Gone were his trademark soul samples and the flashy crowd-pleasing hits, replaced by spare production and AutoTuned vocals. It didn’t seem that way in 2008, when West released a 12-song album that shared few characteristics with his previous three critically and commercially beloved releases, 2004’s “The College Dropout," 2005’s “Late Registration” and 2007’s “Graduation.” While it’s certainly a stretch to credit every time we hear a rapper sing a verse to Kanye West – a claim that the rapper and his massive ego would nevertheless appreciate – it’s undeniable that “808s” was a groundbreaking release.
And a look at the rappers on top of this week’s Hot 100 reveals just how broad the album’s influence can be extended – would Travis Scott and Juice WRLD be making the same kind of music if it wasn’t for "808s"? It’s a lineage that stretches from Drake and the Weeknd to the Soundcloud rap phenomenon of the past few years. Books’ worth of essays have been written about “808s” as the precedent for the next 10 years of hip-hop, depicting how West’s moody vocals and minimalist club beats inspired a generation of artists to blur the line between singing and rapping, to overshare their emotions in openly-emo lyrics, to make music that’s simultaneously made to party to and entirely joyless. “808s” turns 10 on Saturday, but critics certainly haven’t waited for the album’s anniversary to hail it a classic.
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