Kanye West is a modern day legend that doesn’t get the respect he deserves. He sets trends and creates styles that influence other artists. His music, even from early in his career, stands the test of time. He’s far ahead of many of his peers and his artistry holds no bounds. What’s not legendary about the run of Kanye West? Why do we allow the mass perception of his public persona to determine how we feel about his music and entrepreneurship in general?
Today marks the seven year anniversary of his groundbreaking album 808s and Heartbreak being released. He didn’t rap at all and used autotune on every one of the twelve songs featured on the EP. Fans were confused. Critics lambasted him for going outside of the box and especially using autotune, something that we all had grown tired of by November 2008. It took us seven years and the rise of Drake to realize the brilliance behind Kanye West and how his self-proclaimed “futurist” label seems more like fact than fiction.
On Twitter, the album title started to trend. I decided to hop into the fray, giving my opinion and saying:
If only folks realize how Kanye's "808s & Heartbreak" changed the game. Without that, there would be no Drake as we currently know him.
— Randall Barnes (@AuthorRandallB) November 24, 2015
It seemed as if, to my surprise, many people agreed with me on my assertion. However, a brother with the Twitter handle of @_jonnie29 wanted to give the credit to Ja Rule for completely and solely paving the way for Drake’s success. From there, we had a real conversation.
@_jonnie29 lol Ja Rule wasn't using autotune though brother. Plus the introspective songs were seen first from Kanye.
— Randall Barnes (@AuthorRandallB) November 24, 2015
@_jonnie29 Totally true. Drake whole song structure is an offshoot of "808's and Heartbreak" though. Ja wasn't doing it like that.
— Randall Barnes (@AuthorRandallB) November 24, 2015
@_jonnie29 Most definitely. Ja was doing it back in the day. I just think of Kanye when I see Drake. Ja was a real one! lol
— Randall Barnes (@AuthorRandallB) November 24, 2015
From there, I turned to YouTube to listen to “Paranoid” off of the 808s and Heartbreak album and I noticed something. Drake’s hit song “Hotline Bling”, although distinctly different in production and slightly different in subject matter (relationship woes), is eerily similar to the afore mentioned 808s cut. In my podcast below, I mashed the two songs together and gave a more in-depth analysis of the comparisons.
https://soundcloud.com/authorrandallb/randall-on-the-influence-of-kanye-west
Randall looks back on the movie “Drumline” and how the topics covered in the film, released in 2002, are still relevant to HBCU’s today.
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