Something about this album (808s & Heartbreak) appeals to me a great deal, though I don’t think it’s Kanye’s greatest work. Maybe the vulnerability. As a sprinkling of leaked songs, I wasn’t feeling it, but as a body of work, it works.
Murakami once said, “I don’t mind being hated if I’m popular.” There’s a chance of that happening with this album—that it’s pop, potentially hugely popular, but not with the same people who loved your other albums.
Let’s hope it’s pop. They asked me what genre to put it under. I was like, Put it under pop, because I’ll wear that. I love wearing a label that people think is uncool. Because it’s like, is it not good music now? Music is special to people, so they hold it really tight to themselves. A lot of times when it becomes popular they feel like it’s not theirs anymore, they feel like it’s not just a part of their little group. But I feel like music is for everyone. When you were a little kid, did you really think about how many kids sang “Frére Jacques”? I make music that is good, and it should be the biggest. [Fader][...]
“Why put yourself in the situation to be nervous again? You gotta just be confident the rest of your life? I mean, be confident, but I think it’s just a level of adventure and craziness and delusion, delusions of grandeur, like Hey, maybe I can fucking sing! Maybe I can’t, it doesn’t fucking matter, but it’s exciting.”
