So him trying to go inside himself is difficult, because he could easily write from a place of stardom, of fame, of the industry.” Yusef said. “Him fighting his fear, fighting depression, kind of for real, for real thrown into the public eye. “That was the first time that we knew exactly where he was emotionally.” -Tony Williams The achievements of 2007’s Graduation - beating 50 Cent in a highly publicized first-week sales battle, selling 957,000 copies in the first week, the crossover success of “Stronger” and “Good Life” - turned West into what Yusef describes as “not just rap fame, superstardom.” 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. For West’s closest confidantes, his early, raw and unfiltered recordings were the first time they heard how he was coping with the losses. According to its well-worn inception story, 808s & Heartbreak is part self-examination, part-exorcism of two tragic and life-defining moments for Kanye: the death of his mother, Donda West, on November 10, 2007, from cosmetic surgery complications and the dissolution of his 18-month engagement to Alexis Phifer.
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