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And sort of meta-critically, it seems like 808s and Heartbreak codes as ‘white’. That’s a fine reason to like something, but it’s not a great reason to think it’s a great work of art. Some people like it for its emotional heft. I think a big part of my antipathy for 808s and Heartbreak is that it’s taken by many to be such a singular achievement within West’s canon.

The three albums in the middle of his work all flow very logically forward to solidify grandly into the masterpiece that is, well, you get it. That’s not a terrible thing, necessarily! I think every album, except for his first and his last, are transitional. It is an intrinsically transitional album. 808s and Heartbreak is a big mess of an album. It has the former’s shitty sound, and an under-cooked version of its theme it has the latter’s space age sound, just all simultaneously damp and hot. That’s a bit of an oversimplification: I just think that 808s and Heartbreak combines the worst parts of my two favorite Kanye albums, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Graduation. I’ve been hinting all week that I think 808s and Heartbreak is not very good.