Album Review
Kanye West- 808s & Heartbreak
9/10

When the dust settles over 2008's musical landscape, 808s & Heartbreaks will be one of the year's most divisive records. Some will love it for its lack of rapping and use of auto-tune, while others will hate it for the same reasons. There is no denying that this is one of Kanye's , and in fact, hip-hop's, landmark albums. Mr. West has never been one to follow the prescribed method of how to do things, and 808s completely flies in the face of hip-hop's most entrenched cliches. It shouldn't, however, be praised for simply being different, but instead, for its merits as an album apart from all the buzz surrounding it and its creator.

West's decision to ditch rapping in favor of crooning was, a brilliant move. He's not a good singer by any stretch of the imagination, but he is able to convey emotion effortlessly. It's strangely reminiscent of the voice of a generation past, Bob Dylan. Dylan lacked a good voice as classically defined, but somehow managed to land #7 on Rolling Stone's list of greatest singers while Mariah Carey languished at #79. There is more to singing that hitting the high notes. There is no better example than the brooding "Welcome To The Heartbreak", the album's thesis. West laments his materialistic lifestyle singing, "My friend showed me pictures of his kids, and all I could show him were pictures of my cribs. He said his daughter got a brand-new report card, and all I got was a brand-new sportscar."

Rather than the triumphant cocky pop that was last year's "Stronger", West expresses his emotionally vulnerable side while contemplating love lost. "Coldest Winter" explains the pain the death of his mother has caused, while "Heartless" and "Love Lockdown" are bitter breakup songs. The album still boasts plenty of triumphant pop moments, such as the flourish of synth and xylophone as Kanye sings, "OK OK, you will never stop it now" as he rages against a domineering girlfriend on "Robocop". Lil Wayne's contribution on "See You In My Nightmare" takes the track from haunting to downright scary.

The album's final track, a live recording of "Pinocchio Story", is both 808s best and worst track. It displays his overconfidence as he warbles to a crowd of fans in Singapore, and the lyrics are somewhat lacking, but its arguably the most heartfelt Kanye has ever been. "There is no Gucci I could buy...there is no Louis Vuitton I could put on...to get my heart out of this hell." he sings. West's next studio album after Graduation was supposed to be called Good A** Job. If life had gone as he planned, that's what it would be called and what we would be listening to would sound a lot more like its predecessors. That's not what happened though. Kanye lost his mom, he broke up with his fiance, he felt pain. It derailed his plans and altered his art. The result is the most moving, emotionally bare, and unpretentious record of his career.

Must download:
"Welcome To The Heartbreak"
"Heartless"
"Robocop"

Album Review: Jay-Z "The Blueprint 3"

In an attempt to be hipper than she really is, the artist formerly known as Hannah Montana name checked other musicians in her recent hit "Party In The USA". In every performance of the song, she has kept the line "...and the Britney song was on", but in another verse, Michael, Kanye, and Jay-Z have all been swapped in and out. One of these things is not like the others.

Jay-Z has never been an artist for 14 year old girls to be particularly interested in listening to. His biggest radio hits have always been songs he tacks on a few rap verses onto ("Heartbreaker" with Mariah, "Crazy In Love" with Beyonce, and "Umbrella" with Rihanna), but scoring radio hits has never been something Mr. Carter seemed too interested in. Until now.

At a time when auto-tune has reached the point of saturation, Mr. Carter claims that it has jumped the shark in "D.O.A.". "Get back to rap, you T-Paining too much," he chides. Sure, criticism of something like auto-tune, which has found its way onto Burger King commercials and Mariah Carey songs, is perfectly acceptable at this point in time, but it seems pretty gimmicky. It lights the blogs up and makes Jay seem like a trend setter less than a year after 808s & Heartbreak dropped.

Speaking of gimmicks, "Run This Town" owes it success to Jay's choice of collaboraters in a way that B-list pop stars like Keri Hilson use them, not "the new Sinatra". It was a smart business move to enlist Rihanna and Kanye West, two veterans to the top ten, but both of them? In the same song? It just seems like selling out instead.

Blueprint 3 has its share of tracks that justify Jay-Z's continued dominance of rap. There's "Empire State of Mind", a collaboration with Alicia Keys that celebrates his hometown New York City and "Reminder", a cocky reminder that Hova has now passed up Elvis in number one albums. "On To The Next One" is the second attempt by a Carter to recreate "A Milli" (after Beyonce's "Diva) and it does a pretty good job.

The album's hottest tracks however are"Off That" featuring up and coming Drake and the OutKast-esque "Venus Vs. Mars". "Off That" begins with Jay welcoming listening to the future, and that's a pretty accurate description of the slick Timbaland produced track. Other than that, Blueprint 3 isn't a groundbreaking manifesto the way its predecessor was. Rather, its the soundtrack to a bored rapper in his 40s resting on his laurels. Maybe #12 will be different.

Rating: 7/10
Must download: "Run This Town", "Off That", "Venus Vs. Mars"