My initial reaction to the opening track of 808s & Heartbreak, Kanye West’s new album, was something along the lines of, “Oh great. Another pseudo-pop song on a hip-hop album with glaring pitch-correction on the vocals. Vocoders sound more natural than this. Why is Kanye opening his album with an annoying, tired cliche?” To my utter amazement and bafflement, the technique was not just employed on the opening track but the entire album.

Kanye West has just released an entire album where he doesn’t rap! He “sings” with the help of a lot of auto-tuning. What’s more, this rather silly approach was inspired by the man’s suffering and turmoil.

I immediately warmed to the album. Not only is it stylistically interesting, the context is fascinating for a number of obvious reasons. An established hip-hop super-star has made an album that really isn’t hip-hop. He’s using this uncharted territory to express his devastation. He’s the biggest megalomaniac in popular music.

I love this kind of stuff. There’s nothing more compelling or an engaging than an artist who totally side-steps expectation to pursue something different. Of course, what really matters is whether or not the album’s any good. The jury’s still out on that one, but I’m going to be spending some time with it.