Kanye Needs A Hug

808's & Heartbreak is a heartbreak in itself.

I wanted to like it. I wanted to love it. I wanted to feel the same way about 808's & Heartbreak as I did about College Dropout, Late Registration, and the Graduation, but Mr. West did not deliver. Understandably, Kanye's going through some things recently, but he may have needed some personal time before getting in the studio for his next project.
Musically, the project is more than sound. Kanye's work is sonically seamless throughout, but it's the lack of variety that makes the listener feel somewhat robbed. It was one thing when you first heard 'Ye use the auto-tune technology that T-Pain became famous for. But to make an entire album using it and singing as opposed to rapping when you are so evidently not a singer? Questionable.

The standouts on this album seem to be where Kanye invited a guest along for the ride. In "See You In My Nightmares", Li'l Wayne rides shotgun, croaking out a synthesized verse alongside Kanye's crooning. Young Jeezy makes a surprising appearance on "Amazing", which is also a bright spot. "Heartless" bounces along as one of the more upbeat songs on the track, despite the subject matter. Halfway through, one realizes that the common thread of the album is self-pity, an emotion that doesn't really make for feel-good music or even get-you-through-the-day music. "Robocop", "Street Lights" and "Bad News" just blend together into a cluster-fuck of incredible musical arrangements mixed with sub-par vocals and pretentious themes.

As a hip-hop fan who also has an affinity for Radiohead, Paul Oakenfold, and Thievery Corporation, I can appreciate the unique musical direction, but what I don't like is that I expect hip-hop to stay true to hip-hop to some degree. If Kanye had infused about four or five solid hip-hop tracks like "Get 'Em High" or , he could have showed his hardcore fans that he still values their following. It's never healthy to limit an artist to a categorized box, but you can't just go to Mars and expect people to go with you without having a few questions for you.

The artwork above is available at www.whoartnow.co.uk/images/ajh-cnv-227l.jpg