But come on, it’s always felt heartless of Kanye to air his dirty laundry on a track like this. Kanye is detailing a complex fracturing of a relationship.
“Heartless” is a magnificent song, yet it also applies to the argument I’m putting forward. Kanye talks a lot about being in love, but I don’t see true love anywhere here. Breakup albums necessarily have to console us in our darker thoughts, but this album’s “breakup” is fueled by toxic masculinity. And even if you think I am being too pickyortooconcernedaboutwhatartIconsume, I would argue that it is incontestable that this album is popular precisely because it resides in this complex emotional state wherein darker thoughts are given validity. The latter part of the line is certainly embedded with very dark readings, and I think to not hold Kanye accountable for this is a symptom of toxic artist obsession.Įven if you don’t agree with my reading, I would encourage you to question from where the emotional weight in this line comes. Now, I am not saying that Kanye West is talking about raping someone here, but I am saying that this line has a certain undertone to it which could be interpreted that way. So Fly crash-lands in my room/ Can’t waste no time, she might leave soon,” Kanye croons on the opener “Say You Will.” What a great way to start off a breakup album. And when it’s not mediocre, it is downright toxic. I love “808s and Heartbreak,” but I will be the first to admit it’s not much better than mediocre. Kanye West gets a lot of undue reverence, and this album is a prime example. Each of these albums displays a higher level of emotional depth and musical excellence than what Kanye showcases here. And Frank Ocean revels in the deconstruction of misogyny through his alternative conceptions of masculinity.Įxamples that totally blow this album out of the water include Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” SZA’s “CTRL” and any album by Bjork (except “Volta”). Kendrick Lamar’s “These Walls” displays introspection that Kanye has never approached. D’angelo’s “Voodoo” is an epic that focuses on finding the feminine within the masculine. This problem is only exacerbated when we compare himtoother,lessmisogynisticmalewriters. West cannot write about women in a positive manner. Twitter that it was written by a ghost writer. His relationship with women on his last solo The artist did release a touching song about It is a common thread throughout his career. Kanye has not addressed this problem, but Unfortunately, what powers the emotional reverence that many fans have for this album is Kanye’s consistent degradation of women. Its main fault is that “808s and Heartbreak” is inspired by misogyny. Like a lens, I can look through these songs and see my life from a new perspective. In its best moments, “808s” resonates in an (auto)tune in which we can all find solace. There’s a sadness here that feels distinctly modern. If you think this appreciation is sappy, I can assure you that my high school life was much sappier. When my first girlfriend broke my heart in my second year of high school, how could I have survived without the cold, warbling artefacts of “Street Lights”? How could I have really thought about my life without the long, voiceless outros of “Bad News” and “Say You Will”? During all the lengthy, lonely times in my car throughout my adolescence, “808s” was there for me. If you want prime breakup music, go listen to Bjork or D’angelo-not Kanye West’s “808s and Heartbreak.” Both artists are more successful at conveying heavy emotions than West is on this release. Each week, Arts will feature a piece detailing the merits of one of West’s albums, in chronological order.
#808S AND HEARTBREAK METACRITIC SERIES#
The following is the fourth in an eightpart series documenting the discography of Kanye West.
0 kommentar(er)
