The first single from 808’s & Heartbreak, “Love Lockdown,” went up on Kanye’s blog in September and was re-upped a week later with changes conspicuously in line with the criticisms made in the comments of the first post. He is breaking down the barrier between himself and the rest of us, and as a result, we feel like we’re a part of his life and art.Īnd we are. From his absurdly readable blog (he writes it) to his Glow in the Dark one man show and now his new stripped-bare album, 808’s & Heartbreak, Kanye has become the world’s first interactive pop star. As the world knows, he has been through some difficult personal times-and he appears to have emerged a changed man, simultaneously more mature and more childlike in his lack of inhibition. Kanye West has become a brand synonymous with not just success, but innovation, and its CEO is as mercurial and provocative as Steve Jobs.īut this year was different for West. At the same time, of course, his music has dominated the pop charts, with seven of his own songs reaching the Top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100-twice reaching number one-while countless productions for other artists pepper the mainstream with his ever-changing sound.

His personal style-skinny jeans rising out of exclusive colorway sneakers matched with high fashion sunglasses-influences kids from Flatbush to Fukuoka, and now he is finishing work on his own menswear line, Pastelle, and designing a shoe for Nike named the Air Yeezy. Exactly five years later, he has done so in a way that even we didn’t imagine. “Kanye West wants to make history.” That is how we began our Kanye story in our December 2003 issue, his first cover. You'll never take the heart from Kanye West. Today, we mark the four years that have passed since its initial release with our FADER #58 cover story, where Peter Macia joins Kanye at home for a talk about the album, becoming a pop icon and, of course, Kanye himself. Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, received cautiously upon its release in 2008, remains one of the most experimental and prescient moments in Kanye's career.

When did 808s and heartbreak come out