“This album was therapeutic — it’s lonely at the top.”– Kanye West

The recent release of Kanye West, “808’s and Heartbreaks” is the latest addition to the iTunes library. At first sight, I was very skeptical of the album. Releasing after the recent death of his mother, I expected to hear the prayers and cries from a man who has proven that emotion can truly be a part of rap. Yes, I said it. There is rap out there (beyond Christian rap) that reaches the depths of early Tupac and a short list of others who rap beyond girls, cash, liquor, and the result of all of them at the same time.

I heard Love Lockdown several times on the radio and through some internet sources, and was pretty driven by the pounding synth bass or the distortion that almost gave me chills the first time I listened. So Kanye is talking about the love of his mother and the inspiration that she was in his life, right? Not quite.


“I’m not loving you, the way I wanted to See, I had to go, see, I had to move No more wasting time, you can’t wait for life We’re just wasting time, where’s the finish line?”

“ So keep your love lock down“

Your mother passes and you can’t help but talk about a breakup? (former fiance Alexis Phifer). I have to sit and wonder, what happened to the production from the early Overnight Celebrity, featuring a fast-paced Twista? Nothing is deep about “I’m about to have you changin‘ in stores, I can even get you to the Soul Train Awards,” but this seems to have stooped to another level. It went from natural talent-driven beats for Twista to Love Lockdown’s lack of depth that leaves us wishing we just owned the instrumental so that robotic voice wasn’t ringing through our head all day.

“If the majority of 808s was West processing his grief over his mother’s sudden death, his need to mourn in his own voice would make his singing understandable.” – -Anthony Barr-Jeffrey

Speaking of robotic, 808’s and Heartbreaks gets a slight taste of the original Kanye I once knew in “Robocop“, featuring a whole orchestra of strings to compliment a series of robotic noises that put you next to Shia Labeouf and his friends from Transformers. The lyrics bring back a bit of that Overnight Celebrity that was mentioned above,“That’s the baddest girl I’ve ever seen. Straight up outta movie scene. Who knew she was a drama queen. That’ll turn my life to Stephen King” but there is a definite lack of drive. (maybe if he took some of the excess from Love Lockdown, we would have a great album!)

Yea, Kanye can produce like a pro, that is evident. But if this albums going to read “Kanye West”, I want to hear the same Kanye I knew when he was the lyrical assassin through the wires. If this is a media stunt, then kudo’s to his team for being all over the web and receiving my investment of time, but we want the real Kanye West back (Shaded bear and all). For anyone who is fresh off of a breakupor heart-throbbing drama case, this album may be the medicine you were seeking. Those who haven’t, consider keeping it off the iPod in case your significant other happens to grab it and get some ideas.

Is Kanye afraid to turn off the filters and give listeners that raw emotion we see in the past? Do the auto-filters provide that safety net that Kanye needs right now? Who is Kanye West? The producer? The rapper? Or maybe the singer? A passion for the artist won’t stop me from calling myself a fan. I will continue listening until I can really understand what Kanye is hiding under all those synthesizers and filters.