Kanye West's Love Lockdown remixes are tearing up the airwaves on the heels of his new album.
In addition to the fresh sounds his visual work with animation and tribalism references are also raising some art eyebrows.
From the
2001: A Space Odyssey
nod to the use of Japanese Taiko drums and tribal Nazca lines, Kanye seems to be veering ever closer to pop-art aesthetics, all evident in Love Lockdown. The rest of 808s & Heartbreak wanders around various topics, but Kanye himself seems to be seeing himself more as an artist than just a musician, a theme coming through in some of his many interviews with the mainstream press.
808s & Heartbreak explores new areas for hip hop and rap that feel very globalized, even strangely post-American.