Welcome to Heartbreak

808’s & Heartbreak is the forth studio album for Kanye West, and boy is it different.  The end of 2007 and into 2008 hasn’t been too kind to Kanye.  The death of his mother Donda and split with ex-fiance Alexis Phifer within a couple of months had a deep effect on ‘Ye and 808’s & Heartbreak is the manifestation of that pain in music.  Don’t come in expecting Kanye like you’ve heard him on College Dropout, Late Registration, or Graduation. In fact, don’t expect Kanye to rap.  Just clear all that out of your mind and enter 808’s with no expectations.  There’s genius to be found here, but it’s likely to missed by many because of the major departure from Mr. West’s previous outings.

Let me begin by saying 808’s & Heartbreak is not a hip-hop/rap album, although it will probably be found in that section at your local music store.  The genre that 808’s & Heartbreak falls into can probably be best described as Pop crossed with R & B and Alternative.  As I said before, ‘Ye doesn’t rap often on this album; instead, he usually sings (with and without Auto-Tune) or raps so slow you wouldn’t call it rap.  The sound SO different, many people will no doubt be turned off, but in actuality, ‘Ye does a good job with the vocals, often times sounding very smooth or intentionally rough to convey the deep sense of emotion that can be found running all through 808’s & Heartbreak.

Also different is the production.  Over the years, we’ve grown accustomed to hearing Kanye using a heavy dose of soul samples for his beats.  This time around, everything appears to be arranged from scratch with minimal sampling, and heavy emphasis on tribal drums and sounds from the Roland TR-808 drum machine.  These are not joyful beats either.  This music is somber, a direct reflection of how ‘Ye’s been feeling as of late.  It’s a different sound for ‘Ye, but the deep drums and orchestral music are sure to make good use of that car stereo or home theater setup.

The content of the songs are focused almost entirely on love and heartbreak, as the album’s title would suggest.  This ain’t exactly feel good music.  This is most definitely an artist’s emotion on the record.  It’s not totally a downer tho.  The song RoboCop displays some of Kanye’s usual humor when he says “Haha, that was a good one/ your first good one in a while.”  West also teams up with Young Jeezy on the track Amazing, where ‘Yeezy and Jeezy are talking about how amazing it is to have the status and influence that they have attained.

808’s & Heartbreak is a hard one to peg.  It’s hot, but its not going to be for everyone.  I didn’t like it to begin with, but it definitely grew on me.  With that, if you’re not sure, try before you buy.  If you can accept the fact that its not hip-hop, then you’ll find a lot love.  If not, then you’ll undoubtedly walk away heartbroken.

HOT: Say You Will, Welcome to Heartbreak, Paranoid, See You In My Nightmares

NOT: Love Lockdown, Bad News

As if a Bugatti Veyron wasn’t sexy enough…

What’s better than a Bugatti Veyron?  A chromed-out Bugatti Veyron!  Thanks to KanYe’s blog for the pics…

CALLING ALL SNEAKERHEADS!

I can’t say I’m sneakerhead myself, but I know a hot shoe when I see one.  Check out the Nike Air Crazy Force 1 and accompanying toy.

Click HERE for more pics.

T-Pain: The Ringleader?

WOW.  I’m fresh off of listening to Thr33 Ringz, T-Pain’s third studio album, and all I can say is OMG.  He went off.  I always used to think of him as a clown… just getting famous off of a couple singles and being on EVERY FEATURE IN LIFE.  But Thr33 Ringz makes me go back and reevaluate what I think about T-Pain; maybe he really is the ringleader?

T-Pain is known for fun, party music.  The kind you can dance to.  Thr33 Ringz would fall into that category, with very few songs you can’t groove to.  I have no problem with this, as it provides a balance to the conscious hip-hop, aggressive rap, and lovey-dovey R & B that also share space on my Zune.  Every music has its place, and as long as it serves its purpose well, its good music.  Well, Thr33 Ringz is definitely good music.  The whole time I had it playing, I felt an urge to move to the beat.  I was impressed with the production, and was surprised (although perhaps I shouldn’t have been) to find that T-Pain does makes the beats too!  Based off this album, I am tempted to place him up there with Kanye West as one of the best producer/artists right now.

The lyrics aren’t incredibly deep, but the concepts go beyond the usual “I’m in love with a stripper” that T-Pain has become known for.  Tracks like Keep Going and Change display thought that go past party anthems.  That’s not to say the stripper tracks aren’t still there.  One song in particular, Long Lap Dance, was made especially for the strip club.  Those of you who frequent such establishments will have to let me know if they actually play it in the club, since, you know, I don’t go…

People can say what they will about the use of Auto-Tune in today’s popular music, but T-Pain was the first to start using it heavy in pop music and he kinda has the right to use it on his album.  That said, I didn’t find it distracting at all and like how his voice sounds with the effect.  It’s T-Pain, love him or hate him… his voice shouldn’t be a suprise to anyone.  In a bit of a shocker, T-Pain does leave the Auto-Tune behind on Keep Going.  That’s right.  Just him singing.  And it sounds good.  Kudos to T-Pain for that one.

Thr33 Ringz features an impressive roster of features as well (maybe calling in all those favors for being on other people’s tracks?).  Chris Brown, T.I., Akon, Kanye West, Musiq Soulchild, Raheem DeVaughn, Diddy, and Mary J. Blige all make appearances in this T-Pain circus, among others, and overall, they all do a great job of lending their own signature to ‘Pain’s to create a truly special mix that must be heard to be understood.

The last surprise on the album is the last track Karaoke featuring DJ Khaled. I know T-Pain was a rapper, who starting singing, but this track makes me think he could be a “two-sports star” of sorts.  The raw energy of the track is what makes this track special.  He spits with a passion that is missing on a lot of rapper’s albums.  Glad to see that Basement freestyle wasn’t a fluke.

Thr33 Ringz is a winner.  Plain and simple.  Go and cop it.  Now.  You won’t be disappointed.  If you like to dance, even its in the privacy of your own home, its worth it.

HOT: Practically everything, but Karoake is especially hot

NOT: Practically nothing

OVERALL GRADE: A

Spirit of the People: A LATE ELECTION REACTION

He called for a new spirit in the people. That’s what our new president did. Before we knew who he was, an eerily familiar spirit inhabited my society. Since the DNC of ’06, there has been an appeal for a changed attitude in America, or politics at least. Most politicians talk of change, but when the Negro lawmaker form America’s Breadbasket spoke of it, it was just so darn eloquent. Other candidates caught on like the suburbs to 2Pac lyrics.

So “change” became the universal theme from primary to polling place. The one thing that bound together all the white house hopefuls was that they wouldn’t touch the incumbent with a ten-foot pole (around reporters or fact checkers anyway). I learned that hate can be the common denominator of any debate. I chose to give the Negro lawmaker the benefit of the doubt even though many said he wasn’t fit; but when he said “I am”, they said you’re a liar and he said “you too”. I learned that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ don’t always apply to those above adolescence.

So during the primaries, I decided to pay attention to this man in the mirror at the podiums on the tube. I decided to really listen to how he and his counterparts talked instead of what they said since they were all liars according to everyone else. One thing I can attribute to this election and its strategic finger-pointing is the revelation that people vote in all sorts of ways irrespective of their party affiliations. There were elephants approving gay unions and donkeys threatening Al Qaeda worse than Bush. This election (and the incompetence of current politics) dissolved some walls between parties and has moved the political spectrum around.

I learned that even if “the people” don’t change politics, they effect candidates’ “convictions”. I remember when Pastor Wright’s chopped and screwed up comments were paraphrased and how my favorite candidate denounced him so darn eloquently. That must’ve been the Kansas manifest. I tuned out for a minute then. I learned I could respect a nigga’s hustle and not his character. Then I noticed how quickly Pastor Wright’s identity spread and how influential he must’ve been on his greatest student. I learned how deep this Southside hustle really might go.

I learned just how subtle political speech must be to be effective – and not just the words. The candidates had to point and stand in a certain way. When the dark horse was caught taking his hand from his heart a second early during the Pledge of Allegiance, his chances at the presidency were in jeopardy. A certain Democratic debate came back from commercial. The South Carolinian sat in his seat, slightly slouched with his legs open, and the Chicago Boy was upright with his crossed like mantis hands. I knew there were some reformed rebels and socially conscious higher-ups being hypnotized in the crowd.

I learned that one guy could ruin the party for everyone. When the best thing a Republican can say is “I’m nothing like the last Republican”, it’s evident that the poles of America politics are shifting. This fact was reinforced by the fact that opposite parties agreed on something as contentious as civil unions for homosexuals. When both major candidates spoke of the War on Terror in the same vague, blanket terms, I learned once again that there are some perspectives that received no entertainment at all within the supposedly broad two-party system.

When Barack Obama finally won, I thought it was fake, but that night, I learned that there are still things that can bring mad people together (even all Blacks). And the next day, I learned that we can have a Black president and still show up to work (or school) like we would anyway. That may have been the best thing I learned.

The worst thing I learned was that apparently the sole fact that we have a Black president means we have no more excuses as Black people. Apparently, we had excuses before this thing. Apparently, the fact that there wasn’t a Black man in the oval office was the last thing on Black people’s list of excuses. I hope Blacks don’t forget that racism exists, and I hope we don’t look at our struggling folks with any more cynicism because someone like them, like us, made it to the top.

HTC Touch Pro Review

A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed the HTC Touch Diamond, a relatively new device offered by Sprint.  Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to get acquainted with its big brother, the HTC Touch Pro.  Aside from the added girth, the HTC Touch Pro is essentially a Diamond with improvements.  As such, I’m going to focus on the points where the Pro differs from the Diamond (you can read the full Diamond review here).

The largest difference between the Diamond and the Pro is the Pro’s full QWERTY keyboard.  The keyboard feels great.  The keys are a little smaller than those on the Mogul, and the keys are in a slightly different configuration, so if you are upgrading from the Mogul (HTC Titan), it could take a little getting used to.  The reason the keys are smaller is because HTC added a dedicated number row.  This is a welcome addition, especially if you type a lot of numbers or addresses.

The Pro features a slightly faster processor and more RAM, making it the more powerful device.  The amount of RAM is really overkill for a Windows 6.1 device.  Hopefully the Diamond and the Pro will see upgrades to Windows Mobile 7 when its released; the hardware is definitely there to support it.  Even with a whole mess of applications open, I haven’t been able to use up 50% of the RAM.  This is great, since you can leave apps open instead of closing them.  What this translates to is a device that gets more responsive the longer you use it (more apps get loaded into memory and stay there).

The Touch Pro sports a few more apps, such as an app to allow you to print from your phone to Bluetooth-enabled printers and a business card reader.  The Pro also features a flash on the camera, allowing users to take photos at night or low-light conditions.

All in all, the Touch Pro is the ultimate device for WinMo power users.  The huge amount of RAM opens the doors for customization without really worrying about memory.  If you do a lot of texting, the keyboard is a must-have.  Most casual users won’t notice the differences between the Pro and the Diamond except for the keyboard.  But for the informed user or business aficionado, the power of the Touch Pro is what you’ve been waiting for.

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Where in the World is Michael Jackson??

For years, I have been asking myself “where in the world is Michael Jackson?”, and to my surprise I received a comment from another blogger Jason Henley in regards to the Macbook article written a couple of days ago. So I returned the favor and read a couple of Mr. Henley’s work. And I come across this:

King of Pop disappoints the Prince of Bahrian [Bahrain]

Everybody’s favorite Michael Jackson is at it again. Apparently an avid fan, the Prince of Bahrain has taken a personal interest in the King of Pop. During his tough financial times, Jacko took millions from him with an understanding that he would come out with a new album, an autobiography, and a musical. All three of those things are too good to be true on their own.

Jacko had a tough time getting the creative juices flowing, so after some frustration he went back to the Prince of Bahrain with a brilliant idea: To get his ideas going he requested that Prince hire Tony Buzan, a “Mind Mapping and Motivational Guru.” This creativity magnet Tony charged the Prince of Bahrian [Bahrain] $37,000 a day to give Jacko good ideas. Michael Jackson hung out with him for a week, costing the friendly Prince $350,000. The frustrated Prince was agitated at Michael Jackson’s broken promises, so now they both are in court.

I’m still waiting for the Michael Jackson Las Vegas show, that is supposedly going to have a godlike statue of Michael Jackson that shoots lasers.

Special thanks to Jason Henley for the information and for more interesting articles by him check out:

Jason Henley “The Internet – It’s good for everyone”