The Auto-Tune Era

A melodic, robotic persona emerges when hip-hop harnesses Auto-Tune's voice-bending technology. Lil Wayne's vocals evoke an other otherworldly hedonism as he chases pleasures of the flesh on "Lollipop", while T-Pain becomes a sincere cyborg on the earnest, ebullient "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')". For Kanye West, the robot breaks down, his voice reduced to jagged shards on "Heartless".