In three months Kanye West has stirred up a ridiculous level of hysteria surrounding 808s & Heartbreak, putting the album’s hype on par with any other release this year (almost). That being said, the album is just as much an experimental artistic venture as it is an experimental study in digital market and consumer behavior. 

The album’s first song emphasizes its direction immediately, “Say You Will” utilizing vocal distortion throughout. And in the song, as with the entire album, are beats just as strong as those on any of his previous releases. Continuing with “Welcome To Heartbreak” Kanye molds the album’s vocal trend around some of his most personal lyrics. “Dad cracked a joke, all the kids laughed / but I couldn’t hear all the way in first class.” Verse after verse, Kanye recalls the cost of continually hustling and maintaining his high profile status, having to give up opportunities that he might otherwise be able to enjoy. But the song doesn’t lean on self-pity or the idea of being a victim of celebrity entirely, rather it acts as a journal questioning the value of what he’s doing. You’d think that money would allow him a bit of time to spend with his family, but Kanye is in a rare position to live in a reality that many will never be able to empathize with or relate to myself included). It’s easy to judge, but it’s a lot easier to hate than it is to consider the twisted perspective on reality one must have when looking down from the top.

Continuing into the belly of the album, “Love Lockdown” doesn’t sound nearly as out of place as it did when it was initially released. The single also serves as a fantastic bridge to “Paranoid,” featuring Mr. “don’t call me Jennifer” Hudson, which is the most electric song on the album. With the track Kanye’s rhymes bounce for the first time on 808s, the song sounding closer to that of his recent collaboration with Estelle (”American Boy”) than to anything on the rest of the record.

The eight-minute live track/freestyle “Pinocchio Story” concludes the album, expanding on the implication that Kanye’s living in the moment with 808s. While being a solid track, it’s not something that fits into the rest of the album, and its inclusion reflects what might have been a last-minute decision. But “Pinocchio” is as much 808s as “Love Lockdown” is. Both tracks might not work a few months from now, let alone a few years, but they reflect the musician’s attempt to feed off the moment and create something unique in the process. And while interacting with fans, dropping samples of his music at will and attempting to expand his audience, Kanye has done just that – he’s created an album that reflects the moment while being entirely unique and in a category of its own; kind of like Kanye himself.