Let’s stop the charade right now. Just stop. Kanye West has revitalized hip-hop through his unique talent and vision, that much is sure. He made samples essential to production, flipped the image of a rapper on its head, and energized a dying industry with his fearless cross-genre blends.
But let’s stop pretending his latest creation, 808’s & Heartbreak, is anything revolutionary. Since Kanye announced the concept of his latest album (all autotuner, all the time), it’s been hailed as genius, inspired, and cutting-edge. Very few call it what it really is: capitalization. Read the rest of this entry »
