2.12.08

808s & Heartbreak


It's been about a week since Kanye put out his latest effort 808s & Heartbreak. Yes, I bout this the day it came it out, and yes I have played it straight through about 10 times already. I don't know why, but I found it easy to listen through this CD. Initially I wasn't highly pissed that Ye wanted to bump the vocoder and sing through the album. It took my a while to cope with is buy I did. Dead ass, I like the CD. I will get into my thoughts on the CD a little later. But let's get it jumpin' with this track for track.

Say You Will
Definitely a haunting track to start off the CD. After hearing this first track, I knew what kind of feeling the CD was going to give, whether I knew about the CD or not. Ye repeatedly goes saying, Don't say you will, then play "You Will...". Initially, I think Ye is simply talking about saying what you mean and meaning what you say. Honestly, I still didn't get into it with this track yet. I still got to finish breaking it up.

Welcome To Heartbreak
This shit right here should have been the damn first song, those violins scream "track one"! The snare sounds like a hollowed ass Stronger snare that was thrown into the vocoder itself. Believe it or not, this beat was set out for Jay-Z, but he turned it down. Thank God, because I think Kanye is the only person who would be able to bless this track. First verse, in my opinion, pretty much describes the rest of the song to me. "My friend shows me pictures his kids, but all I can show him is a picture of my cribs. He said his daughter got a brand new report card, and I all I got is a brand new sports car." Ye, is speaking on the things that matter in a relationship and how it is all in front of him, but he is the only one without it. Yet he seriously wants it. It's like he is singling himself out from everyone because he feels so alone without a companion. Another line, "My god-sister is getting married by the lake, but I couldn't figure out who I want to take...". Throughout the song he is pointing out his loneliness, and that could be one of the things that describes his broken heart.

Heartless
2nd single thrown out by Ye, it's a very bouncy beat with a light flute that hits rapidly with the 808. The snare claps when it's supposed, sounds sort of routined. This is one of my favorite beats on the CD though. The title is explains the song it's self. Ye talks about himself in third person (not really, but sort of) about him loosing his soul to a woman so heartless. He is talking to the woman in the song telling her about herself and how she can leave because all of the things that they did together.

Amazing
One of my favorite tracks on the CD. The beat is a slow bounce with a snare that sounds like two wooden blocks clapping together. The piano in the background also has a groove that just makes your head bounce with some soul. It took me a while to get a hint on what the song was about, and honestly I still kind of don't. One line that gave me an idea was, "I'm a monster, I'm a killer, I know I'm wrong. I'm a problem that I never ever resolved." It feels as if he knows that he is doing damage with the things he is doing. I guess it was his drive with his career, and he knew that it was wrong. He could be talking in a sarcastic sense, who knows. The "I'm a problem" part really sticked to me for personal reasons. I get that he is talking about the fathoming of himself and how he is trying to figure out why things happen the way they do in the situations he is in.
Love Lockdown

1st single off the track, and surprisingly it's a lot of peoples favorite. I won't get into the beat because if you have not heard this song, you need to get the hell up from under the rock you're under. Ye speaks on how he feels as if he is not liking or loving a girl the way he feels as if he should because of the fuckery that's going on in the relationship. All the stuff is going is making him mad but he can't go ape shit on the chick because "He has something to lose". So he is just simply locking his love down.

Paranoid
My favorite fuckin' track off the whole album. Another title that explains the song. Electric keyboards come in a rapid pace and change it's tone with a complimentary computer beep that sounds like it came from an 80s computer. Then the 808s comes in with a splashy sounding snare. It gives off this dance beat that I fuckin' love! Ye is singing about his girl who worries about the wrong things in a relationship and how it's driving the relationship crazy. The wrong things is her paranoia and Ye is trying to make it easy.

RoboCop
Another one of my favorite tracks! It has the catchiest chorus that I can't help but sing along to. The 808 hits hard but soft at the same time with a snare that sounds like a muffled explosion. Then he has those fast paced drums he used back in those College Dropout days like on Slow Jamz (*sigh*). This song is strictly about an over-possesive female that is seriously clockin' Kanye. Like he is the robot and she is the RoboCop that's policing robot. He says, "I ain't used to being told stop, so I can't be your robot". You can't control him he is saying. "Up late nights like she on patrol, checking everything like I'm on parole". That line describes her frantic calls and questions about what he is doing and whereabouts. Kanye simply replies to those by saying that there is some things she don't need to know. Sadly she wont leave it alont, "She never let's it go, oh no". Then in the end she calls her a spoiled L.A. girl that gets what she wants. So she needs to stop all that "RoboCoppin" that she is doing, because he doesn't need no RoboCop.

Streetlights
I hold this song close to me on a personal level, which is why it's also another favorite off the album. The song starts off with these eerie scratchy sound that sounds like a dying air guitar. The beat is very simple, it sounds like you are about to take a journey or something lol. The verses are simple and it repeats itself. My favorite line out of all of it is, "I know my destination, but I'm just not there". It feels like Kanye knows the truth about things and knows what he has to do about certain things to get him to the places he needs to be, but the biggest obstacle is himself. Which may be the reason why Kanye feels life is not fair. Exactly how I interpreted things, and that's exactly how I feel about certain things. Deep song.

Bad News
This song kind of freaked me out, Kanye jumped in with the falsetto, lol. It just sounded weird coming out of Streetlights. The beat is simple, it sounds like it goes back and forth with a steady flow along with a piano. The bad news that Kanye is talking about in this song, is seriously some bad news. He is talking about a girl cheating and how he heard it through the vine. "You were going to keep it like you never know", which is the worst part about it! Ye naturally sounds sad in this song.

See You In My Nightmares
My least favorite track on the album, but you may catch me singing it. The beat is a straight electric piano with a bass guitar. This song, you hear Kanye's anger as he says he is over his chick and how he is moving on. Since the relationship is far from a dream, he will see her in his nightmares. Fuck Lil Wayne.

Coldest Winter
Though it's not one of my favorites, I really like this song. Like when it comes on, I am always down to hear it. That little sound that sounds like a tractor getting jammed up or a car starting up is what blows me though. The beat is low and dark as hell. The drums hit soft on the first chorus but hits harder on the second. It has that tribal feel like love lockdown. I highly doubt it's the same drums, but now I am starting to think it is. A dedication to his mom, listening to this song, you will start to realize how much his mother meant to him. With her gone, he doesn't know if he will ever love again --> "Goodbye my friend, will I ever love again?". That has to be the greatest love in his life. This song is one reason, with some others, why I end up giving the limb for my mother and do what I have to do to make her happy. Whether it's a phone call or whatever. I'm guessing this song recounts everything he had to go through the winter after his mother passed. "Memories made in the coldest winter."

Pinocchio Story
This song is a freestyle he did in Signapore on stage. It's just a slow mellow beat where he vibes off of, preaching his side to the audience. Of course, Kanye is keeping it real of course. One line that stood out to me the most, on that personal level, is "Pinocchio lied and that kept him from it, I tell the truth and I keep on running". Truthful line if you ask me, I think alot of people get that. I feel as if he says he is doing the real thing for real people, why is he still stuck in the sorry position that he is in?.......tough.

This album was not made to be good, nor was it made to be liked. West wanted to speak to us, not sell. The stuff he went through is stuff that changes lifes plans, that's what 808s was, a change of plans. Now, I do not like this album anymore than College Dropout, Late Registration, or Graduation. I dont think it's better than any of them. I don't sit well with the singing and the autotune and the down and depressing beats. BUT, I understand why they were there and the purpose of this CD. I know the heartbreak shit, and since second semester started, I have been on my shit trying to flush the past, I swear it's working. Just because I'm over it doesn't mean I don't know what the feeling is. I know Ye's pain and I know it's tough to get through. A few people know how I vented my shit out, my form of 808s & Heartbreak. Kanye just needed to vent and relax and he could careless how other people feel. I swear that's my nigga for that. Like I said I like the dropout days and stuff better. But this album is different on it's own terms and it just so happens that I like it. Nothing wrong with that. Now my ideas on the songs are strictly opinionated and I could be wrong, except for RoboCop, so don't think I'm Einstein on this. Just read, and see what you think.

Universal Mind Contorl next week,

-joshua[slick]

2 comments:

tony lee said...

paranoid and streetlights
are hands down classics.

Knowledge said...

on my first listen I was impressed but still disappointed. Gotta listen some more to see if it grows on me. I feel what he's saying for most of it, but the singing is an automatic turnoff. So right now it's in the air, but I have a feeling I'll come to like it more

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