Album · 2008
808s & Heartbreak
by Kanye West
808s & Heartbreak by Kanye West (2008) is rated 4.0/5 from 4 ratings on Riffiter.
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- 4.0 /5
- 4 ratings
- 12
- Tracks
- 52 min
- Runtime
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4 ratings · avg 4.0
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Reviews
1 review
- 4.5
The grief machine: 808s & Heartbreak processes his mother's death and a broken engagement through Auto-Tune and Roland drum machines, deliberately trading rap virtuosity for frozen melody. "Heartless" and "Love Lockdown" were the hits; Drake, Kid Cudi and a decade of emotional rap were the consequences. Polarizing then, foundational now.
Tracklist
12 tracks · 52 min
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About
808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by American recording artist and producer Kanye West, released November 24, 2008 on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii during September to October 2008. It was produced primarily by West, No I.D., and Jeff Bhasker. Conceived in the wake of multiple events that distressed him in the previous year, the album marked a major musical departure for West from his previous work, lyrically, vocally, and production-wise. Classified by West as a pop album, 808s & Heartbreak incorporates elements of synthpop, electronica, R&B, and electropop, while its tracks are primarily sung rather than rapped by West and contain lyrical themes such as love, loneliness, and heartache. The album also contains extensive use of the Auto-Tune voice processor and the Roland TR-808 drum machine, which was utilized and manipulated by West to produce a distorted, electronic sound.
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Approaching the album's production in a minimalist fashion, West intended to contravene the typical sound of hip hop beat and instead evoke a presence of tribal drums. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 450,145 copies in its first week. It produced four singles, including the hit singles "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless". Despite a divided reaction from music audiences towards West's stylistic change, 808s & Heartbreak received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. It impacted hip hop music stylistically, as a new wave of rappers adopted the album's aesthetic. 808s & Heartbreak has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and has sold 1.63 million copies in the United States.
In brief
- Is 808s & Heartbreak good?
- Riffiter listeners rate 808s & Heartbreak 4.0/5 from 4 ratings.
- When was 808s & Heartbreak released?
- 808s & Heartbreak was released in 2008 on Def Jam Recordings.
- How many tracks are on 808s & Heartbreak?
- 808s & Heartbreak has 12 tracks, with a runtime of 52 minutes.
- What genre is 808s & Heartbreak?
- 808s & Heartbreak is catalogued under Hip-Hop.