Malik Yusef, one of Kanye’s oldest writing partners, remembers an inflection point between the tragedy of West’s personal life and his ascension to a new level of fame. “A lot of it was not ever voiced verbally to us in those situations.” “I think because he doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve a lot of time that a lot of us that are very close to him in his inner circle, that was the first time that we knew exactly where he was emotionally,” Tony Williams, Kanye’s cousin and frequent collaborator said.

Its creation was a long-winding and often rushed road, according to the seven artists who spoke to Rolling Stone about its inception. 808s’ influence, though, was never guaranteed. The precise, synthetic and attractive bass quirks of the Roland TR-808 became the heartbeat that fueled heartbreak. The untrained voices and unsung melodies of countless artists - mostly men and women of color - were let loose upon the world to rewrite the foundations of pop. The warbled and robotic voice once meant to denote distance and detachment has now been warmed over. Somehow, the Chicago artist’s most experimental and idiosyncratic work became his most seminal. Kanye West’s fourth studio album raised an entire generation: wide-eyed child actors, hardened Atlanta drug dealers, elusive bedroom producers.

Its influence never really ceased reverberating, and its imprint still appears with some frequency across hip-hop (and pop music writ large). Ten years after its release, 808s & Heartbreak is an absolute. “It flowed the most effortlessly because we basically did it in three weeks.”

808s & Heartbreak was their first collaboration, and likely the most memorable. “It was probably the easiest Kanye West record that ever got made,” he said. The producer and songwriter Jeff Bhasker has worked on four albums with Kanye West.

Who is 808s and heartbreak about