And Frank Ocean revels in the deconstruction of misogyny through his alternative conceptions of masculinity.Įxamples that totally blow this album out of the water include Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” SZA’s “CTRL” and any album by Bjork (except “Volta”). Kendrick Lamar’s “These Walls” displays introspection that Kanye has never approached. D’angelo’s “Voodoo” is an epic that focuses on finding the feminine within the masculine.

This problem is only exacerbated when we compare himtoother,lessmisogynisticmalewriters. West cannot write about women in a positive manner. Twitter that it was written by a ghost writer. His relationship with women on his last solo The artist did release a touching song about It is a common thread throughout his career. Kanye has not addressed this problem, but Unfortunately, what powers the emotional reverence that many fans have for this album is Kanye’s consistent degradation of women.

Its main fault is that “808s and Heartbreak” is inspired by misogyny.

Like a lens, I can look through these songs and see my life from a new perspective. In its best moments, “808s” resonates in an (auto)tune in which we can all find solace. There’s a sadness here that feels distinctly modern. If you think this appreciation is sappy, I can assure you that my high school life was much sappier. When my first girlfriend broke my heart in my second year of high school, how could I have survived without the cold, warbling artefacts of “Street Lights”? How could I have really thought about my life without the long, voiceless outros of “Bad News” and “Say You Will”? During all the lengthy, lonely times in my car throughout my adolescence, “808s” was there for me. If you want prime breakup music, go listen to Bjork or D’angelo-not Kanye West’s “808s and Heartbreak.” Both artists are more successful at conveying heavy emotions than West is on this release. Each week, Arts will feature a piece detailing the merits of one of West’s albums, in chronological order.

The following is the fourth in an eightpart series documenting the discography of Kanye West.

When did 808s and heartbreak come out