808s is packed with 80s musical signifiers, ranging from Depeche Mode ambience to Hacienda-style piano lines and Phil CollinsвЂ™ gated drum effects. Here, itвЂ™s better known as вЂњthe Cher effectвЂќ: remember the vocal in Believe, like a vocoder but not? Despite the controversy of its overuse, itвЂ™s not too intrusive here, mostly just adding to the sense of detachment which is a theme throughout.

The clear and deliberate use of which hasnвЂ™t had much exposure in the UK, but itвЂ™s become increasingly common (and divisive) in mainstream US hip-hop recently. ThereвЂ™s two rapped verses on the whole record, both by guests, so vocally itвЂ™s almost completely sung, roboticised by the Auto-tune. Not only is 808s far sadder than any of KanyeвЂs previous, itвЂ™s also not hip-hop in any real sense. In the unrefined vocal of Pinocchio Story, when heвЂ™s stripped of all adornments, you can hear heвЂ™s genuinely hurt and suffering for all his history with sampling, this is the most soulful heвЂ™s ever been. Yes itвЂ™s self-indulgent whining, but thatвЂ™s what heartbroken people do: they lose all perspective and complain about every little thing. How can he be personal to thousands of persons he doesnвЂ™t know? When he cries вЂњdo you really have the stamina, for everybody that sees you to say вЂwhereвЂ™s my camera?вЂ™вЂќ on a recording that could very well have been ripped from a fanвЂ™s camera phone, his point becomes a pertinent one. Why not a soundboard recording, or even a new studio version? In fact, the poor quality makes it incredibly effective at communicating the isolation he feels: the lower volume makes him sound distant, as if heвЂ™s had to retreat after doing the popstar thing for the first 11 songs and the audience reaction - baffled silence as Kanye pours his heart out with punctuated cheers for misheard positivity - reinforces the disconnect between him and his fans.

Welcome To Heartbreak contains a verse so breathtakingly trivial - about not having a date to take to his god-sisterвЂ™s wedding, and leaving before the cake is cut - that it actually strengthens the conviction of his sorrow: only someone utterly consumed by self-pity could be so upset by that as to use it in a song as a definition of heartbreak.Д«ut itвЂ™s the final (and hidden) song that delivers the real pathos: itвЂ™s a live performance, a lo-fi audience recording of a freestyle he performed on-stage in Singapore, later titled Pinocchio Story (because he hates fame and just wants to be a real boy, obvs).

Opener Say You Will sets the scene with a melancholic choir aahing for three vocal-less minutes of an outro Street Lights ends with Kanye lifelessly concluding вЂњlifeвЂ™s just not fairвЂќ and an almost tearful vocal in Bad News - вЂњmy face turned to stone when I heard the newsвЂќ - takes on extra meaning given the context. Kanye might be known as a narcissist, but 808sвЂ™ self-indulgence comes from depression, not ego, and thatвЂ™s the mood that pervades.

808s and heartbreak review youtube