Kanye West- Love Lockdown
And the Lord came down from on high and said to His disciple:
“T-Pain, I hereby bequeath this vocoder to you. Use it for good, and pass it on thine brothers in the hip-hop community.”
-The Gospel According to T-Pain
The headlines in the music magazines were reminiscent of headlines in the early days of talkies:
“KANYE SINGS!”
The crown prince of hip-hop would be singing his latest album. It was another step on his quest to become Elvis, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. It is a pretty risky move, especially in the rap community. However, most of Kanye’s risks have paid off. Unfortunately, 808′s & Heartbreak is the first Kanye West album that doesn’t hit his high standards.
Kanye has had a rough year. He lost his mother, and has had numerous run-ins with the paparazzi. Tragedy usually makes for good material, and Kanye clearly intended this to be his Blood on the Tracks. To achieve a somber sound, West tosses aside the lush beats of his previous work in favor of atmospheric keyboards and a spare drum machine. He also adds a new item to his arsenal, a vocoder.
The vocoder has become an ubiquitous part of hip-hop and R&B since T-Pain made his glorious mark on music. It is disheartening to hear Kanye use a vocoder, especially since he claims to be the biggest innovator in modern music. Shouldn’t he be starting trends instead of following them? The more you listen to the album, the more you realize that the vocoder is indispensable. Kanye can’t really sing, so when he can’t quite hit the notes, the robotic voice kicks in. It covers his tracks, but just barely.
The vocoder fits in with the spare instrumentation, which is one of the most disappointing aspects of this record. Kanye has come up with some of the most innovative beats of the past decade. His work on “Through the Wire,” “Jesus Walks,” and “Flashing Lights” is unforgettable. On 808′s & Heartbreak, there are very few hooks to be found. On the opening track, “Say You Will,” a keyboard blips two notes while the drums faintly churn in the background. Even the single, “Love Lockdown,” floats along without a memorable chorus. West’s clever flow has been replaced with clunky lyrics like “When I touch your neck, I touch your soul.” West tries very hard to sound sincere, but his arrogance repeatedly crops up. He is the opposite of the old LL Cool J line, “Even when I’m bragging, I’m being sincere.” It’s hard to feel empathy for a guy that says that “He’s the reason everyone is fired up this evening.” Is he saying his fans are amazing, or that he is amazing?
There are some bright spots on the album. “Robocop” is the moment when his vision completely works. It is an intriguing mixture of synth, violins and industrial drums. Kanye sounds like himself, without sounding like he’s repeating himself. If the entire album had been in this vein, it would have been his masterpiece.
808′s & Heartbreak is the most artistically adventurous album of Kanye West’s career. Unfortunately it is heavy on artistic vision and short on songs. Instead of cleverly rapping about his broken heart, he clumsily sings about it. Kanye recently claimed that he wants to be as innovative as The Beatles, and as exciting as Elvis Presley. 808′s & Heartbreak proves that he still has a long way to go.
