Reacting to 808s and Heartbreak

i cant watch this

GilliedHOB

This was my first time listening to it all the way through, thank you for the company friend!

Marco Garcia

Hey Bob you need to watch this it gives background to the album https://youtu.be/mnekansv5xE

segun

He should probably listen to all the albums first and take them in. The documentary is much better after having the hindsight of all his success.

joe

"Vh1 Storytellers, Kanye West"

Louie Henry

Have you gotten the chance to watch the first episode of his documentary on Netflix.

Cris P

total game changer imo

Bob_the_Poppop

I don't wanna lol

Bob_the_Poppop

I've learned this recently. I did listen to it also which was fun. I do like hearing the origin of samples.

Bob_the_Poppop

I gave him The Making of 808s and Heartbreak by The Most Unruly. It's a mini documentary about the context surrounding the album. I also gave him the We Were Once a Fairytale short film. I will be posting for each Kanye reaction going forward.

Dylan Woods

Since nobody else commented this. The deal with his mother's death is that he blames himself for her death. Had he not chased the hollywood life of a rockstar so heavily his mother would never have been in an environment and felt so pressured to fit in with others. She died from complications due to cosmetic procedures and this would not have happened had Kanye never become such a success as a solo artist. His resentment towards the surgeon though can't be forgotten and even as recent as 2018 you read a little bit here https://www.tmz.com/2018/04/28/kanye-west-album-cover-plastic-surgeon-jan-adams/ While 808s is well liked now, at the time it was not generally accepted due to its style not fitting what people liked at the time. This is likely the reason why after his sad phase with the 808s release, I guess you could say he began coping with the grief by abusing a lot of drugs such as alcohol. This leads to his big scandal with Taylor Swift where he turns the whole public against him. Everyone is basically hoping to see him crash even harder since they hate him and he returns with his best critically acclaimed record ever MBDTF. I think you should read a bit about the context from 808s release up until the MBDTF release. It's really a whole movie of a phase for Kanye.

joe

This is my first time listening to this album myself. So excited to experience it alongside @bobthepoppop

Joshua Brice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gHisR4xmOk

AlxNetc

bless beyonce for telling kanye to put the live version of pinocchio story on the album

daredevil777

Link?

Dylan Woods

Bob you should react to Kanye’s live performance of Hey Mama that he did after his mother passed away. Most heart wrenching live performance you will ever watch.

LP

Love Bob <3 I’m not sure I’ve you heard it but Coldest winter is a sample of A tears for fears song called ‘memories fade’ maybe give it a listen if you have a couple of spare minutes, it may help you to understand the sound of the album as a whole a little more as this album to me sounds like a very modernised 80’s pop album!

Callum Smith

People make fun of Kanye and he gets defensive about it because he is a genius. He wants people to recognize what he's brought to the world. How deeply meaningful it all is. So he tells people he is a genius. But that makes the people who don't know his art make fun of him even more. "This rapper thinks he's a genius! Give me a break!" Which makes Kanye even more defensive. It's a vicious cycle. Then you sit down and listen to his music and you realize he is a once in a lifetime type of artist. Everything he does is so meaningful. It touches the soul. Then you look at what he's accomplished and it's no wonder he sees Howard Hughes and Walt Disney as his peers. Kanye doesn't believe in ceilings.

Dylan Woods

Can't wait for MBDTF, and especially 'Runaway' after your takes on his more emotional songs...possibly his magnum opus. Look forward to it Bob 🙌

Tyler Scott

Ik you mention him feeling like he’s disappearing in the last track but I could help but just think about this song—> https://youtu.be/Sk1UdaGyoz4 I don’t know if you ever do wanna take the time and listen to this track on your own but but This song was speculated to be Kanye’s last song ever before he did the unthinkable. He was in a very depressed low state. I only listened to it once and haven’t gone back to it since because of what he says and knowing the theory behind it. Supposedly it happened after the 2009 MTV music awards and he was seen as the most hated man in the world by most people. And you said you can’t imagine what it feels like to be an artist and have everybody just bash on you, Kanye had and still has that going on but he is strong and kept moving.

Cris P

<3

You might enjoy the short film Kanye made for See You In My Nightmares. https://youtu.be/U6rFapTDG6I

Samu Tolvanen

Dude, great point on the Tears for Fears mention. I've never taken the time to listen to them (love Mad World though). And you're absolutely right about my now being able to fully appreciate the impact of this album's sound since I've heard so much music that came after. That's the one significant downside to this journey is that I can't do it in real time (in a sense), so I miss dramatic shifts like this. I gotta check out the live show of Coldest Winter now. Great write up, thank you 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

lol, right? I don't know if it helps, but I feel the same way. There are A LOT of albums I want to get to, RTJ being in that mix. Choosing what to do next is the hardest part of all this.

Bob_the_Poppop

Welcome to heartbreak :(

Bob_the_Poppop

He's on the list! Carter 3 gets mentioned a lot

Bob_the_Poppop

rofl

Bob_the_Poppop

I watched it alone. Sorry, I know a reaction would've been great, but I figured I'd just be a crying mess, so I did it a lone

Bob_the_Poppop

I'd love to get into some Mac, hopefully somewhat soon 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

<3

Bob_the_Poppop

I thought I had heard this, but I wasn't sure... and it makes it all the more incredible. And painful, hearing him say all of that while the crowd... kinda disregards it? I assume they were mostly just confused.

Bob_the_Poppop

It's so cool to hear things like this. MJ telling him to sing, Beyonce telling him to feature Pinocchio Story... love that there is a community like that in the industry.

Bob_the_Poppop

<3

Bob_the_Poppop

Remind me to watch that when the time comes. I'll definitely check it out 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

lol

Bob_the_Poppop

I think the poor audio quality adds a lot to it. It sounds like he's disappearing

Bob_the_Poppop

He's been through a lot. Too much, in my opinion, but such is life for some people I suppose.

Bob_the_Poppop

I already watched. I basically did that first thing to get it over with as I assumed it would just destroy me. Turned out it wasn't so emotional but just incredibly powerful. Great performance, and I love that it turned at the end and had some positivity in it. "They musta lied cause I feel the love tonight!" Good shit

Bob_the_Poppop

I put the album on first thing this morning and when it got to that track and the sound came in... lol, I just started laughing again

Bob_the_Poppop

Good take 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

I like it when artists make music with live shows in mind. I think it makes everything so much better, both in studio and on stage.

Bob_the_Poppop

I'm really starting to look forward to that one. March!

Bob_the_Poppop

You should react to Lil Wayne at some point

Saint Max

Hey I don't know if someone has mentioned it before but the fact pinocchio story is a live performance has another meaning. kanye opens up in front of them, tells how fame kills people and how he's hurt. Crowd is constantly screaming like he's just a performer and they don't really listen to the lyrics. They just pay attention to the fact that they see kanye.

Adam Dobry

Paying for the patreon just to have heartless ruined for me 😭

CRASH

You came in expecting a raw emotional rap album and instead what you got was almost an 80s pop album - produced using mainly synths and tools available in the 80s and containing elements of synthpop stuff like Tears For Fears and Depeche Mode and with a rapper who ONLY SINGS and uses autotune the entire album. Imagine our shock at the time. (PS you mention upbeat music with sad or serious lyrics, something Tears for Fears are notorious for...go listen to Mad World by them and you'll see what I mean. But the one by them, not that sappy Gary Jules one that came later, listen to the original) Imagine the greater shock to look at the landscape of rap since then. This album represents a seismic shift in hip-hop, you can trace origins of so many artists and styles directly to this album (Drake being a huge one) - looking at the landscape of popular music in the 2020s even we see a heavy reliance on 80s sounds and rappers singing. I understand the sort of underwhelming nature of what you're hearing for the first time - you've heard cultural successors of this album so it doesn't feel fresh in the same way that watching early John Carpenter or Wes Craven films seem almost passè because you've seen Sinister or It Follows. But to think of the risk he took, the pain he felt, the rawness exposed and the balls it took...damn. The autotune itself was intentional - it's an expression of his detachment from his own humanity at the time, the coldness he felt. It also makes Pinocchio Story that much more powerful to feel when you hear his raw voice. That ending instrumental of Say You Will leaves the music with the beeps that sound suspiciously like a heart monitor, not a coincidence. Coldest Winter (a sample of a Tears for Fears song just to drive my point about synthpop home) is the one about his mom and having personally seen it live at the Yeezus tour, watching him climb onto a mountain peak (seriously this stage was amazing) and lay there singing and crying as snow fell on him was devastating. My wife was sobbing in her hands during it. This is an album that didn't define an era, it basically invented one.

Xavvi

That's always been my interpretation too, the heart monitor.

Xavvi

“I LOVE YOU KANYE” while Kanye talks about not having the real love he needs and not the autograph type of love lol

Zach Gupta

Can you just start pulling the next album out of a hat so I I can have a chance you'll do Run The Jewels sometime this decade?

SAM-WISE GAMGEE

Pinocchio's story, "I just wanna be real", as the people superficially cheer and click their pictures. He's emotionally bleeding out in front of a crowd.

FuzzyDunlop

PLEASE react to the live version of pinocchio story, it’s a work of art and i would love to see ur reaction to it, it isn’t as sad as this version but it’s just as powerful

jakob

Yeezus is a good place to know ahead of time because it's like the halfway point, maybe literally and metaphorically. So, it's like that movie Memento or something, idk.

FuzzyDunlop

Man the ending gave me chills, would love to see you react to some of Mac Millers albums or live performances

Levi

The Robocop sample is from the "Great Expectations" soundtrack. The song is "kissing in the rain".. How did he get here? https://youtu.be/y4fcqHVkxqE

FuzzyDunlop

We're all here to cry with you, Bob.

Dylan Woods

HONORABLE MENTION: Pinocchio story was a freestyle he did in Singapore and that even makes it more and more emotional and beautiful, all the words and emotions were off the top of his brain and heart at that moment.

One interesting way ive always interpreted Say You Will, and this is just pure interpretation, is the beat sounds like a heart monitor beeping, possibly representing his mother. Also, when the beeping stops and its just choir I think of that as flatlining, then shes revived again for a bit, and finally dies when the song ends. Im most likely reaching a ton tho

joseph

Kanye said that he showed Michael Jackson Flashing Lights off of Graduation and Michael said that he liked Kanye’s singing voice so Kanye said that compliment from Michael gave him the courage to make 808’s and Heartbreak

Logan

Phenomenal reaction and review

giraf

Man the Beats on this Album are so incredible

daredevil777

Most popular songs I can remember Bob are Amazing, Heartless, Love Lockdown

Edmond Williams Jr

My fav Kanye album

daredevil777

"Street Lights" remains my favorite song off this album... The imagery of those "STREET LIGHTS PASSING LIKE MOMENTS" in that cycle, coupled with those reasonings that Kanye mentioned earlier in "WELCOME TO HEARTBREAK" about the gratification he'd worked so hard for for so long, that didn't mean the same once they happened, that's reallly heartbreaking the more you think about it

Stefan Borglycke

Your reaction to heartless was hilarious! But then I thought about it, kind of like the phase after a breakup where you keep telling yourself that that your over it even though your not. So the music is upbeat but the lyrics are sad. Trying to convince himself. and Amazing kind of protecting his ego.

Lowkey_kountry

"there was this track he was talking about addictions I forget the name" lol

Amazing album, influenced and impacted most modern rappers today

Litty Again

Dis a classic

Great video, your reaction at the end to Pinocchio's Story was great, only thing I really have to add is, in the Jesus Is King short film, there's a really beautiful rendition of Street Lights and it's my personal favorite part of the movie. I wouldn't recommend watching the movie until you listen to Jesus Is King which I know won't be for a little while, but hopefully you remember to check out the movie, and I think you'll appreciate that part especially. I also wanted to add I think it's important to not put too much stake into how people describe an album, as they're speaking from the perspective of someone who've already fully consumed the album and all of its parts, while you're doing a first listen on a track-by-track basis, which I think will always lead to a certain level of disappointment if you go in with so many assumptions.

Lil Mac

You just reminded me of that Amy Winhouse's post-humous album around 2011 featuring Nas with that song "Like Smoke".... GOD that second Nas verse especially in context, it gets emotional :'(

Stefan Borglycke

I’ll admit for the longest time I always skipped Pinocho’s story because I didn’t like that it was live and sounded so drowned out. But the first time I decided to actually sit down and listen to it I had a similar reaction… just felt such a wave of emotions. It’s incredible and honestly one of Kanye’s all time greatest songs

I once saw Sweeney do 50 slow handstand push-ups

Bob you never disapoint. My last hour of work on fridays and the commute home have been awesome. Cant wait for MBDTF. Also a lil trivia Amy Winehouse and Nas were really close he honors her often and her song "me and mr jones" is about NASir Jones.

Paul Salvador Estrada

love you bob, there’s a lot of stuff that kanye’s been through, especially during the making of this album and his next one, can’t wait for my beautiful dark twisted fantasy.

Jose Garcia

Loved your reaction, I teared at the same time as you started. You really have to see the Hollywood performance, it's not that emotional as the original one (the one you listened was the one in Singapore). This performance is more artistic and visually impactful and he uses autotune instead of straight voice. If you really will react to it, pls make sure to use this link (or just search pinnochio story hollywood hd audio) https://youtu.be/WCwd_qA0iu4 . The other video on YouTube has much lower quality but it shows as first result.

jimmyvinyl

A reaction to the Hollywood bowl performance would be amazing. It’s my favorite live performance I’ve watched, maybe it could be a patreon exclusive to avoid copyright? Also here’s a video of kanye talking about 808s (https://youtu.be/9w5XfAsW3d0) and another video of the context of why this album was so influential https://youtu.be/mnekansv5xE

Lexin 17

Hey man I would edit the Pinnochio Story link to this one, much better audio quality https://youtu.be/WCwd_qA0iu4

jimmyvinyl

"...and I hate to be laughing during a song like this" ("HOW CAN YOU BE SO HEARTLESS!!!?" *kanye in the background*) :'D :'D chooo chooo sounds or not, I'm enjoying this a lot... I feel like you're already getting it and we're starting, but this is great. Love 808s and been looking forward to this one for some time

Stefan Borglycke

The Most Unruly - The Making of 808s and Heartbreak https://youtu.be/xSmgnf6PHmE Pinnochio Story (Hollwood Bowl 2015) https://youtu.be/WCwd_qA0iu4 808s and Heartbreak Live @ Hollywood Bowl 2015 https://youtu.be/XEBGqhDfg2Y We Were Once a Fairytale - Directed by Spike Jonze https://youtu.be/e-0siK1w3eM We Were Once a Fairtyale - Behind the Scenes https://youtu.be/VkTkbvNOFS8 Official Music Videos Love Lockdown https://youtu.be/HZwMX6T5Jhk Heartless https://youtu.be/Co0tTeuUVhU Amazing https://youtu.be/PH4JPgVD2SM Welcome to Heartbreak https://youtu.be/wMH0e8kIZtE Coldest Winter https://youtu.be/n6rjQ9VVLDI

Dylan Woods

I think the juxtaposition of some of the music being sweet or pretty along with the sad lyrics and sentiments is because thats how love is, its wondrous and youre so happy initially but it can also turn to heartbreak out of nowhere. Thats kind of how i take it.

Tyler Scott

I'm not as high on 808s as some people but understand and was around for its cultural impact. Beautiful dark twisted fantasy is a whole other beast entirely. After 808s is when Kanye really put alot more into being artsy and leveling up. So from this point on every album is made with what it would sound like live and what show elements would be added and everything feels so grand and polished. MBDTF is a master class in music. I seen a MBDTF show as my first show and am bored at other concerts now. I only go to Kanye concerts now. Would highly recommend just finding concerts from MBDTF era......he went all out. He still goes all out today but MBDTF had a extra level of care and craft.....this care and craft doesent pop out of the speakers as much after imo until Donda. I enjoy TLOP a whole lot but its missing a certain somthing that MBDTF and Donda have that i can't readily identify

John

They broke up cuz she cheated on him

khari

If you like the drums on love lockdown, your gonna love my beautiful dark twisted fantasy

Jack MacArthur

Let's go!!

FuzzyDunlop

And it’s finally here! My favorite Kanye album (as of now)

RINGER 13

Leaving work rn can’t wait to see watch 🤍

Tastytacos

Same lol

TomiTom2021

So hyped to watch this, thanks Bob !

NecPluribusImpar

Thank you Alex

TomiTom2021

Never clicked so fast in my life

CooLuis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMH0e8kIZtE Welcome To Heartbreak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co0tTeuUVhU Heartless https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH4JPgVD2SM Amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZwMX6T5Jhk Love Lockdown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBP5FnksKc Paranoid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6rjQ9VVLDI Coldest Winter here are all of the official music videos!! :)

Alex Bowlin