nsfw

Speaking of Mr. West, I will be the first and surely not the last to say I hate his new sound. I appreciate when artist wants to make a clear statement, and am so willing to believe in statements that might be ahead of their time, but what Kanye has so exceptionally done so far in his career is appropriate the genre conventions, aesthetics, and sounds of a non-hip-hop universe and make them his own that somehow still appeal to the contemporary hip-hop audience with the exception of the space he's venturing into for his latest album, "808s and Heartbreaks." "The Graduate" was the perfect balance between Kanye's interest in electro-house music and hip-hop street cred, a bold move for a hip-hop pop artist. His decision to record his new album entirely using Auto-Tune and singing, instead of rapping, on every track is a terrible one that shows his limitations as a vocalist, not something entirely required for the success of a rapper, but definitely for a balladeer. For an album that is supposed to be his emotional opus (his recent break-up album and the death of his mother have surely had an effect on him), it makes no sense that he chooses a device that makes a person sound like a robot, instead of emphasizing the emotions of disappointment, frustration, and loss through his actual voice. On top of that, his album listening party consisted of forty naked women in afro wigs courtesy of artist Vanessa Beecroft, a stunt and a misfire for his appreciation of mind-expanding contemporary art. Is it just me or is that the most poured on thick schlock of this artist's near asexuality? There usually seems to be a wink in his eye with his obsessive posting of hot girls on his blog, but this seems a bit extreme for a gathering of people like Michael Rappaport and Audrina Patridge. Let's not forget his latest video was an homage to "American Psycho." If he's truly channeling Patrick Bateman, then perhaps this will all be a nasty dream we'll soon forget.