Pitchfork

By his own admission, Kanye West's new single "Love Lockdown" was conceived in a hurry. The day after he premiered the song at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye took to his blog to note that he'd written the song "a week and a half" before. When a recorded version emerged shortly thereafter, it seemed as if the prolific rapper/producer was working even faster than usual. And a lot of people didn't like it.

With one ear to the ground and the other to the studio monitor, Kanye must've heard that not everybody was digging the somewhat laconic "Love Lockdown". So he's worked up a new version of the tune with a re-sung vocal and new Japanese taiko drums. "Your prayers have been answered!!!" he writes. (So there's new verses as well, then?)

The new drums are pretty powerful, but don't expect any drastic changes in the vocals. As Kanye writes, "Sidebar... if you don't like autotune... too bad cause I love it and have been using it since The College Dropout!!!" Everything in moderation, Ye, that's all we ask.

No word yet on the fallout from Kanye's recent arrest in L.A., but Kanye has promised us a rant, and a rant we shall hopefully receive. So, too, should details of just what the hell is going on with 808's and Heartbreak, possibly maybe the new Kanye West LP due in December. Kanye recently added a date in Monterrey, Mexico to his fall tour itinerary, yours for the looking after the jump.

Kanye:

10-18 Monterrey, Mexico - Arena Monterrey
10-22 Sao Paulo, Brazil - Auditorio Ibirapuera
10-24 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Marina da Gloria
11-08 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Odyssey Arena
11-09 Dublin, Ireland - RDS Simmonscourt
11-12 London, England - O2 Arena
11-13 Newcastle, England - Metro Radio Arena
11-15 Birmingham, England - NEC Birmingham
11-16 Glasgow, Scotland - SECC
11-17 Manchester, England - M.E.N. Arena
11-20 Paris, France - Bercy