Since Kanye West took this simple yet polished approach to auto-tune, his influence has remained fully intact over the years. Kanye West would even seek out T-Pain for advice on the program. By switching his singing with auto-tune, Kanye set the guidelines for the future of hip-hop. Kanye West set out to express himself and his feelings on the album and that is exactly what 808s & Heartbreak is. Before 808s & Heartbreak , rappers such as 2Pac, Eminem, and Geto Boys were at the forefront when it came to emotional rap until the end of 2008. By combining his multifarious knowledge of writing and producing along with an inner desire and passion to express himself, Kanye West changed the face of hip-hop forever with 808s & Heartbreak.īefore 808s & Heartbreak, there had been emotional albums and songs from the hip-hop genre, however, none of them could surmount the narrative that Kanye West culminated in 2008. 808s & Heartbreak is a pop album through and through, however, it is forged by one of the most prominent rappers of all time. These factors drove a young Kanye to branch out and break the norms he had previously set within his previous albums. Kanye West created the album out of sorrow and sadness of his failed relationships and the passing of his mother Donda West. 808s & Heartbreak is the prelude to what hip-hop music would become in the late 2000s into the 2010s.