A look into the making of Kanye West’s polarizing album, seen primarily through photographs especially those shot by Nabil Elderkin for the Rizzoli book “Glow In The Dark”
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Summary of 808s and Heartbreak from Wikipedia
Background:
808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by American hip hop producer and vocalist Kanye West. It was released on November 24, 2008, by Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album during September and October 2008 at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, with the help of producers No I.D., Jeff Bhasker and others.
Conceived in the wake of several distressing personal events, 808s & Heartbreak marked a major musical departure from West’s previous rap records, instead featuring a sparse, electronic sound and West singing through an Auto-Tune vocal processor. His lyrics explored themes of loss, alienated fame, and heartache, while the album’s production abandoned conventional hip hop sounds in favor of a minimalist sonic palette, which included prominent use of the titular Roland TR-808 drum machine.
808s & Heartbreak debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 450,145 copies in its first week. Despite varying responses from listeners, the album received positive reviews from most critics and was named one of 2008’s best records in several year-end lists. Four singles were released to promote the record, including the hit singles “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless”.
808s & Heartbreak has since been cited as a prominent influence on subsequent hip hop, pop, and R&B music, as a new wave of rappers, singers, and producers came to adopt aspects of its style and thematic content.[1] By 2013, it had sold 1.7 million copies in the United States.
Production:
The album was recorded over a span of approximately three weeks from September to October 2008.[10] Recording sessions took place at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and at Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii.[11] As implied by its title, 808s & Heartbreak prominently features the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Drawing inspiration from 1980s synthpop and electropop performers such as Phil Collins, Gary Numan, TJ Swan and Boy George, West felt that the 808 is a resourceful instrument that can be used to evoke emotion; the concept was introduced to him by Jon Brion.[12][13] West utilized the sounds created by the 808 and manipulated its pitch to produce a distorted, electronic sound, an effect he referred to as “heartbreak”. He felt the characteristic of the sound was representative of his state of mind.[9] According to West, the fact that Hawaii’s area code was “808” was coincidental, as he had already developed the album’s title before being informed.[14] The realization inspired him to pursue his direction with the album, however.[10] In terms of musical direction, West’s intentions, according to Mike Dean, were to go against the typical sound of hip hop beat, instead evoking the presence of tribal drums.[15] Overall, West maintained a “minimal but functional” approach towards the album’s studio production.[13][16]
Rapper Kid Cudi, who had signed onto West’s G.O.O.D. Music label, contributed to two of the album’s songs.[19] Young Jeezy contributed a rap verse on the track “Amazing” while “See You in My Nightmares” is a duet with Lil Wayne. Singer-songwriter Esthero provided the few female vocals found on the album; credited under birth name Jenny-Bea Englishman, she co-wrote three tracks.[20] When “RoboCop” appeared on the Internet, West disclaimed responsibility and was upset that the leak had occurred as the track was an unfinished version.[21] Mike Dean had previously stated that the track was expected to receive additional treatment by Herbie Hancock before the album’s release.[15]