Most notably it influenced Drake, who covered Kanye’s song “ Say You Will” on his breakout mixtape “ So Far Gone” in 2009. The melancholic melodies speak to people and with this approach, Kanye planted the seeds for more melody-driven raps, which dominate the charts today. Kanye is not the first rapper to be more emotional, sad, or depressed on a record, but he is arguably the most famous to do it at that time. Although it did not resonate with his older fans, his younger fan base connected to the vulnerability shown by West in his songs. Critically the album divided the hip hop audience, as most of his elder fanbase could not connect to singing and autotune using Kanye. It is lead by two of his highest-charting singles in “Heartless” and “Love Lockdown”. The album becomes a commercial success, going platinum in a matter of a few months. Cudi’s influence is instrumental to the outcome of the album as he adds a particular melancholic sound and vibe to it. The writing process involved a number of people such as T-Pain and also Kid Cudi, the latter having 4 writing credits on the album. 808’s & Heartbreak’s simple beats were created with the TR-808, a computer-controlled rhythm machine from the 1980s. Different from his prior albums, which cemented his talents for chopping down soul samples, Kanye stated he wanted to make an album that stands on its own. His 4th studio album which was released on November 2008, has Kanye singing on most of the songs, heavily using autotune. These losses would inspire the raw emotion, which served as a turning point in West’s life and his musical career. The months leading up to the release of the album had Kanye experience the dissolution of a six-year relationship with his then-fiancee Alexis Phifer and the tragic death of his mother, Donda West, following cosmetic surgery. Like losing an arm and a leg and having to find a way to walk through it. At a 2008 press conference to promote his then-new album 808’s & Heartbreak, Kanye West described the inspiration for the album as suffering a multitude of losses at the same time.
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