Kanye has totally gone emo on us: Strip away the Auto-Tune on “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless” and you have yourself a pop-radio dude self-deprecatingly singing about his heartache (over a Tears for Fears sample, no less). Maybe Pete Wentz should suggest Fall Out Boy use more Auto-Tune, less Elvis Costello. West’s formula doesn’t shift too much on “Cold Winter,” but we do get interestingly upfront percussion, as if he borrowed at least one stick from Brian Chippendale’s recent Björk collaborations. (OK, more likely, his percussion dudes from “Love Lockdown”‘s Miami Vice version). It’s a short piece, like Kanye … wouldn’t be surprising if on 808′s & Heartbreak it worked as a transition into something bigger.
Your move, ColdJay.
[Emo Kanye photo via BoUNCe]
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the video is already done!
sad emoticon!
Turn that sad emoticon upside down — it’s back.
Kanye knows how to write a pop song, but what happened to the rapping? What happened to parallel double parking that motherfucker sideways?
the last third of this song is great. also, i think its probably not the last version we’ll get.
i want kanye to be loved more than kanye wants to be loved.
can we get a group rate on therapy?
Isn’t this song more about his mother? I thought I read that somewhere.
after heartless and love lockdown i listened to this and was like “awesome” and got some faith restored in him, especially the awesome “goodbye my friend.” then i clicked on that tears for fears link and was like “nevermind” because tears for fears wrote that great hook. this isnt like rapping over a sample, this is just like covering a really good obscure song and taking the credit for it. good thing that tears for fears link was there
I believe he said in a radio interview that he was getting the sample cleared right now. As in, this will be a credited sample… Like almost every hook Kanye uses in his songs.
Not too bad. I am really looking forward to his album coming next June. I bet that it will be more of an traditional album, as opposed to an album he is putting out because he felt he had to
the song’s about his mother. i think we can let him slide for this. funny picture, though.
yeah the song is about his mom, so i don’t think the emo remarks are neccesary here…
I think I can dig what he’s doing here as long as it’s just a quick stop before something better (i.e., before he releases another album, and soon).
Except for the fact that autotune is for hacks who can’t sing.
it’s not auto tune, it’s a vocoder. big difference
Being sad about yr mom dying=so emo.
its gone again….
This is actually great. I love it.
It’s not really “emo” though. It fits right in with all the new R&B on the radio.
Ten years ago, in 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel released their album, the legendary In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. The closing track on that album was a sad, heart-wrenching track titled “Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2″.
Ten years later, Kanye West would release an album, titled 808s & Heartbreak, that would be a departure from his past works. This track is said to be the closer of the album.
I usually just scroll over any post that says Kanye West but had to click on the link after I saw that picture. Can I get an unison WTF?!
Then I click on play and it’s like some generic r&b popster singing over a NIN track (yeah, I know it’s Tears for Fears)
Kanye Wentz
Tears for Fears is one of the best bands ever.
i have to kind of agree with the whole kanye gone emo concept…i think that it has to do with the passing of his moms thats taking the toll on some of his music…but this 808′s and Heartbreak album should be excellent if the songs r like heartless, love lockdown, and coldest winter
This is definitely the best out of the three so far, even if this audio you have up is horrid.
THE NEW SEAL
Coldplayest Winter
Again, don’t we normally celebrate artists branching out? People get so pissed off at rappers not staying in their place.
And I’ll defend vocoders and autotune. It’s not necessarily about making your voice sound good, it’s just a sound you like. To me it’s no different than using a distortion pedal on a guitar.
sounds like he is using Japanese Taiko drums at the end of the song
pretty cool
Love Lockdown – Nu Era rub:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/g236iy
TEARS FOR FEARS RIPPED THIS SONG OFF ME!
SQUID BRAINS!
this song is the shit — absolutely beautiful melody (and i don’t care who came up with it, because it’s used so well here)
this mid-level use of autotune is a better sound than the all-out love lockdown. it also doesn’t sound dated like heartless — it’s the best track yet. hopefully this is a sign of more good things to come
Kanye gone emo? Do you people even know what emo is? Obviously you don’t if you’re including Fall Out Boy in your emo jokes. Fall Out Boy is not an emo band, and the word emo has been mangled and twisted so much that it’s hard for idiots like you to recognize real emo if you see it. And you won’t see it if you’re listening to any recent music that is relatively mainstream. Quit using the word “emo” as a diss, especially when you have no concept of the real mean. And lay off Kanye for making music that has emotion and feeling. At least somebody still speaks from his soul.
The best is when emo kids defend emo by saying it’s not emo. Hilarity ensues.
Yet another example of Kanya West’s impeccable abilities to cool chase. This is complete trash.
http://www.hiphopfrequency.com
Damn, Kanye done flipped things around. This is not HipHop.
This is Neo-HipHop
HipHop is ALive
Tears for Fears did write some seriously cool shit.
Tears for QUEERS
I have conflicting feelings about the new emo Kanye. I like it, but it makes me feel like i need to be wearing eyeliner and cutting myself to really like it.
I’m definitely not emo; in fact, I know way more about hip-hop than you do or ever will. But I also understand the concept of emo, and this sure as hell is not emo. It’s not like Kanye’s talking about slitting his wrists; he’s grieving over his mother, for Christ’s sake. Stop covering hip-hop (or whatever you want to call this, pop I guess) if you indie-loving homosexuals aren’t going to do your research. Real talk. I’m out.
BTW. Eat a dick.
Sincerely,
A guy who actually knows what he’s talking about
idk about this branch out kanye’s going to surprise alot of fan’s with this sh** i mean it’s different not bad but just not kanye i don’t know why he decided to drop the rap game…..terrible decision idk why he can’t sing and spit cause the 3 songs i’ve heard aren’t worth buying an album to hear
He can’t sing and spit because this album isn’t for you. It’s not for the fans. It’s for him; it’s something he has to do. I personally like it, but I can respect it if you don’t like it. I’m not asking anyone to like it, just don’t call it emo.
Just because hes making a Cd that has songs that u dont like makes him EMO if u heard him on the radio talking about the song or heard him in other songs after his mom passing you can def se he is not EMO. He is the same old kanye
This shouldn’t be considered a sample. It’s rewritten lyrics to a song. The entire melody (and lyrical hook) come directly from Memories Fade. And the original has better production, arrangement and lyrics.
Kanye West did not sample Tears For Fears. The entire instrumental was redone; and then he rote different lyrics for it. That’s not smapling, or covering. I guess it’s ok as long as it’s ok with Tears For Fears.