Is 808's & Heartbreak Our Chronic? (lmao)

[Elano]

Parkbench Studies: Is 808's & Heartbreak Our Chronic?
November 12th, 2008 | Author: Jake Paine hhdx

I have never met anybody who just liked Kanye West. He seems to be either championed or crucified, and dividedly evenly whether either opinion is based on music or everything but. In my travels and occasional music discussions, people seem shocked when I tell them that I’m an avid supporter of Mr. West, as if a living in the music industry is supposed to counter enjoying one of its brightest stars. If not for Jay-Z, few artists keep me on the edge of my seat lyrically – and musically, at a time when redundancy and monotony appear to be accepted as the norm.

Most music feels cheap right now, and Kanye West makes it feel expensive. He locked himself in the basement doing five beats a day for three summers. You'll hear reports that even today, 'Ye's midnight-disease studio sessions are spent toiling over one sound, a background effect, a mix level or an ad-lib, when most of his lesser peers are recording albums on tour buses, in shower studios, and too busy filming it on YouTube to care about anything more than where the next check or bag of green is coming from. As this month dances towards, what I believe already is a life-changing trend in Hip Hop in 808's & Heartbreak, I argue to stow your cynicism long enough to assist the person seated next to you in understanding just where this "Spaceship" of ours may be headed - and how, if you're old enough, you may already know how this movie ends.

Let me start here: auto-tune doesn't move me. But then again, I was adverse to Rockwilder and The Neptunes singlehandedly deading the sample a decade ago (and was it not largely 'Ye who brought it back?). This is a sound, no different than the way Dr. Dre's synthesizer challenged the boom-bap of the early '90s. Andre knew what he was doing; seemingly the west coast bargain bin copycats did not. Although I'm an avid Pittsburgh Pirates fan, I never liked Barry Bonds for the simple fact that his ego was really the one on 'roids - and carries a bigger asterix than his records. Yet despite my despise for ego trippin', I admire Kanye West for the fact that he's one of the few rappers who avoids cliches like "It is what it is," and says what he means and seems to mean what he says - even if it inevitably becomes headline news. He talks reckless, making him not the spoiled brat some accuse, but the common man; see me at the bar and I do too. But moreover, if Hip Hop is anywhere near dead in 2008, this is one man looking into the future, with sunglasses on. I hate hyperbole. But I sense that Kanye West may be affecting Hip Hop this month in a way parallel to Dr. Dre’s impact in late 1992, a short 16 years ago, with The Chronic.

Ask anybody who was there. The Chronic changed the way rap was to sound forever more. Listen to Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready To Die, and you can hear the sonic influence, the sense of an epic, cinematic album above a collection of great songs. It was a progression from Run-DMC's introduction of the rap album to begin with to Public Enemy's zeitgeist and reporting-style rap, to an effort that grabbed a spotlight, telegraphed a movement and taught everybody with a late pass that it was the day the rappers took over.

I see a strange relationship between what is The Chronic and what I expect 808's & Heartbreak to be (I was unable to attend last month's listening in Los Angeles). Moreover, I see a strange relationship between these makers of music, Dr. Dre and Kanye West. One of my favorite things about Dr. Dre is that he rarely speaks; one of my favorite things about Kanye West is that he refuses to shut up. I’ve never read too many places where either men talk about each other. Although both provide memorable rhymes to nations of fans, the core Hip Hop follower unanimously seems to respect both more for their work behind the boards, and tremendous ear for anthems, street symphonies and unthinkable sources of inspiration.

In truth, The Chronic began in the form of “Deep Cover,” a song not on the album. More known for its impromptu introduction of the lyrically gifted Snoop Doggy Dogg, the single from the soundtrack of the movie of the same name was a genesis of Dr. Dre’s musical interpretation of the L.A. Riots that same month of April 1992. The compressed kickdrum and fuzzed out bass hits, coupled with the fuse-burning sound effects, and you could feel the ticking time bomb of a nation held back, of a coast overlooked by the mainstream, of a producer eclipsed by the antics of a group – and by thousands of young men called “perps” that simply were ready to justify blasting back at undercover cops. "Fuck The Police" six years earlier had intensified to "187 on an undercover cop." The music probably outshined the message, but the status-quo of rap appeared to be challenged.

In terms of evolution, to me, the musical introduction of "Deep Cover" is not unlike ‘Ye’s appearance on Young Jeezy’s “Put On.” Although music came courtesy of Drumma Boy, ‘Ye used his token mid-year smash single to tell the world not how his grandfather was arrested for the sit-ins, his addiction to retail or how he likes to undress his work, but that the superstar was depressed, lonely and jaded with fame. This was not unlike Jay-Z’s move a year ago, to brandish how unfulfilling fortune and fame could be on “Success.” After almost 10 years of star rappers telling us about cars many could not afford, chartered planes, jewelry and frivolous spending, Kanye made it emotional. Whether the listener empathizes, sympathizes or apathizes doesn't really seem to be the point, the organic content, themed on angst and emotion channeled every one from Eminem to Ghostface to even Dr. Dre, who's sheer bragging on The Chronic was about the pumps and dumps of his '64 Chevy. This is not what the world wanted to hear – or even was ready, but surely, what they ought to.

Musically, Dr. Dre whet the appetite then, on that Deep Cover soundtrack – for whatever was to come. His words and actions were different than N.W.A. Dre, and so was his sound. Like a Prince Paul going from Stetsasonic to De La Soul three years earlier, things were vastly different, and exciting for all fans. James Brown and Charles Wright evolved to Parliament and Ohio Players sampling. Parallel, the "chipmunk soul" Kanye introduced himself with five years ago (after years of honing a style) has developed into collaborations with the likes of DJ Toomp and DJ Premier, and jukes at electro, bass, and experimental styles. Beanie Sigel's "The Truth" is nothing like "The Coldest Winter" [click to listen], but somewhere in there, people far more intellectual than I, can put to words the auteurism that holds true for Kanye West. "Lyrical Gangbang" sounds like the type of record N.W.A. might've favored, but it's the intro, the G-Funk synthesized accents that make it totally different. In a different medium, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver is vastly different from Goodfellas, but it's the attention to detail, the moving camera work, and the implementation of music that makes it his own, and allows a novice viewer to unconsciously recognize the trademark of a true artist.

Sixteen years after the fact, it’s hard to really tell what The Chronic is remembered for. Perhaps many of the people that were most impacted it by the release have moved on to other genres in age and distaste. Above being the archetype of gangsta rap as many will tell you, or the invention of melody to rap production, as Diddy claimed – neither of which I disagree with, it is my belief that The Chronic was a release made for cassette tape. It’s progressions, interludes, it’s ADD-proof of enlisting a body of guests defined the 15 years to come. Today's Zshare downloader might struggle with The Chronic. It's an album about patience, about unpredictability, and an ensemble cast, when nearly all big releases focus strictly on one person.
Within three years of its release, the cassette tape would be on its deathbed. The ease of skipping through tracks gave many artists, specifically in Hip Hop, an excuse not to take chances, but to make excuses.

According to Akon and Will.i.am, skip your Discman 16 years, and the CD is on borrowed time. Although West plays the game of providing free single samples to core online followers, he's an artist in rap, more than Lil Wayne, more than Jay-Z where sequence matters."Love Lockdown" was arbitrarily picked as a single, for the simple fact it was handed to the MTV Awards' producer. Who has that kind of power or apathy today? Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" was a b-side record that stuck, due to daring radio deejays and request line callers. As both have seemingly died long before the CD, I commend Kanye West for defining his albums earliest predictions and interest based on one man's decision. Moreover, West is the the one artist who we want to hear, as only he spent seemingly days trying to figure out sequencing the work.

I expect 808's & Heartbreak to tell me a story. In abstractions or concrete details, I expect to hear about the man who parted ways with the only woman who understood him. I expect the pain of losing a mother too early to come to life, after so many shot-snappers and recorder-holders tried to get the artist to put it to words as he walked to and from. I really don't anticipate to learn what Lamborghini leather feels like, or the inside scoop on the joys of a foursome. These are all too cheap, or minor dots in the bigger expression. When seemingly only inmates and industry-libertarian music journalists are the only people buying musical product the old fashioned way, Kanye West, from cover art to sequence makes an album an experience. Clicking to listen is like watching Star Wars in black and white.

As we look at the relationships between albums and singles, it's important to recognize that The Chronic was birthed in the pinnacle of the maxi-single. Everybody I know, from my mother, to the teenagers I once worked with to the bike messenger on the next barstool at three pm happy hour knows the words and melody to "Nuthin' But A G Thang." It's a party staple, heard at bowling alleys, bar mitzvahs and just plain old bars everywhere. But of the people that know it, only a few percentage can recognize "Stranded on Death Row" on a playlist. Singles are just excerpts, and to judge either 808's (albeit prematurely) or The Chronic based on what a majority hear is a travesty. To the seasoned Hip Hop listener, the videos, the radio and the cover art only reinforce the music. It starts there, and we cannot hold the artists accountable for the symbolizers out there taking tokes of culture, and inevitably choking when they do - they have no clue.

Often, I take The Chronic with me these days. It reminds me of my own choking, a soundwave, a cultural benchmark. More than anything, it's just good music. The armchair producer in me crams to understand how something so good came out so quickly, and just how everybody in Hip Hop reacted because of it. And while I enjoy so many albums and singles before the Dr. Dre solo jumpoff, I think Hip Hop owes that album a great debt of gratitude in shape-shifting us, giving us something to hate and love and talk about, 16 years plus years later.

As I was telling one esteemed colleague of mine yesterday - who seemed to agree, I stand firm that Killer Mike has made the best album this year, on a shoestring budget, on one of the smallest recognizable labels in the game, with poor sales yields. In all honesty, I'll be shocked if my opinion is any different in six weeks. The same is true of The Chronic. If I lose my copy, I'll promptly buy another, but truth be told, I admittedly prefer Black Moon's Enta Da Stage a few months later, or De La Soul Is Dead a few months before. This isn't about favoritism or throwing the word "classic" around carelessly, this is about significance.

When I listen to people talk about 808's & Heartbreak, I'm hearing a crop of self-appointed critics with forks and knives pointed upward, ready to pick apart an album. I feel like the normal procedure isn't going to work here. Kanye West appears to be a man with a message, and a defined vision and sound for this record. As even West's peers appear to make thematic efforts that seemingly sound the same, this one has already proven to be different. And as everyone is "throwing T-Pain" on their vocals, it's already showing trend impact and leadership.

More importantly, as Kanye West can stand before millions and say he lost the one woman that knew him best, lost his mother, and perhaps lost sight of his passion for an instant, it's more than beats and rhymes. This is authenticity. While I'll congratulate if auto-tune, like the truck horns of 2000, goes out with the year, there's some powerful stuff under the vocoder for those willing to stop and listen. The challenging production, the artfulness of the music, the sustainability of the full-length album and the ability to still be honest and powerful are all things that rap desperately needs right now.

Hate it or love it, West was right - he deserves to do these numbers. But more importantly, after he got his classmates to drop out a semester after him, he made sunglasses a must, chirped up samples a standard, and made Polo all the money back that Thirstin Howl, III and Rack Lo cost them in the '90s. So how we treat this next effort, and the way the followers follow will determine the direction we're all headed in for the remainder of the decade. If you like it, celebrate it. If you don't, I urge you to respect it and grab the rapper/producer next to you, and restrain them from copying. But just as Dr. Dre took set-tripping and set trends, 'Ye is putting the art back in the charts.

[Lord Funk]

how we treat this next effort, and the way the followers follow will determine the direction we're all headed in for the remainder of the decade.

An overblown statement if ever I read one.

[R1ZE]

how we treat this next effort, and the way the followers follow will determine the direction we're all headed in for the remainder of the decade.

An overblown statement if ever I read one.

not neccessarily. t-pain to lil wayne to ti to this... if the sales follow suit, I think we can expect alot more. if its a big flop (which it wont be) then we'll be safe.

[Lord Funk]

how we treat this next effort, and the way the followers follow will determine the direction we're all headed in for the remainder of the decade.

An overblown statement if ever I read one.

not neccessarily. t-pain to lil wayne to ti to this... if the sales follow suit, I think we can expect alot more. if its a big flop (which it wont be) then we'll be safe.

I guess you're right now that I think about it. Fuck, what a depressing thought.

[Black Excellence]

i like kanye's music but comparing his weakest album to the chronic is blasphemy.

[--Vance--]

[LodiDodi]

This is an early April Fool's joke right?

808's & Shitstains is more like it, I hope for the sake of hip hop that it flops

[Matty]

whoever wrote this is as pretentious as kanye himself. the chronic comparisons are not very valid however eloquently its put...

['EclipZe]

This is an early April Fool's joke right?

808's & Shitstains is more like it, I hope for the sake of hip hop that it flops

[R-Tistic]

If by "Chronic" you mean a drug that will kill our brain cells and eventually turn us to using crack...then yes, most definitely.

[CRAFTY]

^^^^LMAO

[NillerTheKid]

If by "Chronic" you mean a drug that will kill our brain cells and eventually turn us to using crack...then yes, most definitely.