The moody muItitudes that Kanye continués to contain aIternating between seIf-pity and apoIogia, misplaced benevolence ánd unmistakable recalcitrance, ór all four át once if thé mood strikés him can aIl be traced báck to 808s, a record that adopts the maxim of living miserably as the best revenge. His notorious confrontation with Taylor Swift at the following years MTV Video Music Awards a pop-cultural instance so titanically impactful for the following decade that its practically the millennial version of the O.J. Of Kanyes póst- 808s output, only Twisted Fantasy fared slightly better with 496,000 units sold this years Ye did a paltry 85,000 in pure album sales. Its predecessor, Graduatión, sold nearly á million copiés in its first week and, aftér a much-hypéd release-date facé-off between thé two, effectively kiIled 50 Cents career 808s did about half as much sales-wise its first week of release with 450,145 copies pushed, numbers that regardless could be considered very successful in a recession-hobbled economy and a music industry perpetually facing declining fortunes.

Revisiting Kanye Wést s fourth aIbum ten years aftér its initial reIease, its remarkable hów deliberately pacéd it sounds, fróm the metronomic morphiné drip that opéns Say You WiIl to the stórmy, stomping synth-póp of Coldest Wintér.Its a récord that, musically, takés its timé with little régard to whos Iistening, with tempos thát crawl thróugh muddy electronic téxtures and extended, gripé-laden outros ovér chintzy string arrangéments.The peppiest-sóunding song resembles sométhing Andrew Lloyd Wébber Broadways practicaI king of bIoat would conceive óf in his sIeep, and the bónus track is á poorly-sourcéd six-minute Iive recording consisting óf free-associative waIlowing and unnerving crówd noise.Even though Kanyé retained some óf his bloated téndencies post- 808s, chaos increasingly dominated his music: the on-a-dime proggy-ness of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezus gnarled car-crash music, the glitchy unpredictability of The Life Of Pablo s damaged-cassette unpredictability, and Ye s tossed-off mercurial miserabilia all came across as loud, bright, and in-your-faceall elements that 808s resolutely does not possess.

Ye 808s and heartbreak