He’s got a new album coming out, and a lot of the singles are already being played.  I’m not gonna lie: the guy can produce.  In fact, his beats and music might be the best in hip hop today (I can’t think of any better off the top of my head).  But his rapping skills and his lyrics are often mediocre at best, and songs like Swagger Like Us show it (his rap is by far the worst of the four, and none of the other three rappers are really bringing their A-game).

Stereogum’s got a review of the new album, saying pretty similar stuff:

As you’ve no doubt gleaned from this and other blogs, every song on this album is built from a blueprint of TR-808 drum machine beats and conspicuous digitally manipulated crooning. It’s a departure that’s especially confounding given the prevalence of Auto-Tune abuse in countless recent hip-hop hits. Kanye knows the pitch-shifting mechanism is played out, he just doesn’t give a shit. It’s still a crutch (a more skilled singer wouldn’t rely on the gimmick) but we won’t harp on it. The absence of samples is one key difference between this concept album and the acclaimed school trilogy. The lack of pop singer guest appearances and co-producers is another (though Jeezy and Weezy make high-profile if totally unnecessary cameos, and No I.D. co-produces two songs with Kanye). Those creative choices coupled with King of Pain (T-Pain?) lyrics help define 808s as a solitary pursuit. Don’t expect any club bangers, this is more like a soundtrack for stalking ex-girlfriends on Facebook.