While T-Pain was definitely popular, Kanye was nearing his mainstream peak by 2008. News flash, you can’t convey genuine feelings with a computer, y’all – all that “emotion” in 808s came off as hollow and whiny. Kanye decided to swipe the concept for his 808s album, an LP that was supposed to exude emotion and pain. Obviously, dude did not invent autotune – it was used liberally for vocal effects throughout R&B for decades – but he was the first person of his era to use it to create entire songs.Īnd once one person finds success, HERE COME THE COPYCATS. But he really hit big with “Buy You a Drank,” which pushed his sophomore set to the top of the charts. T-Pain, who went from mediocre rapper to Voltron Luther Vandross when he found his vocoder, had already achieved some notoriety with his first album. Let’s go back to 2008, where the “snap” era of ringtone rap was on its last legs and fans were ready for something new. But I said what I said: 808s & Heartbreak is Patient Zero for the illness that crippled modern R&B.

Yeah, I’m bout to go on one of my old man rants. Unfortunately, that tonal shift kicked off a decade of events that all but erased soul music from mainstream airwaves. I wasn’t moved.Ĩ08s represented a turning point for musical culture, no doubt. Last weekend, Twitter celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Kanye West’s landmark 808s & Heartbreak album.

Ye 808s and heartbreak release date