808s & Heartbreak

by Kanye West

Overview

Kanye West doesn't rap on his fourth album, 808s And Heartbreak. Instead, according to MTV, the unpredictable hip-hop star sings on most of the album employing autotune and vocoder effects a la T-Pain. His beats are also noticeably more stripped down and rock influenced.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/24/2008
Label:	Roc-A-Fella
UPC:	0602517872790
catalogNumber:	001219802
Rank:	2493

Tracks

1. Say You Will
2. Welcome to Heartbreak
3. Heartless
4. Amazing
5. Love Lockdown
6. Paranoid
7. Robocop
8. Street Lights
9. Bad News
10. See You in My Nightmares
11. Coldest Winter
12. [Untitled]
13. [CD-Rom Track]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kanye West   Primary Artist
Tony Williams   Background Vocals
Davis A. Barnett   Viola
Jim Gilstrap   Vocals
Larry Gold   Conductor
Phillip Ingram   Vocals
Glenn Jordan   Vocals
Olga Konopelsky   Violin
Emma Kummrow   Violin
Igor Szwec   Violin
Gregory Teperman   Violin
Esthero   Background Vocals
Ze Bruno   Percussion,Drums
Gibi   Percussion,Drums
Alexandra Leem   Viola
Jennie Lorenzo   Cello
Jeff Bhasker   Keyboards,Background Vocals
Toni Williams   Background Vocals
Hudson   Background Vocals
Kid Cudi   Background Vocals
James J. Cooper   Cello
Kevin Dorley   Vocals
Kadockadee Kwire   Vocals
Luca Mazzochi   Violin
Miles B. Davis   Bass
Luigi Muzzochi   Violin
Rodney D'Assis   Percussion,Drums
Lula Almedia   Percussion,Drums
Charles Parker   Violin

Technical Credits

Alan Branch   Marketing
Jeff Chestek   Engineer
Larry Gold   Arranger,String Arrangements,String Conductor
M. Jones   Composer
Roland Orzabal   Composer
Andrew Dawson   Engineer
Kanye West   Composer,Executive Producer,Audio Production
Anthony Kilhoffer   Engineer
Chris Atlas   Marketing
Phil Reynolds   Composer
Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua   Executive Producer
Don-C   Marketing
A. Williams   Composer
Kris Yiengst   Artwork,Photo Coordination
Jeff Bhasker   Composer,Audio Production
Carol Corless   Package Production
Scott Mescudi   Composer
I. Menziesi   Composer
P. Doyle   Composer
C. Bass   Composer
Jenny-Bea Englishman   Composer
Dwayne Carter   Composer
E. Wilson   Composer
D. Mills   Composer
J. Jenkins   Composer
Ben McIldowie   Composer
No Id   Audio Production
Fahim Najm   Composer

Editorial Reviews

Remember when Kanye West threatened to make an album where he would bear his heartbroken soul, align with T-Pain, sing on every song with the then inescapable Auto-Tune effect, and lean on the Roland TR-808 drum machine? It could have been a wreck, a case of an artist working through paralyzing heartache while loose in a toy store. Except West wasn't joking. In various spots across 808s & Heartbreak, the constant flutter of West's processed voice is enlivened by the disarming manner in which despair and dejection are conveyed. Several tracks have almost as much in common with irrefutably bleak post-punk albums as contemporary rap and R&B. For anyone sifting through a broken relationship and self-letdown, this could all be therapeutic.

All Music Guide - Andy Kellman

In the end, it seems that no matter how pained West is, as long as his one true love—himself—is intact, he will prevail in the face of adversity. Mariel Concepcion

Billboard

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