The Thing About Kanye (part 100003)

So, I was ready to take my battle with Kanye to the next level.  I hated "Love Lockdown".  Loathed it.  I went so far as to send this email out just last week:

"can we talk quickly about how every kanye west song I have heard in the last month is terrible?  If I wanted to hear him sing into a computer I'd...never want him to sing ever again.  His songs just suck really bad, meaning his whole album is probably going to be terrible.  I can't explain it.  Just wanted to let you know."

While I have always, and will always, HATE vocoder/autotune (I'll post about this in a hot minute because there are several exceptions), I listened to "Heartless" a couple more times and I have to say something to say.

I want to be Kanye West's best friend.

He is heartbroken.  This is what the whole album is about.  Maybe this was obvious with you, but it took a second for me because he is usually so proud.  If you look at "Heartless", however, you can see just how human the guy is.  I mean, look at the first verse (and listen, with youtube-the same sketchy way I listen):

"I mean after all the things that we been through
I mean after all the things we got into
and yo I know some things that you ain't told me
Ayo I did some things but thats the old me
And now you wanna pay me back
You gon' show me
so you walk round like you don't me
You got them new friends
Well I got homeys
But at the end its still so lonely."

He got homeys?  Sad.  I think that Kanye really misses Alexis (his fiance from last year who broke up with because, according to a friend, "They'd been having problems. Kanye is really focused on his show; he's putting everything into the show right now. Alexis is a nice girl, but Kanye has been going through a rough time. They hit a rough patch and for now they've split."  If you read Kanye's blog at all last year, or went to see his concert, you know how much work he put into that, and almost everyone knows how upset he was when his mother died.) 

So, anyway, once you ignore the vocoder for a quick second, you realize that Kanye had to create this album because he was hurting.  This album WILL stray from what he usually does, and it may not be pretty, but therapy is not always pretty, and it usually isn't meant for public entertainment.  And never fear, he is allegedly coming out with a fifth album in June 2009 (according to a highly unreliable youtube video) that will be called something along the lines of "Good Ass Job" and will go along with his usual education theme.  So think of albums 1,2,3, and 5 as parts of a series, and "808s and Heartbreak" as a bit of a pet project.

So here's what the man himself had to say, telling people not to judge this very personal album. 

"It's like judging your grandmother's love.  It's like saying your grandmother's love gets 2 and a half mikes.  It's like saying your grandmother didn't sell a million her first week."

  I'll say the naked girls at his listening party are all for the sake of performance art for now, since I am cutting kanye a bit of a break here.

So, you know what, after all this time, I kind of miss Kanye.  I wish we were still on talking terms.  As a matter of fact, I think I am going to go fix my watch.

(by the way, I have nothing good to say about the love lockdown video, but I want you to take a listen to the lyrics, because I think he knows what he is talking about, and it's pretty honest.  and smart.)

Comments

[anonymous fan of the vocoder]

heyyyyyy! i recognize that email! :)