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808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by American rapper and record producer Kanye West. It was released on November 24, 2008 by Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records. The album features guest appearances from Kid CudiYoung JeezyMr. Hudson, and Lil Wayne.

History[]

Following the release of his third studio album, Graduation, Kanye's personal life would be heavily affected from traumatic events. On November 10, 2007, Donda West, Kanye's mother, passed away during liposuction surgery as well as coronary artery disease. Kanye fell into a depression, as he felt personally responsible for her death due to him paying for the surgery.

5 months later, in April 2008, Kanye ended 6 year long relationship with his ex-fiancee Alexis Phifer, with Phifer stating that Kanye's mental state was the reason, on top of his focus on his music career. During these events, Kanye was also on the receiving end of scrutiny and ridicule from multiple media outlets, as well as struggling to adjust to his new stardom.

Before the inception of 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye's fourth album was originally titled Good Ass Job, and would've served as an epilogue to his College trilogy of albums (The College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation), portraying Kanye enjoying his success in music, but it was then scrapped at a later unknown date.

Between September and October 2008, the album was in productions within a three week period. Unlike his previous work, Kanye strayed away from hip hop and focused on making a pop synth styled album. The Roland TR-808 was the main instrument used within the instrumental production, creating the synths and drums heard throughout the album. 80s synth-pop and electro-pop was utilized within the album, West saying the 808 helped him evoke the emotions he was feeling, manipulating the sounds by distorting or changing the pitch helped evoke the “heartbreak” emotion. Quote “West maintained a minimal, but functional approach”. Before using autotune on 808s, Kanye experimented with it on a remix of Lil Wayne’s single “Lollipop” and his feature of Jeezy’s single “Put On”, making him quote “fall in love with autotune”. Singer T-Pain was recruited by West as a coach for using autotune.

Features on the album included Kid Cudi, Lil' Wayne, Jeezy and Mr Hudson. 808s marked the first collaboration between Kanye and Kid Cudi.

Reception[]

Initially, 808s & Heartbreak was met with mixed reviews before it's release, ranging from curiosity to confusion to indifference. When the album's first single Love Lockdown was released, audiences of West were quick to react with negativity, mainly towards West's use of autotune and unorthodox production. Hip hop artists and fans were quick to denounce and mock West for being "sappy", while others stated it would be just a throwaway experimental album. Artists Common, Lil' Wayne and Jeezy, the latter two who were involved with the album, praised Kanye for taking a different direction and trying something new, as well as gaining approval of pop star Michael Jackson, who liked the project.

After the album's release, it peaked at #1 on Billboard 200 within the first week, but descended to #4 a week later. By the end of 2008, the album sold over 1 million units, 183k of which were digital sales.

Legacy[]

Years after its release, 808s & Heartbreak has had a massive impact on the hip hop scene, inspiring artists such as Drake, Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, The Weeknd, as well as Kid Cudi. The impact of 808s also resulted in the rise of the "emo rap" subgenre that would grow within recent years, with artists like XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, Lil Peep, Trippie Red, Lil Uzi Vert, etc. It would also have an effect on other artist's music, such as Post Malone and Travis Scott. Drake's first hit single "Find Your Love" was originally a leftover track from the album, and was given to him by West, after previously attempting to give it to artist Rihanna.

The album is regarded as one of the best works West has released, with fans and critics praising the different direction explored and the themes talked about. Rolling Stone cited it as a "groundbreaking album", with it allowing new styles of hip hop and R&B to open up. Lil Uzi Vert quoted that the album had "changed his life". Rapper Juice WRLD also admitted "I was singing 'Street Lights' like I had shit to be sad about. Kanye is a time traveler. ... went to damn near 2015 and came back with some sauce."

On September 23, 2020, the album was Certified Quadruple Platinum by the RIAA.

Track listing[]

No. Title Length
1. "Say You Will"   6:17
2. "Welcome to Heartbreak" (featuring Kid Cudi) 4:22
3. "Heartless"   3:30
4. "Amazing" (featuring Young Jeezy) 3:58
5. "Love Lockdown"   4:30
6. "Paranoid" (featuring Mr Hudson) 4:37
7. "Robocop"   4:34
8. "Street Lights"   3:09
9. "Bad News"   3:58
10. "See You in My Nightmares" (featuring Lil Wayne) 4:18
11. "Coldest Winter"   2:44
12. "Pinocchio Story" (hidden track) 6:01
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