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October 15, 2008

Kanye Hits LA For Jimmy Kimmel, 808's Listening Party

thumbnail icon: Kanye Hits LA For Jimmy Kimmel, 808's Listening Party

KW put the Pontiac Garage on "Love Lockdown" yesterday, and if the audience doesn't sound too enthusiastic it's because the on-air performance was his third take. (He performed "Champion" and "Good Life" for the Kimmel crowd, too). West looks cool in his Sonny Crockett outfit, but despite the infamous Auto-Tune, he sounds off-key on verses. Of course, when Kanye sings off-key, he sings off-key Best In The World SQUID BRAINS!! After the performance, he held a listening party for 808's & Heartbreak at Ace Gallery with Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft. Fader attended and reports that the album is sung almost entirely through Auto-Tune. And sounds like Adult.

"LL" and a live clip of "Heartless" are all most of us have heard from the LP. 808's & Heartbreak is out 11/25, though, so expect a Premature Evaluation sometime in the next three weeks.

Posted at 1:15 PM by Scott in
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13 Comments

That screen capture looks like TV on the Radio. As vocally ungifted as he is, I liked how all over the place he was during the last verse.

Posted by: Skronk profile link at 10/15/08 1:56 PM | Reply
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I meant during the last chorus.

Posted by: Skronk profile link in reply to Skronk's comment at 10/15/08 1:59 PM | Reply
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808 will be Kanye's worst album. Hopefully, that will also be a wake-up call. Fuck autotune.

Posted by: sonokrug at 10/15/08 2:13 PM | Reply
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This is a song I only need to hear 5 times before I'm sick of it--I'm now sick of it.

Posted by: bananafana feux at 10/15/08 2:45 PM | Reply
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I don't get it - why use autotune if you're still gonna be off-key?

Posted by: kali at 10/15/08 3:57 PM | Reply
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If someone sings through autotune but they aren't singing out of tune...can you tell the difference? Sorry if I just blew some minds right now.

Posted by: Adam at 10/15/08 4:52 PM | Reply
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mannyp13

depends. if it's at a low setting you probably won't be able to hear too much a of a difference. auto-tune is used by most recording professionals to fix minor errors in otherwise good takes. if you blast it lil wayne style, even your good notes will have a certain synth-iness to them.

Posted by: mannyp13 profile link in reply to Adam's comment at 10/15/08 7:45 PM | Reply
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Keep that singing voice on lockdown...
If he's going to do this, he needs vocal lessons.
I don't care how headstrong he is, he's going to ruin his career.

Posted by: ian at 10/15/08 6:31 PM | Reply
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I'm excited actually. I applaud Kanye for really stepping out and trying to do something different. Of course, the success of his bold step will depend on the quality of the album, but I feel like I am past the point of worrying about whether something Kanye does will be good or not. He hasn't failed us yet; have a little faith.

Posted by: davistradamus profile link at 10/15/08 6:50 PM | Reply
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Sweet. Jebus.

I still think the guy's remarkably talented. And singing isn't one of those talents.

Posted by: dorothy mantooth profile link at 10/15/08 8:02 PM | Reply
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wi_ngo

Awesome!! With the autotune overkill, he sounds almost as good as Cher.

Posted by: wi_ngo profile link at 10/15/08 8:28 PM | Reply
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I like the song a lot. No, this wasn't a great performance, but I have faith in the album.

Posted by: CarolineA profile link at 10/15/08 11:13 PM | Reply
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kanye is just trying something new, give him some credit
he has stated out right that this is HIS album, he is doing it the way he wants to do
kanye is talented, maybe this will be his worst album, and that probably WILL be a reality check for him
but guess what, he's got so many fans, that it wont matter, i am one of those fans, when i first heard love lockdown i was pissed, but it grew on me, THAT is the kind of talent that kanye has, he can change peoples opinions on music that otherwise would not have caught my interest if another artist had performed the exact song
kanye will somehow find success in all of this, he's a businessman

Posted by: tyler at 10/20/08 9:09 PM | Reply
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