was singing streetlights really sad like I had some shit to be sad about.
JACQUES: And Juice WRLD wasn’t alone.
UZI: I wasn’t sad because I was young, but it made me want to...
ROSENBERG: You wanted to feel that!
UZI: But I was too young!
JACQUES: The biggest benefactor of ‘808s’ seems to be Kanye’s protege Travis Scott
who said quote:
KANYE: You take 808s or Yeezus where these
albums got completely panned when they came out and then you see how they end up influencing things.
JACQUES: If you look at today’s most popular rap songs, he’s kind of right.
JACQUES: If you want to learn more about ‘808s & Heartbreak,’ check out the album page
on Genius.com.
JACQUES: I’m Jacques Morel with Genius News, bringing you the meaning and the knowledge
behind the music.
Peace!