808s & Heartbreak by Kanye West

808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West's fourth studio album, landed on Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella on November 24, 2008, and it's the sound of a hip-hop superstar putting down the mic swagger and picking up a broken heart. He cut it in September and October 2008, producing with help from No I.D., Plain Pat, Jeff Bhasker and Mr Hudson, in the wake of his mother Donda's death and the end of his engagement to Alexis Phifer.

He mostly sings here, his voice run through Auto-Tune over chilly minor-key electronics and the booming thump of the Roland TR-808, with Kid Cudi, Young Jeezy, Mr Hudson and Lil Wayne dropping in. The songs are about loss, heartache and the strain of pop stardom. The announcement baffled people, but it debuted atop the Billboard 200, "Love Lockdown" became his highest Hot 100 debut and "Heartless" went septuple platinum. Critics now credit it with pioneering emo rap and experimental R&B, and Rolling Stone later named it among the 500 greatest albums.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.