I’ve gained more appreciation for “Love Lockdown,” but I still think Kanye has no business singing. With or without Auto-Tune.

“As an artist, you owe it to yourself to be free. You can’t just cater to the audience.” - Common

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears that Kanye will continue his tradition of setting trends by trading in his microphone for a vocoder on 808 & Heartbreaks. Word has it Kanyeezy is singing throughout the album.

Common says he likes what he’s heard from the album so far, but history has taught us to take anything said by crocheted pants-rocking artists with a gigantic grain of salt. As long as ‘Ye has a couple songs where he imitates Lil Wayne’s flow, I’m good.

My sincere apologies to Young Jeezy, but this will be the undisputed album of the year. I can’t wait.

Kanye and Jeezy working on 808s and Heartbreak?

Kanye says he will now release his 4th album, 808s and Heartbreak, in November instead of the previously promised December date. Although he claims to have moved up the album because he wants “y’all to hear it as soon as possible,” 50’s decision to drop his own album in December probably had something to do with it. Either way, we’re not complaining.

After seeing your outpour of criticism, Kanye has decided to re-record “Love Lockdown.”

Says Kanye on his blog:

Your prayers have been answered!! There’s a new version of love Love Lockdown coming. We used new taiko drums and I re-sung it… it’s being Mastered now….

In pure Kanye fashion, he added that those of us who griped about his excessive use of Auto-Tune can always tune out…well, not in those words. “Sidebar… if you don’t like autotune… too bad cause I love it and have been using it since the College Dropout!!!”

UPDATE: Here’s the new version.

Here’s Kanye getting gully on some shutterbug, which eventually led to his arrest.

Kanye West - “Love Lockdown”

The wait is over, boys and girls. Here’s a hi-res mp3 of “Love Lockdown,” as promised. It failed to do what Kanye’s leadoff singles have done in the past — blow my mind away at first listen. I’ve never heard a hook with this much distortion on it. If you must use Auto-Tune, do so in moderation. That said, the beat is flawless.

According to BGDB, the album is titled 808s & Heartbreak. The tentative release date is December 16th. I’ll let you know when I find out more. Hip-hop lives.

Update: Eskizzle has the mastered version of “Love Lockdown”

Assuming you don’t have a life or don’t intend to spend your Friday night downing bottles of Vodka, you can sit on the edge of your seat and count down the seconds to the world premiere of Kanye’s new single, “Love Lockdown.”

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Thanks, smokeYYY.