Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak Wholesale

808s and Heartbreak is the groundbreaking album from Kanye West. A year after Graduation, the record is a marked, adventurous departure from west’s previous sound, and a bold, unprecedented move into auto-tune laden nu-soul, as showcased by the outstanding lead single, Love Lockdown. Recorded in Hawaii, ‘808s’ refers to west’s insistence that each track had to feature tr-808-generated drumming. “no typical hip-hop beats. they’ve gotta be tribal drums.” The only guests on the album are Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne and background vocals by Kid Cudi – Kanye sings every other verse himself.