After collecting an impressive 10 Grammys, releasing three multi-platinum albums, and offering his production skills to artists from Alicia Keys to Jay-Z, musical phenomenon Kanye West is back to take the world by storm once again.Keeping up his trend as a music innovator, this time mostly displaying his emotions by singing with the aid of the auto-tune, not to say it hasn't been done before, but this is one of, if not the first time a rapper has displayed this over an entire disc, unless you count that yodeling Ja Rule did in the early 2000s.
The first single, 'Love Lockdown', is a drum and bass heavy track, where he claims, "I'm love with you, but the vibe is wrong, and that haunted me", obviously a reflection on the reasoning behind the end of his engagement.
'Coldest Winter', a dedication to his late mother, is emotional recall of the pain her death bought to his life that is beautifully depicted not only by his emotion, but also by the way he approaches the song like it was recorded while on the verge of a breakdown.
Which is made more evident, when he coos: "If spring can take the snow away, Can it melt away all our mistakes, Memories made in the coldest winter, Goodbye my friend, I won't ever love again, Never again."
A shining glory, to say the least.
The follow-up, 'Heartless', did a good job of further proving that this wasn't a one time fluke and that his decision to change it up, doesn't keep him from releasing the classics that we rely on Kanye to bring to the light.
The Mr. Hudson assisted, 'Paranoid', is a retro infused wonder, while 'Robocop', sees Kanye further revealing details about his ex, comparing her to the antagonist in Misery and even calling her a "spoiled little L.A. girl", helping add juicy flare to the already stellar track.
Other standouts include: the glorifying 'Street Lights' and the Young Jeezy assisted, 'Amazing'.
The bulky drums, dragging strings, and joyless piano, can at times make the effort a little lifeless and make you beg for the Kanye that put out hits in the frame of the tracks the composed his first three efforts.
Make no mistake, an above average effort, but also a personal worst for Kanye,furthermore proving the artistry he brings to the game, because his worst still outweighs a lot of rapper's best.
3.5 out of 5
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