808s & Heartbreak

Untitled

808s & Heartbreak is the upcoming fourth album by American rap artist Kanye West. The album is scheduled to be released on November 25, 2008. West announced on his blog that he has finished the album.

Concept

The entire album is sung by West with the aid of Auto-Tune, aside from one verse by Young Jeezy and a duet with Lil Wayne. West has stated that he loves using Auto-Tune and is dismayed that the term has been commonly associated with being "wack". He considers the technology "the funnest thing to use." West compared the situation to when he was a child and thought the color pink was cool until someone told him "it was gay." He went on to state how the views of society can rob a person of his or her confidence and self-esteem. West also classified 808s & Heartbreak as pop music and expressed that, "People think pop is bad, but Michael Jackson was pop and who can compare to him?"

Background

The album was originally rumored to be entitled A Good Ass Job by the magazine Billboard, though it was later revealed by online hip-hop and fashion magazine Urban Lookout that the correct name would be 808s & Heartbreak. This was later confirmed through the rapper's online blog.

The first single from the album was "Love Lockdown", which has been performed live and has aired on the radio. The official version of the song was posted onto West's blog on September 16 and is being played by radio stations. The song was premiered at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The second single is announced as "Heartless". Another song revealed is "Welcome to Heartbreak", which appeared on a poster for an 808s & Heartbreak listening event that took place on October 14.

As of September 13, the album was being recorded in Hawaii. Hawaii's area code is 808, part of the inspiration for the first part of the album name. In addition, an 808 is a commonly used drum machine by many producers. On September 24, West announced that he had finished the album and would be releasing it sometime in November. West later stated that the album would be released on November 25, 2008.

In an interview with URB, rapper Kid Cudi (signed onto West's label, GOOD Music) stated he was working in the studio with West on 808s. He also revealed that he will be featured on two of the songs on the album.

On MTV's Mixtape Monday, Common expressed interest in working with West on the album. T-Pain also announced that he has been working with West.

On 16th of October Kanye released a snippet of "The Coldest Winter" on the radio station Power 106 in LA. The chorus borrows lyrics from the song, Memories Fade from the band Tears for Fears.

Reported track listing

Kanye West hosted a special listening event to promote the album. Rap-Up.com subsequently reported a track list based on what could be heard at the gathering. MTV.com further specified track names of the album.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to Heartbreak" (Kanye West)
2.	"Heartless" (Kanye West)	3:33
3.	"Love Lockdown" (Kanye West)	4:31
4.	"Robocop" (Kanye West)
5.	"Anyway" (Kanye West)
6.	"Streetlights" (Kanye West)
7.	"Say You Will" (Kanye West)
8.	"Bad News" (Kanye West)
9.	"Amazing" (featuring Young Jeezy)
10.	"Tell Everybody That You Know" (featuring Lil Wayne)
11.	"Coldest Winter" (Kanye West)