Kanye West — Heartless
The coldest story ever told
When I was younger I worked at an audio mastering studio in Los Angeles.
I was called in on a Saturday to the studio due to a rapper wanting to sit in on the mastering of his album to digital format. It was rare any artist cared enough to sit in on a mastering. But it happened on occasion.
Usually it was because the artist had no where else to go. Artists, especially rappers usually came with an entourage of 2 to 20 people. Which is the real reason I was called, for extra security.
We were surprised when he showed up on time and alone. No gold chains but well dressed. Really cool shoes. He sat us down and told us what his vision was sonically.
After about two minutes of him talking my boss and I looked at each other like, “Fuck, this guy is a genius.“ He understood the limitations of compressed music and wanted to use a technique we used on that album and everything we ever mastered after that.
I think we were more exited to hear that album than anything else that had ever gone through there after hearing him talk. It did not disappoint. Neither of us particularly cared for Hip-Hop. But that album was banging. A desert island album for sure.
My boss just sat back and let him do his thing. Every studio set up is a little different. But he knew exactly what he was doing. He finished his album faster than my boss would have.
The album:
That man was Kanye West.
