When Kanye West is at his most emotional moments on the album (“Bad News,” “Coldest Winter,” “Say You Will”), the Auto-Tune vocals take control. In turn, it makes this album so much more complete and sets a rather serious tone. Another noticeable facet is the lack of skits. When I say that, you are less likely to find a track like “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” or “Gold Digger” on this album, even though the prolific dance track, “Paranoid,” would be the closest representation of his past style. With the practical void of rapping makes 808s and Heartbreaks so refreshing. The TR-808 creates lively, pulsating tribal beats in tracks like “Welcome To Heartbreak” and the dynamic single of the album, “Love Lockdown.” Additionally, it creates haunting beats, like in the six-minute “Say You Will,” a track that exposes a desperate man. The beats and mood of the album certainly represents Kanye West’s emotion vividly and thoroughly through a Roland TR-808 (the 808 in 808s and Heartbreaks, duh). Now, the self-proclaimed ‘voice of our generation,’ Kanye West, is digitally changing his voice to ‘perfection.’ Kanye West’s 808’s and Heartbreaks is a minimalist album that is free from samples and, for the most part, rapping, which makes his album a revolution within his career.Ĩ08s and Heartbreaks is an emotional trek it dives into the tribulations during the past few years of West’s life, such as the passing of his mother and his fiancée breaking off ties. This artificial method has been used lately by Lil’ Wayne and T-Pain, but also in the past by Cher among other artists. What the Auto-Tune entails is perfectly tuning pitches digitally, which in turn, alters varying pitches in a glitchy, almost robotic manner, while maintaining the artist’s voice. There is a slowly, but steadily rising revolution occurring with R&B artists, and it can be directed towards the Auto-Tune.

Review Summary: Everyone, I'd like you to meet the emotionally fragile and digitally enhanced Kanye West.

Who is 808s and heartbreak about