Kanye West Proves That Pretty Isn't Always a Talent

The video for the third single from Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreaks, "Welcome to Heartbreak," premiered this week; continuing a trend of generally wack videos from West's most inspired body of work.

Visually speaking, "Welcome to Heartbreak" is probably the most creative video you'll see on your television until Kanye's fourth single gets the small screen treatment; but that's the only interesting thing about it. Music television is full of clips that look good for the sake of looking good, and while Kanye often leads the pack in that department, it would be refreshing to see him present a visual presentation that really engages the subject matter of the song.

Watching West's latest video reminds of the first time I saw the video for "Love Lockdown." On Ellen, West mentioned how the film American Psycho served as inspiration for the video's aesthetic. I certainly noticed that while watching the clip; and I loved it. Stylistically, "Love Lockdown" was refreshing in its modesty, and basically just a pretty ass video. However, that doesn't change the fact that it had nothing at all to do with the song.

Listening to the song's lyrics shows that West isn't on "Love Lockdown," he's keeping someone else in restraint, so any argument citing his own sanity during the course of the clip in relation to the American Psycho theme just doesn't work. Outside of that, there's no reason to think that the video for Love Lockdown was inspired by the actual song, other than the random ( and lazy) placement of a charging tribe to match the drum interjections. The fact that the tribal stampede doesn't complement any other part of the video, but completely caters to the nature of the song more or less illustrates the immense disconnect between the two.

Likewise, "Welcome to Heartbreak" is fun to watch; but you could pair it with just about any other song, and it would work just as well.

I don't know that creating pretty videos could really be considered a talent at this point. It's like, "Ohh, fun colors and fly clothes." We get it.

I won't argue that every video needs a distinct storyline, but finding a way to marry the song with a visual presentation that gives equal representation toward both visions shouldn't be asking too much either.

Checkout Christina Milian's "Us Against the World" clip for a video that perfectly captures the sentiment of the song, while still managing to remain visually refreshing. Really, there's no plot to Milian's video, but even with the volume turned completely down you get a feel for the song that matches its atmosphere.

Here's the video for Kanye's "Welcome to Heartbreak," followed by Milian's "Us Against the World."

Kanye West and Brad Pitt Go Au Natural For "Vibe" and "W"

I guess it's becoming common practice in 2009 for male celebrities to expose all for popular magazines. First Brad Pitt hops on the cover of W looking like Benjamin Button at birth, and next month Kanye will forgo airbrushing (and blistex?) for Vibe.

Brad has managed to do a decade's worth of aging in just a year. I realize the man is 45, but damn...clearly Jennifer Aniston got his youth in the divorce settlement.

I'm also having trouble with Kanye looking nearly as aged as Pitt, despite the decade and some odd years separating them.

In other news, Kanye's kicking around the idea of releasing "RoboCop" as his next single, with "Bad News" also falling under consideration.

You know I'm team "spoiled little LA girl" all day!

I've had Several People Request that I review the rest of Kanye's album

But this guy does a better job of it. I agree with the majority of the review, except the Robocop portion. Ya'll know that's my shit.

No more Kanye posts until at least after Christmas. Dude ain't paying my bills.

Oh yeah, I’ve been listening to the rest of 808s and Heartbreaks for a few days now...

And it's not changing my life, but it's pretty good.

Go buy it… I really don't care to see Beyonce spend two weeks at #1.

I Promise This Isn’t A Music Blog, But…

I love Kanye West. While I don't necessarily believe that all of his music is as consistently brilliant as he would have one believe (for every Stronger there's a Barry Bonds), I do respect him immensely as an artist. His moments of brilliance have a potency that outlasts his bravado and occasional missteps, which suggests that his talent is as genuine as his ego. And lately, the more I hear from his forthcoming 808s & Heartbreaks, the more certain I am that Kanye is more concerned with his craft than he is his commercial viability.

With 808s & Heartbreaks, Kanye is taking a risk by playing it safe. The general consensus surrounding the use of auto-tune to supplement vocals in contemporary R&B and Hip-Hop is that it's nearing played-out status. What T-Pain saturated the market with four years ago has progressively become a crutch for artists desperate for a hit, or a vocal cover-up. How T-Pain managed to ride the vocoder wave to pop-culture relevancy is beyond me, but of late, other artists are finding it harder and harder to gain guaranteed radio play with a little vocal distortion (Who's really checking for Ciara's Go Girl?). Keeping all of that in mind, why would Kanye find this as an appropriate time to release an album entirely consisting of auto-tune use?

Publicly, Kanye has very much established himself as a trendsetter. From music to fashion, and wherever else he places his finger, the man has a way of making most anything his own. That's why it comes as no surprise that even as he uses the auto-tune device on his latest single, Love Lockdown, it still manages to standout from most anything else on Top 40 radio today. While I'm not necessarily a fan of Love Lockdown in particular (dude is really singing, like, for real), the handful of other songs that I've heard from 808s & Heartbreaks stand as some of Kanye's best work to date.

Easily the standout of the bunch, Heartless sees Kanye tauntingly responding to the wrath of an ex over a beat that's slick enough to ease you from the car-ride, right into the club. The writing is as stellar as the production, as Kanye effortlessly illustrates the pain accompanying a break-up with a seamless balance of bluster and vulnerability. Robocop opens with a taste of 80s-tinged electronica that provides the backdrop for the rest of the song's effectively clunky production. Though the beat becomes a bit cluttered toward the bridge, it is salvaged by a smooth transition into the much more aurally-welcoming chorus. Like Love Lockdown, Kanye sings his way through Coldest Winter, but there's an air of desperation in his voice that gives the latter a sense of candor that makes it infinitely more personable than the former. The strain that rests in Kanye's vocals throughout the song loans relevance to the sentiment of its lyrics, as he wonders if he'll "ever love again."

Unlike other artists, Kanye's use of auto-tune on the four tracks above doesn't hamper their appeal. His reliance on the device is a reflection of his fascination with it, and an artist has to follow their inspiration. While some might argue that 808s & Heartbreaks looks to stand as a regression for Mr. West, I see the effort shaping up to be much more of a reinvention.