Word on the street is that Kanye West’s fourth studio album, follow up to the auto-tune inspired 808’s & Heartbreak, is near completion.  It comes from Kanye’s cousin and collaborator Devo Springsteen.  He shared these thoughts on his Twitter account: “Heard the new Kanye West album.  Inspiring…”  Sure, evidence of its completion is not bursting from the seams with this one, but something is there.  Since nothing official concerning a new album has come from the Kanye camp, it’s hard to know what stage it’s at.  However, Springsteen did hear something and he enjoyed it enough to share his thoughts on Twitter.  I’m hoping Kanye goes back to his roots with his next album, leaving auto-tune behind.  Don’t get me wrong; 808’s & Heartbreak is one of my favorite concept rap albums, but I feel that Kanye needs to really shine with his next outing.  And the only way for him to prove to everyone he can still impact music is if he goes back to where it all started.