Fader

We obviously don't have the same animosity toward Auto-Tune as most other hip hop listeners on the internet, but this made us laugh pretty good. Some dudes calling themselves Roger Riley and Teddy Troutman recently made a couple Auto-Tuned remixes of Black Moon and A Tribe Called Quest's classics available to Rappers I Know, and while it's obvious the intent was to put a nail in the software's coffin, we have to say that we are actually into Phife's verse on "Electric Relaxation." It's like being in a room with a robot parrot or what we thought Dan Deacon would sound like after reading his press release. If the Death of Autotune project these songs are supposedly from ever surfaces, we will play it like Girl Talk at Microsoft's Christmas party.

Download: Roger Riley & Teddy Troutman, “Buck Em Down” b/w “Electric Relaxation” from Death of Autotune

We've actually been waiting for this to free itself ever since we saw the "making of" video above. "Big Screen" is a perfect example of Kanye production that succeeds with or without an actual chorus. GLC himself should still be riding high off his I Ain't Even On Yet mixtape, but this song kind of sounds like someone would feel after actually getting on. Maybe that's why we get sad when it ends? Songs like "Big Screen" (along with videos like this) are why we can't wait for Gangsta L. Crisis' impending debut Love, Life & Loyalty.


Download: GLC f. Kanye West, "Big Screen"

Depending on where you are, The FADER's 10th Anniversary Issue will hit newsstands and iTunes sometime in the next week or so. Since we already did a big retrospective thing in our 50th issue, we decided to just go out and get some guys from around the way for this one: KANYE WEST and NO AGE. Both covers are exclusives, so make sure to snatch this up whenever you see it, and check back Tuesday, November 25th, when we will put the whole thing up for download and begin a series of online extras only available here on TheFADER.com (and probably Kanye's blog).

Kanye West's website is the obvious internet stop for images of uncomfortable looking chairs, PG-13 J.O. material and cars that even he can't afford, but now it's apparently home of uncredited, unlinked photos that were taken directly from thefader.com. INTERNET PARTY FOUL!!!!!! Last Wednesday (aka the first day of the rest of our lives), we posted images shot on election night in Fort Greene, Times Square and Harlem by our own photo coordinator, John Francis Peters and other members of The FADER staff. On Friday, those exact same photos appeared on West's blog with nary a mention of John Francis Peters, thefader.com or any indication of where they came from. We're used to seeing our photos uncredited all over the internet, but dude, really?

With a little a patience, we might all have 808's & Heartbreak given to us by Kanye before its release date on Monday, November 24th. Just keep commenting on his blog how badly you want to hear [fill in the blank] and he will probably hook it up. This song in particular is, as far as we know, the only song on 808's that features another rapper actually rapping, though there are other rappers on 808's. (thanks to Young Sav)


Download: Kanye West f. Young Jeezy, "Amazing"

This actually hit our inbox late Friday, so unless you're a TOTAL LOSER you've already got it. We just wanted to put up that picture and say Hell Yes to Kanye and Tony Williams making rap songs sound more like Peter Cetera.


Download: Jay-Z f. Tony Williams, "History"

When Kanye West first started getting attention we vaguely remember a bunch of rap nerds all up in arms that he bit his production style from RZA. Over the course of his career we've heard some similarities but at this point it would be pretty safe to say he's branched way out. "Heartless," the second single from 808's & Heartbreak, has a Liquid Swords-era minimalist RZA vibe, and is what would happen if, instead of kung fu movies, RZA was influenced by Ralph Bakshi, Phil Collins and Roger Troutman. 808's will be released at the end of the month.

If Detox doesn't sound better than this, it probably doesn't need to come out.


Download: Kanye West, "Heartless" (Mastered)

Here we go, the second single from 808's & Heartbreak, straight from the studio. In case you missed it, read our review of Vanessa Beecroft & Kanye's 808's & Heartbreak Listening Event, which is totally safe for work.


Download: Kanye West, "Heartless" (Unmastered) (via Who do you think?)

Last night, Kanye West publicly debuted his new album, 808s & Heartbreak, at the Ace Gallery in Los Angeles via a collaboration with Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft. After waiting in a loading area with an open bar and a DJ, we walked up a driveway illuminated by florescent lights to a darkened room where approximately forty nude women, most of them wearing face-obscuring masks seemingly made of faux lamb's wool, stood in the middle—black girls in the front, white girls in the back. Then the entire album played without introduction or explanation. The women were backlit by glowing lights—mostly red and purple, sometimes strobing, often pulsing and sporadically illuminating. When "Love Lockdown" played three songs in, some of the models started sitting down on the floor, others going so far as to fully recline by the end of the album. Mos Def sat down front-and-center, Michael Rapaport talked excitedly to the security guards, Will.i.am watched from one end of the U the audience formed around the women, Rick Ross watched from the other end (even singing along to some songs after an apparent even sneakier sneak preview). As for album: yes, it's almost entirely sung by West, aside from one verse by Young Jeezy on "Amazing" and a duet with Lil Wayne; yes, it is sung almost entirely through Auto-Tune; yes, some people are not going to be sure what to make of it, but we applaud West's decision to step off a creative ledge wearing a jetpack that no one else is sure will actually work.

Considering the conditions 808s & Heartbreak was played under (we're referring to the vast concrete room, not the presence of forty naked women), we don't feel right giving a full appraisal, but we are definitely eager to hear it again. On this blog we've compared West's recent productions to ARE Weapons, but maybe an even more apt reference is Adult. or Thom Yorke solo, with the dispassionate electro beats playing against the plainspoken ache of the vocals. Or maybe he's creating a genre of his own. Call it Kanyeclash. Once the album ended with "Coldest Winter"—the one song on the album about his mother, the rest of this breakup album is about "someone else"—West appeared with a microphone. After eventually silencing the chatty room, he introduced Beecroft, who revealed that the piece was conceptualized and executed in one week, which is one third of the time it took West to record the entire album. Then West delivered a monologue about how this album is about the freedom to do what you want to do and that he used Auto-Tune because it is the most fun thing ever. Then he said 808s & Heartbreak was about emotional nakedness. Then he said he'll have another album out next June. Then the DJ played "Good Life" and we went to get our car from the valet parking before the line got out of hand.

Tuesday morning, Kanye debuted the logic-defying Spaceships/African/Taiku/American Psycho video for "Love Lockdown" on "Ellen," and yesterday, he performed the song live on the show. There were no spaceships or African warriors, but we were impressed that he brought along the Da Gu Riot Police. If this song and the ambitious art project coming along with it aren't growing on you, we don't really know what to say.

Premiered this morning on "Ellen," Kanye's new video smashes through a couple different walls in our brains' capacity to comprehend shit. First, it was debuted on "Ellen" (audience expansion). Second, it was co-directed by Roisín Murphy's stage director, Simon Henwood (artistic credibility). And finally, it references American Psycho, Coming to America and, uh, spaceships (we have no idea, but we're with it). And at the end of the clip, you can see the confused elation in Ellen's eyes and Kanye's just like "yep, that's it." We're flabberghasted. Try to make sense of it if you want. Kanye will be back on "Ellen" tomorrow for a live performance.

Kanye just put up all the components of "Love Lockdown" on the Kanye blog, which instantly got us debating over who would be the first to make a cringeworthy cover or remix, but before we could even get the words out of our mouths, Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump answered the call.

In other news, the above video shows Kanye and GLC working on a new song for 808s & Heartbreak.


Download: Patrick Stump, "Love Lockdown"

Over the weekend a couple songs from the new Barack Obama campaign compilation Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement leaked, and since we assume no one reading this is a huge Keb Mo' fan, we're putting the one with Kanye and the guy from Maroon 5 up. Malik Yusef, who you might remember from the outro on Yeezy's "Crack Music" or less so from Common's "My City," does his spoken word bit over cello before Kanye and Levine come in with the drama. It's pretty good for a benefit album, though we're not sure the message of Barack as "out of this world" messiah is exactly what the campaign is aiming for these days.


Download: Malik Yusef f. Kanye West & Adam Levine, "Promised Land"

Kanye just put up, at our count, the third version of "Love Lockdown," the presumed first single off his upcoming album 808's & Heartbreak. The first version was a lo-fi, low quality rip that sounded like a demo. The second was also lo-fi but obviously of higher bitrate. Comments on Kanye's post of it ranged from "whats good with the hook though, sounds like hes scared to sing lockdown" to "I'm sad to say, but i'm just not feeling the mix at the moment. Mostly at the chorus where i don't think the chorus stands out that much" to "I love the song, but what's up with the auto-tune rumours? If 808's...=auto-tune, that shit better be galactic Ye'.. 'Cause it ain't even hot no more" and beyond.

So now we have this newly recorded version of the song which Kanye previewed with a post saying, "Your prayers have been answered!! There's a new version of love Love Lockdown coming. We used new taiko drums and I re-sung it... it's being Mastered now....Sidebar... if you don't like autotune... too bad cause I love it and have been using it since the College Dropout!!!" Which not only lays to rest the rumors that Kanye is not reading and posting to (at least partially) his own blog, but suggests he is actually making artistic decisions based on fans' criticisms in the comments section. If this is true and Kanye is listening, the album should be ready to go as soon as everyone in the world has said his or her piece.

Stream: Kanye West, "Love Lockdown"

We're still kinda reeling from Kanye's VMA ending performance, throwing out wild guesses and proclamations about the Artistic Future of Kanye West. But then, midway through our imaginary fourth quarter of 2008, where Kanye releases a Coldplay inspired album with zero raps on it and we freak out, we realized that we should just let dude do his thing because, whatever happens, it'll be interesting. Anyway, here's the audio of "Love Lockdown," so fresh from the studio that it is actually titled "02 LoveLockdown_ADNewMix_VocUP2ndVerseRev9-10-08". (via Kanye)


Download: Kanye West, "Love Lockdown" (Via Kanye West)

Listen, we were engrossed in an edited-for-TV version of Laurel Canyon and part of the latest episode of Mad Men last night and totally blew off the VMAs despite the enticing opening performance by Britney Spears. But lo and behold, Kanye West's performance of the lead single, "Love Lockdown," from his sudden new 4th quarter album, just popped up on MTV Jr and we gotta say we are into it. Who knows what it will ultimately sound like, but if Kanye can turn around a single that is not only a clear departure from his entire catalogue, but also clearly influenced by the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, then god bless him. Check the photos by Ferrari Murakami (what!) over on Kanye's blog.

We were preparing a dissertation on the brilliance of Kanye titling something "I LOVE BALENCIAGA BUT THE SNEAKERS DON'T KNOCK ME OVER LIKE LANVIN, PIERRE HARDY OR ATO'S" for our Daily Kanye West Post, but this video, which was first screened at the Murakami exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art a few months ago, just came out so we'll put that up instead. You can buy it on iTunes if you want. Also if you want, get 88 Keys' new single featuring Kanye, "Stay Up" from Decon Records.

When we first saw the lineup for this song we were, like every other jerk on the rapternet, pretty excited. And then we hit play and the first voice we heard was MIA's. Some sites are even inserting her into the lineup, á la every time Wayne gets sampled he's "featured." Dubious. But we're sure she's getting paid so good for her and very exciting. The sample itself though, along with our previous assertion that "Jockin Jay-Z" was inspired by ARE Weapons, lends credence to our theory that on Kanye's next album he will just be rapping over shit he found on Bradford Cox's blog. And then our jobs here will be over. Expect to see "Swagger Like Us" on both TI's Paper Trail and Jay's Blueprint 3 according to Clifford the Grump.

Stream: T.I. ft. Jay-Z, Kanye West & Lil Wayne - SLU (Swagger Like Us) (via Kanye)