LA Times: Kanye West examines real vs. fake on “808s and Heartbreak”
Nov21/2008
Of all the stories Donda West read to her little son at bedtime, "Pinocchio" must have been a favorite. The tale of the puppet who longed to be human obviously resonates with Kanye West. On "Pinocchio Story," the bonus live track that turns out to be the key to his audaciously introspective fourth album, he freestyles about the character, repeatedly singing, "I want to be a real boy."
"808s and Heartbreak," out Monday on Roc-A-Fella Records but now streaming on MySpace, is a meditation on realness as it's been defined by materialism and machismo in the hip-hop world, and by love and sorrow in the larger one. Wrought in hushed mechanical beats, computer-altered vocals and samples so subtle they're barely noticeable, it's West's foray into confessional music.
Kanye West – Graduation
Aug31/2007
“The hood love to listen to Jeezy and Weezy, and oh yeah Yeezy; I did it for the Glory.”
What’s left to do when your debut album was a breakthrough classic and your sophomore album avoids the slump to receive even more praise? Well, you graduate to the next level of course. Yet with a two year gap that occurred for Graduation to be complete, Kanye West shows it wasn’t as simple as passing classes and grabbing that diploma. And even with a shorter track list this time around (the first two were 21 tracks), Graduation packs a piercing punch.
With a hollowing welcome, “Good Morning” gives us the tantalizing new sounds that Ye’ has honed as of late. His lyrics give an outlook of a perspective that reminisces of the past and fantasizes of the future, De Lorean included (a tie to his Marty McFly lyrics in “Southside”). And if his added tagline from “The Ruler’s Back” doesn’t raise an eyebrow, you may need to dig into your iPod and throw it on.
The boastful accolades from Kanye didn’t go anywhere on tracks like “Champion” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.” On the former, he raps “Last week I paid a visit to the institute, they got the Dropout keeping kids in the school” to vocalists singing “This is a story of a Champion.” For the latter and his first single, his arrogance warrants a hail mary, rapping “So if the Devil wear prada Adam n’ Eve wear nada I’m in between but way more fresher, with way less effort.”
DJ Toomp helped on the drums with “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” but it didn’t stop there. Kanye collaborated with Toomp as well on the bass pounding “Good Life,” with a chorus from the most popular fake voice on radio, T-Pain. If the title of this song doesn’t emulate Kanye’s lyrics better than any other track he’s done (think of it as Touch The Sky 1.5), and likewise doesn’t make you throw your hands up in the air (go ahead, wave em’ like you just don’t care), I digress.
Kanye’s sampling of Daft Punk’s synthpop-sound for his second single “Stronger” provides a more “futuristic” amplitude to his crateful of soul records. This same structural sound is seamlessly apparent in a few other tracks such as “Flashing Lights,” a string-swaying melody featuring Dwele on the vocals. In it Kanye paints a troubling picture of the girl that still haunts. Also on “I Wonder,” Mr. West pronounces his intimate thoughts through a synth-based beat, piano added for a more subtle approach.
If there was one signature detail Graduation couldn’t exist without, it would be that chipmunk sound we’ve grown to love. Kanye brings it back for us on “The Glory,” a catchy and soulful track that Common described it as “a raw street joint” when it was originally for his album. Kanye comes correct on the lyrics and with wordplay so confidently witty, he raps:
“While ya’ll was in limbo, I raised the bar up, I touched on everything, married to the game roc-a chain still the wedding ring you bridesmaids catch the garter. On nights when Ye’ romanced, camera’s flashed so much, that I gotta do that Yayo dance.”
The two collaborations found on the album, one highly anticipated, the other quite surprising, shine a rare light of disappointment for Graduation. Chris Martin’s chorus on “Homecoming” is inviting, but one cannot deny history. Kanye’s lyrics for this track match exactly to an unreleased track he did with John Legend called “Home” a few years back. Needless to say, both beats are immensely gratifying to hear, but it seems Legend’s soulful voice one-ups Martin’s mellow-toned vocals. And then on “Barry Bonds,” Lil’ Wayne spits a verse that has many scratching their heads. His word association vaguely etches an attempt, casting him as lazy.
If the comical title of “Drunk and Hot Girls” isn’t confusing enough on a Kanye West album, the lyrics emphasize an angry and frustrated man at the bar, trying to get laid. Now, it would make sense if this was maybe a fews lines on a track, but it’s the entire purpose of the song. And Mos Def singing? Stick with rapping, or going on the Dave Chappelle show (looks like you have no choice).
Ye’s enlightening tracks take a more mature stance to an astonishing career he’s had thus far. “Everything I Am” features scratches from the great DJ Premier with Kanye rapping about the naysayers who’ve got it all wrong. And paying homage to the ruler himself, Mr. West wraps up the album with “Big Brother” for president Carter. With an insightful hook, Kanye gets his chance to explain certain instances that happened in the past, and the admiration that has built up over time for Jay-Z. Forget the claims of a conscious rapper; Kanye’s lyrics on this track are just real talk.
Time and critics will decide if this album joins the same pantheon as his first two. The high standards and likewise anticipation may have killed off a few listeners, but Kanye knows this first hand; you can’t please everyone, especially to the fullest extent. And anyways, now that he has graduated, I guess he’s gonna have to go get that Good Ass Job.
PS: Let’s keep Hip-Hop alive, September 11th.
by Edwin Ortiz
Common – Finding Forever
Jul24/2007
"Many have come, but few have been chose to be a true MC"
Nearly two years ago, Common dropped his album Be to the masses, with an uproar of acceptance and critical acclaim. XXL Magazine gave it an unprecedented XXL rating, one of only six albums to ever receive that original rating. His investment in Kanye West as his core producer paid off, with four Grammy nods to boot, yet sadly he went home with none. Fast track to the present.
In a déjà vu case scenario, Common is set to unleash his seventh album entitled Finding Forever on July 31st. Just like last time, Finding Forever instills Kanye West at the helm of production, with eight of the eleven tracks under his belt. He and Common’s hopes are being held even higher this time around, as Kanye has already coined Finding Forever as the rap album of the year, which is a strong statement to boast as Ye’ himself will be delivering his third album, Graduation, in mid-September. Not to mention Mr. West is 2/2 in that category at the Grammy’s.
The album begins with an appropriately named track called “Start the Show,” which features a haunt-ish embracing chorus, and shows Common in his raw form. A rapper that has never held his tongue among his peers (does his feud with WSC ring a bell?), he rips with the lines “hot for a minute now you just a remember him,” and later “With 12 monkeys on stage it’s hard to see who’s a gorilla, you was better as a drug dealer.”
The next track in line, and also his first single off the album, Common emancipates himself as a spiritual speaker with “The People.” Drawing on a similar sample from The Game’s “Wouldn’t Get Far” track (for which Ye’ produced as well, and Common turned down), Common describes his importance to his people and community when he raps “Sick and tired of punching in, I look on the bus at them, when I see them struggling I think how I’m touching them” and “I’m keeping my eyes on the people that’s the prize,” a term which is a reference to the Civil Rights movement during the 1960’s.
With the only rap artist featured on the album, Kanye and Common bring back the old days of straight belligerent flows embellished by a beat so hard it’ll remind listeners that Hip-Hop is far from dead on a once-again Kanye produced track “Southside”. And in Ye’-like fashion, he stubbornly points out that “I’m back from the future seen it with my own eyes, and yep, I’m still the future of the Chi.” Not to be upstaged on his own track, Common replies “You in the building but the buildings falling, you wouldn’t be ballin’ if your name was spalding.” If Chicago had its own anthem, this would be it.
When producing this album, Kanye expressed his influence of the late J Dilla in his production technique. Being a close friend with Jay Dee, Common honored him and included the track “So Far Go” which originally was featured on J Dilla’s posthumous album The Shining, circa 2006. Featuring D’ Angelo on the chorus, “So Far To Go” reunites 3 members from the group Soulquarians, a collection of artists who emphasize an authentic and raw sound of music. As mellow and enticing the beat is, this feel-good track feels out of place on an album pushing for exceptional.
Completing the cycle of his reach for eternal music, Common finishes the album with “Forever Begins.” Piano and drum roll included, Common focuses his intentions of today’s words affecting the future with, “Look fear in the eyes say I’m never gonna run / Sooner or later I know the cheddar gonna come, for now I write the world letters to better the young.” His lyrics end in stating, “I knew we live forever through song,” a reference to J Dilla’s impact on music. And to keep the streak alive at 6 albums and counting, Common brings his Dad on the track for some spiritual release.
As of recent, XXL magazine has stamped Finding Forever with a seal of an XL rating. Many, including Kanye and Common, have been confused by this rating because in their review they considered this album to be better than the predecessor Be. XXL magazines reasoning is that Be was a 200% upgrade from the “head-scratchingly progressive” Electric Circus. Though I will not argue with the rating, I will agree that this album does surpass Be in overall quality (I consider Be a potential, eventual classic. It has not crossed over as of yet). And I too hope Finding Forever grabs Common his much deserved Rap Album of the Year at the Grammy’s in the coming year. What about Ye’ you ask? Looks like Album of the Year is in his sights. For now, let us let Common shine like the star he is.
by Edwin Ortiz
