Gowhere Hip Hop - The #1 Chicago Hip Hop Blog

Kanye West “Love Lockdown” - MORE

September 10th, 2008

Filed under: Bishop G, Blu & Exile, Bun B, Chris Brown, Ciara, Consequence, Danja, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, Matthew Santos, Naledge, Nas, Q-Tip, Sean Garrett, Staik Selektah, Termanology, The Game — Sgt. Tibs @ 3:11 pm

***Changed 2 MASTERED “Love Lockdown” Link***

Kanye West “Love Lockdown”

Producer: Kanye West? - FULL, CDQ?, 1st single off upcoming album, 808’s & Heartbreak *Tibs Fav.™

Loading …

‘Ye just released the CDQ version on his blog and on 1st listen… I think I’m feelin’ the live performance more. There’s times where Kanye doesn’t hit the notes right.. but anyway, DL it now! (Extended review 2 come..)

Updated Extended Review:

“Love Lockdown” delivers what all Kanye West fans should expect - a fresh, boundary-pushing 1st single, a la “Stronger” last year, in terms of impact. Production wise, there are elements in “Love Lockdown” that I feel have not been heard like this before, which really makes the song unique. The ominous “dum dum dum, dum” bass line 2 begin and end the track really sets the mood for the song and it is simple, yet effective throughout. Add in the high-pitched clicks and bangs of the bongos and other percussion instruments in the chorus and it is a very well-produced track that changes throughout its entirety and especially toward the end. Lyrically, Kanye is on point about describing his internal struggles with love and sings them with emotion. Gotta give him credit as the passion is certainly on paper and on the mic, yet I do feel that the quality of his singing is really exposed on this track, specifically in the chorus. Right when he starts, “So keep your love lockdown..”, the quality of his voice really plummets, especially when he hits the “love lockdown”. I think he had a desired effect in mind, but it didn’t really work for me as I feel it was not executed to its fullest. As suggested by “Non” in Jabbify (get chatting people! :D), the chorus could really be cleaned up (the main reason why I like the LIVE version better than the studio), which caused Max G. to think that this was not even the CDQ version when I talked to him. And who knows? Maybe it is a rough version. Non also suggested that someone else jump on the chorus and I will throw out a name who I think would kill this - John Legend! Yes, he is one of my favorites, but this is the type of beat, with piano on the chorus as well, that his soulful voice would enhance. Not to mention the topic of love as well; a topic that is certainly not a stranger to the R&B genre that John Legend represents. Overall, I like the track, but it could definitely be better and I do not think it will ever come close to my top ten Kanye West songs. I really respect that Kanye is branching out and growing as an artist - trying out new styles and production, but this track is not all the way there for me. I wish he rapped - his two best musical strengths are production and rapping. Singing is a distant 3rd. It will certainly blow up on the radio, but I really hope that the rest of the album does not have this much autotune. Check out my editorial from earlier this week for more thoughts on that!

I’ll put up some more content and update it here within the hour.. keep it locked! I’ll actually need some more time on that

Here it is (bout 10PM CT)… NEW Trax-N-Vids.. just peep them below (especially the comic book sayings in the Luda premiere.. my favorite funny one is @ 4:12..). Also… it’s Naledge’s birthday 2day (hence the track) and our M.I.A. 3rd blogger, gowhere?’s bday 2day as well! Happy bday all around! Enjoy!

Naledge “Happy Birthday To Me”

(Read the story behind the track HERE!) Producer: Statik Selektah - FULL, CDQ *Tibs Fav.™

Jadakiss “Who Run This” f/ Jay-Z

Producer: Babygrande - FULL, CDQ

Bishop G “Chicago Sherbert”

FULL, CDQ, Track off upcoming mixtape, Damage Reversal

(The Bishop G track HERE from a few days ago.. turns out that’s NOT Lupe on the hook and click here 2 find out why..)

Blu “NutsHang”

FULL, CDQ *Tibs Fav.™

Ciara “Echo”

Producer: Danja - FULL, Limited DJ, Track off upcoming album, Fantasy Ride

—————————————————————————————