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Shallow Nation

November 7th, 2008 at 11:09 am

Music Video: Kanye West “Heartless” (Official)

Kanye West 808s & Heartbreak album promo photo

Here is the official music video for Kanye West’s single, “Heartless.” It’s the second single from his forthcoming fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak which will be released November 25, 2008. The music video uses rotoscoping animation technique and is directed by veteran music video and film director Hype Williams who has directed several previous music videos for Kanye West and many top artists.

Both the single and the album are the first by Kanye West to be classified as pop rather than rap, and Kanye West sings on the entire album with the use of Auto-Tune. In remarks at an October 2008 listening party for the album, Kanye West explained his intentions.

Kanye launched into a speech about how much he loves using Auto-Tune and that lately the term has been associated with being “wack,” much to his dismay. “Never lose your childhood,” he told the crowd, explaining how he wanted to go back to feeling like a child, overwhelmed and carefree. Auto-Tune reminded him of those early days. [...]

The album, which he completed over three weeks in Hawaii, is unlike anything Kanye has done. He happily classifies it as “pop” featuring heavy drums and pulsing electronic sounds. “People think pop is bad, but Michael Jackson was pop and who can compare to him?” Kanye asked, adding that he wants to categorize the album under “pop” in iTunes.

Source: Kanye West Bares All at Album Listening

Photo credit: GOOD Music, Island Def Jam, Roc-A-Fella