kanye west 808s and heartbreak album cover

Its influence never really ceased reverberating, and its imprint still appears with some frequency across hip-hop (and pop music writ large). Ten years after its release, 808s & Heartbreak is an absolute. “It flowed the most effortlessly because we basically did it in three weeks.” 808s & Heartbreak was their first collaboration, and likely the most memorable. “It was probably the easiest Kanye West record that ever got made,” he said. More than a decade after its release, the album's impact is demonstrated by the artists it influenced.The producer and songwriter Jeff Bhasker has worked on four albums with Kanye West. Keem has also shown it: this past September, he sampled the drums from 'Love Lockdown' and 'Coldest Winter' on 808s in 'scars'' and 'issues', respectively, two tracks on his debut album The Melodic Blue. He called the album his most significant musical influence and his favourite in Kanye's discography. Baby Keem is another artist who credits 808s as a pivotal inspiration to his sound. For example, Juice's smash hit 'Lucid Dreams'' is a poignant ballad about being unable to recover from a breakup. Juice was candid about his emotional struggles and poured his feelings into his music, a characteristic carried over from Kanye's record. Its impact is as clear as day on his debut Goodbye & Good Riddance, a breakup record filled with melodies, passionate singing, and lyrics about heartbreak. A key example is Juice WRLD, who wore his heart on his sleeve and cites the album as his favourite album ever. Drake famously called Kanye the 'most influential rapper' to his sound in a 2009 MTV interview.Ĩ08s & Heartbreak has significantly influenced more recent acts too.

Otherwise, Kanye's transition into singing can be seen as the catalyst for Drake's crossover style: his album Take Care contains rap bangers like 'Under Ground Kings' and emotional singing performances such as the iconic, drunken heartbreak anthem 'Marvins Room'. Kanye also produced Drake's hit 2010 love song 'Find Your Love'. 'Say What's Real', a track on Drake's breakout mixtape So Far Gone, utilizes the instrumental to 808s' opener 'Say You Will'. Both 808s and Kanye himself can be seen as instrumental in Drake's work, some ways being rather direct. The self-proclaimed 'Certified Lover Boy' is no stranger to showing his softer side on his records and crafting emotional ballads, two of his most recognizable traits as an artist. The Canadian rapper is known for a mix of singing and rapping that has characterized most of his work to date. The influence of 808s' heartfelt and melodic nature can be seen in one artist more than any other: Drake.

Kanye west 808s and heartbreak album cover