Oct 07 2008
Kanye West in Love Lockdown video.. with a ghoul in the room

Kanye West “Love Lockdown” Video(!)

When did Ellen become a place to world premiere a rapper’s music video? Kanye West has to be breaking some ground with this move. He premiered the “Love Lockdown” video on The Ellen DeGeneres show this afternoon.

Suffice to say, it’s about as weird as the song.

Kanye West performs Love Lockdown at the 2008 VMAs

I really liked Kanye’s live performance of “Love Lockdown” at the MTV’s VMAs. The darkened room with neon blue and red lighting and the freaky cast-offs from animated Busta Rhymes-land banging on drums to a steady thumping 808 made it a wild experience.

Since then, I’ve tried to listen to the song on its own and cannot get over that cheezy vocoder on his voice. It’s not that every artist with a breath of a note in his soul is using the thing. It’s that Kanye sounds like he’s using an off-brand shareware plugin he found on the net.

Hey Kanye, couldn’t you have tweaked it just a little?

Kanye West “Love Lockdown”

Again.. what saves the song from being complete trash are the visuals. The plain Jane background set against the ‘demons’ lingering around his apartment as Kanye is in an obviously bad place; call it heartbreak.. That play of good and evil is a subtle reminder to all of us to kick those moody blues to the curb.


☼ What's Your Opinion? ☼

1 Benji Tue, Oct 07, 2008 - 11:37 pm

This guy is losing it! First he compares Soulja Boy to Nas and now this idiotic song. He needs help and I hope he gets it.

2 Stymuli Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 3:21 am

The song is tight. It’s entertainment—I don’t think it’s supposed to carry the significant weight that we’re used to his music usually carrying. This marks an evolution; whether of hip-hop or Kanye West, I don’t know. But with this song and this video, he’s reaching U2 or Genesis fame and stardom.

3 Young K Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 10:55 am

The song is dope.  I don’t understand all the hate it receives.  But then again my musical taste are all over the place which allows me to appreciate different looks (if you will).  The video is nice and simple.  The visuals are very cool and bring the song to life.  With that said I think the MTV VMA performance was very good.  He should make another video using that performance.  Good stuff.  I am interested to find out how this new album is going to sound.

4 Jah Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 12:06 pm

I like it.  It’s new.  It’s something different from Kanye.  I can understand that people, being creatures of habit, may not appreciate the song but I commend Kanye for pulling an “OutKast” and keeping us guessing…in a good way.

5 danzenie Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 8:32 pm

oh yeah, i remember seeing this during the vmas.  I hated then.  And i think its safe to say that i still hate it?  Breaking ground!?  shiiit.  U2 status?  shiiit.  Evolution of hip hop?  Man listen.  Keep it simple.  This bullshit at its best.

6 I agree Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 10:34 pm

danzenie, I agree with you. This shit is corny! To say this is reaching stardom is reaching way to far. Kanyew is becoming more wack by the minute and as Benji said the guy needs help… REAL HELP!

7 Stymuli Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 12:54 pm

I don’t know if he’s qualifying Soulja Boy’s technical lyrical prowess—if he is, then I don’t agree with Mr. West; however in terms of introducing a [new] style of hip-hop to the mainstream, he’s absolutely right. In that respect, SouljaBoy is “on some Nas-level shit.”

I think it’s harsh to say “...what saves the song from being complete trash..” It’s not like he’s making some obscure reference to the strength of Nigerian hair. Why does he need help?

Should Kanye’s fourth album be a continuation of rapping yet again about banging model-chicks from behind? Or rapping again about Fendi this? Gucci that? How many more times does he have to rap about being “The Louis-Vuitton Don?”

8 KooBear Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 2:50 pm

Yo…This song is HOT!!!! I know it’s different, but it is by no means bad… I can stop listening to it, I’ll just add it to the GOOD music rotation with John Legend’s “Green Light”.

9 Ray J Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 2:58 pm

Kanye West has been whining and bitching like a 12 year old girl for years, How do you think he finally got a grammy? I agree with you for the most part about Kanye can’t continue to rap about the same things over and over but this song ain’t even rap, it’s garbage. If this is evolving then rap should just not evolve. Saying he is reaching U2 or Genesis fame is way over the top and as for the Soulja Boy/Nas comparison there is none I don’t care what he was trying to say he was wrong in saying it. Soulja Boy out right sucks, he is right there with Vanilla Ice, Lil’ Mama has better lyrics then he does. That song to me is a cry for help. He could not have thought “This shit is hot” when he made it. I agree with Benji I also feel the guy needs help.

10 Stymuli Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 3:55 pm

Again with the help? Who made the argument that this song was a “rap?” Just because the man can and has rapped before means that’s what he has to keep on doing? He’s got to be pigeon-holed as just being a rapper?

People are condemning him for exercising some creativity—he is a recording “artist.” Key word, artist.

Also, they don’t give out Grammys for bitching and whining— not like Spacemen on MTV; they actually use record sales figures to determine Grammy winners. Go ahead, check your Billboard charts.

11 To Stymuli Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 4:22 pm

Dude you are right the song ain’t rap IT’S CRAP! We need to stop using words like creativity anytime someone does something different. There is nothing creative about that mess.

12 Stymuli Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 4:31 pm

I don’t know what all the hate is about.

13 Stymuli Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 4:38 pm

LOL Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but I still don’t understand what all the hate for the song is about.

LOL… so much anger!

Why so serious?

14 Jill Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 5:01 am

“This song is hot.” NOT! Kanye is bugging out, this shit is wack.

15 mimi Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 10:06 am

The songs sounds like a 10 year old wrote it. Like someone throwing out crap simply because they can. I’m a wide range lover of music, this song isn’t good in any genre.

16 To mimi Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 2:25 pm

Thank you mimi, That is exactly what I would have said if you didn’t beat me to it. This is what happens when people have credibility then they do something like this and their fans just go with it because they are fans of the person. THIS SONG SUCKS and yes it does look like he is crying out for something.

17 Stymuli Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 3:05 pm

Whoa…. whoa… whoa…

Let’s calm down on the implied fanaticism. I personally don’t care one way or another how anyone feels about the song. My argument is on the collective crusade to paint this expression as “garbage,” or “whack.”

The song is [appearantly] not your alls cup of tea and I think that’s cool. But no one has qualified what exactly it is that makes this song so bad. The collective logic doesn’t make sense to me.

I mean, do you think the song is bad because he needs help or do you all think he needs help because you think the song is bad? Those questions beg more questions. Like when you watch a movie like “Eyes Wide Shut,” do you think it sucks and Tom Cruise needs help or do you think Tom Cruise needs help because you think the movie sucks?

Do you all agree and believe that different is bad? Someone replied to me saying “We need to stop using words like creativity anytime someone does something different.” What are we using to qualify creativity and non-conformity?

The lyrics for the most part make sense in that they express a cohesive thought and emotional sentiment.

Waitaminute… are you all of the variety that scoffs and sneers at Basquiat and Jackson Pollack paintings, but wears graphic t-shirts with skull imprints and “retro-chic” colors?

18 To Stymuli Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 3:28 pm

It’s not that complicated. It’s not that Kanye needs help, which he does, it’s not that people don’t like Kanye, it doesn’t need qualifications for why it is bad. The song is just corny. Sometimes people make bad songs and this is Kanye’s turn. That’s it.

19 Stymuli Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 3:35 pm

So this is Kanye’s “Waterworld?”

20 LIGHTBRYTMO Sat, Oct 11, 2008 - 12:45 pm

KANYE IS MY FAVORITE, I LOVE THIS MAN! HE’S THE BEST RAPPER OF ALL TIMES! ALL YALL TALKING ABOUT IT’S A WACK VIDEO BUT YALL NEVER TOOK THE TIME TO LOOK AND LISTEN TO THE VIDEO! MOST OF YALL DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE MESSAGE IS!! THE SONG AND THE VIDEO GOES EXTRA EXTRA HARD!

21 Shay Sat, Oct 11, 2008 - 7:30 pm

I’m still iffy about this song because of the audio but this video is beautiful.  He could have put some regular video ho in it but he didn’t. It gets no more back to your roots that this.  His performance and this video will definately make the song and not vice versa.

22 B Wed, Oct 22, 2008 - 5:14 pm

All I gotta say is WTF man. Kayne smoking on that good ish with this one.Got me confused as hell. Does this song have any meaning at all.Is he still tripping over losing Kim if so get help playa you can do better.If he tripping over losing his moms then I say let your creative juices flow. Like a theraputic release of the pain.But its something different and thats what hip hop needs.I have been a supporter of this dude since college dropout and he hasnt failed me yet so lets see what 808 and heartbreaks brings to the table.

23 Above Wed, Oct 22, 2008 - 6:21 pm

B, Some of what you said is why I can’t completely come down on Kanye for this song, maybe it is a cry out for his mother, God rest her soul, but if it isn’t a cry out then what the f**k was he thinking when he decided to come out with this garbage? This is whack and to those that say it’s entertainment, yeah, it is, but all entertainment aint good entertainment. What kills me is this song is getting play on the radio like it is the shit and really it gets play because it is made by Kanye. Yo, play that shit at some rave or something because that is where that “song” belongs.

24 MT Fri, Nov 07, 2008 - 1:21 pm

Don’t know for sure if it’s a cry for help, but it sure sounds like a cry for a Grammy.  This sounds like another pop tune for the masses.

Just replace Kanye with Britney Spears then you’ll have your typical Britney pop tune.  But since it’s Kanye, it’s “brilliant”.

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