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''808s & Heartbreak'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West, released on November 24, 2008, by Roc-A-Fella Records. It was recorded during September and October 2008 at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, with the help of producers such as No I.D., and Jeff Bhasker. Conceived in the wake of a series of distressing personal events, ''808s & Heartbreak'' marked a major musical departure for West from his previous hip hop records. It featured electropop and R&B music and lyrics about personal loss, alienated fame, and heartache, sung by West using an Auto-Tune vocal processor. For the album's production, he eschewed conventional hip hop sounds in favor of a minimalist sonic palette, which included prominent use of Auto-Tune and the titular Roland TR-808 drum machine to create a distorted, electronic sound. ''808s & Heartbreak'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 450,145 copies in its first week. By 2013, it had sold 1.7 million copies in the United States. Four singles were released to promote the record, including the hit singles "Love Lockdown" and "Heartless". Despite varying responses from music audiences towards West's stylistic change, the album received positive reviews from most critics and was named one of 2008's best records in their year-end lists. It also influenced hip hop, pop, and R&B, as a new wave of rappers, singers, and producers adopted aspects of the album's musical and thematic content. == Background == Following the release of his third studio album ''Graduation'', the remainder of 2007 and the following year featured events that profoundly affected Kanye West. On November 10, 2007, West's mother Donda West died due to complications arising from cosmetic surgery involving a tummy tuck and breast reduction procedure. Months later, West and fiancée Alexis Phifer ended their engagement and their long-term intermittent relationship, which had begun in 2002. At the same time, West struggled to adapt to his newfound pop star status he had once striven to achieve, often becoming the subject of media scrutiny. The loss, loneliness and longing for companionship and a sense of normality served to inspire ''808s & Heartbreak''. West stated that "This album was therapeutic – it's lonely at the top." A photograph taken by Danny Clinch of West kissing his mother on the cheek was included in the album's booklet liner notes. West felt that his emotions could not be fully expressed simply through rapping, saying that aside from the fact that rapping had limitations, there were "melodies that were in me – what was in me I couldn't stop." West went to classify ''808s & Heartbreak'' as a pop album, asserting his disdain towards the contemporary backlash to the concept of pop music and expressed admiration for what some pop stars have accomplished in their careers. He later stated that he wishes to present the music as a new genre called "pop art," clarifying that he was well aware of the visual art movement of the same name and wished to present a musical equivalent.〔 "Either call it 'pop' or 'pop art,' either one I'm good with," he later stated.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「808s & Heartbreak」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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