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Over the weekend, the latest leak from Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak emerged, in anticipation of its release on Nov. 25. “Robocop” has a beat that sounds like it’s the result of Kanye listening to Nine Inch Nails and Portishead’s 2008 releases, a string break, and the now-requisite Autotuned caramelizing of every syllable he utters. But unlike the other three songs to snake out of pre-release embargo, West had no hand in the release of the track; yesterday he made a post on his blog titled “I DID NOT LEAK ROBOCOP!!!… THAT’S NOT EVEN THE FINISHED VERSION… I’M PRETTY UPSET ABOUT IT BUT THAT’S THE WAY LIFE IS SOMETIMES!” No further explanation was given, but who needs that when any post on your blog will generate comments like “I’m still buying 5 copies of your album to share with the fam. No worries Mr. West”? A YouTube embed of “Robocop” after the jump.
I DID NOT LEAK ROBOCOP!!!… THAT’S NOT EVEN THE FINISHED VERSION… I’M PRETTY UPSET ABOUT IT BUT THAT’S THE WAY LIFE IS SOMETIMES! [kanYe West: Blog]
Kanye West – Robocop [YouTube]
No, he don’t want no leaks, so stop.
Good to hear this is an unfinished track. I hope he does something about those “ok ok”’s. Rough.
On only a semi-related note: At which point do we need to start differentiating between “Autotune” and “Vocoder”? There’s a huge difference in my mind. These Kanye West songs, like a some of the stuff on College Dropout, is clearly not meant to be heard as real singing, but as vocals treated with an effect to abstract the notes and become a combination of synthesized keyboard tones and human tones. At that point, I imagine them not as “Autotuned vocals”, but as “Vocals treated with a vocoder.” Pleased to meet you, Daft Punk.
It’s when you’re trying to trick listeners into thinking that a singer is actually singing the proper notes that it becomes “Autotuning.” (Hello every popular music track of the last 3 years or so). And while it’s generally the same fundamentals at work, it is far more disingenuous, and worthy of harsh critique.
In these cases, Kanye clearly isn’t trying to fool anyone into believing he’s actually a great singer with perfect pitch. It’s just an aesthetic choice he’s made in lieu of actually having a great set of natural pipes. And since it’s a technique he has used since his first album (one of his “instruments,” you could say), I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
So in this case, I think it’s unfair to throw out a critique that mentions “now-requisite Autotuned caramelizing of every syllable he utters,” which comes off as a very negative statement. And even if it was meant to be negative, part of me thinks it’s only fair to not actually use the phrase “Autotuned,” since that’s not exactly what’s going on.
I’m sure Peter Frampton has a few words to say on this subject.
@Marth: it wasn’t meant to be negative! just descriptive, since that effect has been on every song that’s come out from 808s and heartbreak.
haha maybe we should have a side ‘at what point does ‘descriptive’ writing become seen by people as ‘negative’ no matter what’ discussion because man that whole point of order has been way misunderstood by people lately
@Maura Johnston: No worries. I wasn’t trying to bash any perceived negativity or anything. It actually gets to the heart of what I’ve been thinking though… that to me simply using the term “Autotuned” automatically makes something feel negative, which is why I feel there needs to be more clarity in the vocabulary of this whole autotuning/vocoding/pitch-matching world of modern music.
It comes down to the fact that just about all writing about autotuning lately has been negative; therefore the mere mention of the word (not unlike “bubblegum” or “gangsta” or, say, “Ulrich”) automatically presents itself to most readers as being negative.
I didn’t mean to come off as an a-hole. Just trying to get some thoughts off my mind.
I don’t think it’s a case of fooling people vs. using effects for, um, effect. Autotune and Vocoder (and Talk Box) are different technologies that are being used differently. I probably couldn’t tell you which is which, but it’s worth mentioning that these aren’t all the same thing.
@Marth: The talk box is an actual instrument, whereas treating vocals the way Kanye does (and everyone else, these days) is done after vocals are cut. Where quality and texture is concerned, there’s a pronounced difference between the created effects, and so it’s not only legitimate to apply “Autotuned” to Kanye’s work, it’s essential.
Autotune is bullshit. Seriously, if you can’t sing in key, you shouldn’t be singing.
Wow, has the music industry gotten so lame that we’re still talking about Kanye?
Oh man, Bill Leeb’s gonna hang himself.