Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak

It’s the first day of the new month today and it almost feels relieving to have September behind us. For the most part it was a good month but with so much promise and potential in October, there is at least logical reasoning behind partial optimism. Kanye West is supposed to have a new album out soon and the word is that it’s supposed to pretty awesome. I’m a ‘no-questions’ Kanye fan in that I don’t really ask or wonder why he says some of the things he says, or acts the way he does sometimes, because in the end – and in my lowly opinion – his music does all the walking to back up his talking.

This album is probably the people’s least favorite but I love it just as much as the other three. I loved how it came out in the winter of 2008 to a quiet affair and yet, it was a noteworthy explosion. It’s intertwined with feelings of love loss, despair and heartbreak. And to evoke his feelings in the cold and almost robotic ways he felt them, Kanye would use a ton of auto-tune on his 808 machine. “Love Lockdown” was the first song to jump off the album and here is the video to it:


I mean, he HAD to make this album so I’m not sure what all of the haters’ problem is. Besides losing the love of his life after she broke up with him, West lost his mother whom was, without question, the closest person in Kanye’s life. “Coldest Winter” is the epitome of what this album is about – the snapshot of all the bitter darkness and cold moments that Kanye lived through. “Goodbye my friend, will I ever love again?” is what he continues to ask as the drums pound away in a furious manner. This was definitely what I listened to for about three months straight and I loved it so much that I thought it was the best album of 2008, sure, I’m crazy. But the video to the song is awesome. – Bryan