Love Lockdown

Around the time of West's third studio album Graduation being released in September 2007, American record producer Jeff Bhasker started to play keyboards for West's band due to them needing someone to fill in. Originally, Bhasker met West through the rapper's DJ A-Trak and was trying to increase name recognition for himself as a producer by working with West; Bhasker called him "awesome".[1] He contributed writing to multiple songs on 808s & Heartbreak, including "Love Lockdown", which was co-written by West, Esthero, Malik Yusef, and Starshell.[2] Bhasker recalled that all of the songwriters "deciphered what" was being said on the song's demo, shortly after it had been freestyled in full by West.[1][3] According to Bhasker, the writers helped fill in the words when deciphering West's demo and he admitted collaborators are needed "that understand songwriting to make the song as good as it can be, even if its not like, 'Okay, let's try this melody or that melody.'"[1] West produced the song, while co-production was handled by Bhasker.[2] After she accidentally met West in the hallway of a recording studio, Starshell participated in a songwriting session. During the session, the track was written. Starshell later expressed feelings of gladness that she had worked with West, since gathering the experience early in her career helped her understand how the music business works. She explained, stating: "In this industry, it's about networking and relationships."[4]

Inspired by 1980s synthpop icons such as Phil Collins, Gary Numan and Boy George for the material on 808s & Heartbreak, West considered the tracks to be more minimal and functional due to him making usage of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.[5] West stated his intention was to juxtapose the mechanical sounds of the Auto-Tune and 808s with the more traditional sounds of taiko drums and choir monks.[6] "Love Lockdown" was premiered live by West at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards on September 7.[7] Two days later, West admitted via his blog that the song was his favorite to date at the time and had been written a week and a half before the premiere.[8] In an interview with Kiss FM, West revealed that it was one of the first two tracks created by him once he went "into album mode" after the success of Graduation.[9] On September 10, 2008, West shared the song through his blog.[10] The shared version was met with generally negative responses from fans of West, including an Underwriter blog critic that heavily appreciated his previous works.[11][12][13] Replying to his fans, West confirmed via his blog that the song was being re-recorded: "Your prayers have been answered! There's a new version of 'Love Lockdown' coming."[13] Simultaneously, West revealed that he "re-sung it" and the song was being mastered while telling those who do not like Auto-Tune it is "too bad" because he loves the effect and has been using it since his debut studio album The College Dropout (2004); "Love Lockdown" was ultimately released as a single on September 18, 2008.[12][13][14] The cover art for the single features PostScript's Type 4 font, which West described as "perfected" to please all the "design snobs, lol".[15] On September 25, 2008, West posted six stems for the song to his blog, each featuring isolated song portions of "Love Lockdown", and the stems were used to enable fans to remix the song.[16][17] The stems included an a cappella, distorted vocals, the piano, and the outro synth-beat.[16] West went on to name "Love Lockdown" as an example of him creating a track "that people never heard before".[18]

Musically, "Love Lockdown" is an electropop song.[24] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song is set in the time signature of common time.[25] "Love Lockdown" is composed in the key of C♯ minor with a quick tempo of 120 beats per minute (BPM) and West's vocal range spans two octaves, going from a low of G♯₂ to a high of G♯₄.[25] The song is written in a verse-chorus form that expresses quiet-loud dynamics, featuring verses delivered in a low, somber tone before shifting into loud, chanting choruses. The track is built around sharp piano and "harsh" Roland TR-808 drumbeats, the latter of which emulate a human heartbeat.[26][27] The song commences with a heartbeat-like low tone bass, which was described as "melodic".[28][29] Prior to the drums of the song, a synth pulse is featured.[19] For going against the typical sound of a hip hop beat, along with the Roland TR-808, the track instead makes use of "thundering" tribal taiko drums in its chorus' instrumentation that accompany West's vocals.[22][30][21] The chorus also contains hand claps and heavy percussion, the latter of which was contributed by Gibi Zé Bruno, Lula Almeida, and Rodney Dassis.[2][20][21] Military drums are included in the song, accompanied by a house piano riff.[19][28][31] West does not rap at all on the song, with him singing for the entirety of it.[31] Auto-Tune is used on West's voice throughout, being accompanied by somber keys for much of the song.[26][32] West sings through a voice synthesizer, while strangled squeals are also included in the song.[22][33]

The song contains introspective lyrics, in which West discusses the after effects of a failed romantic relationship.[27] Before the chorus of the song, West demonstrates trying to make the decision between staying and going.[20] In the chorus, West fully suggests to "keep your love locked down". The chorus' lyrics represent a man moving on from someone he loves, as this will protect his heart.[23] Certain lyrics of the song are used by West to portray a struggle to properly show love; the lyrics were described by PopMatters as "simplistic, succinct and powerful".[21]

On September 18, 2008, "Love Lockdown" was released for digital download in various countries as the lead single from 808s & Heartbreak by West's record labels Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam.[14] The song was serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations on September 30, 2008.[34] West blogged that he considered the song making it to radio to be a triumph.[35] On October 18, 2008, a CD single was released for the song in various countries.[36]

A 12" vinyl was later released for the song across Europe on November 11, 2008.[37] The vinyl features remixes by Aero Tronic, Chew Fu, and Flufftronix on the A-side, while the B-side includes the instrumental of the song, a remix by Jake Trothn, and the song's main mix.[37] An Essential 5 EP for the song was released for digital download in Germany on November 18, 2008.[38] Six days later, West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak was released, including "Love Lockdown" as the fifth track on the album.[39]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
BBC	[19]
Digital Spy	[31]
The Observer	[33]

"Love Lockdown" was met with widely positive reviews from music critics, who generally praised the production and West's vocals. In his review of the song for BBC, Fraser McAlpine glorified the "remarkable" production that "would still be great" if "literally" any contemporary music artist was put over it, and he highlighted the "frantic martial drumming".[19] McAlpine approved West "attempting to sing" despite being a rapper by calling his attempt "automatically impressive" and explained West "left his comfort zone" by doing so, with him concluding that West is "probably not as much of a genius as he thinks he is" but is "trying, and this should be applauded" despite West sounding somewhat similar to Jamaican-American rapper Sean Kingston.[19] Comparing "Love Lockdown" to the version of the song West originally shared, Gareth Grundy of The Observer commented that the "synthesized vocal and shuffling drums" had been "quickly beefed up", which added "drama to what was previously a dirge".[33] Writing for PopMatters, Dave Heaton analyzed the song as starting "with a heartbeat-like bass tone that manages to be melodic" despite not having a heavy presence and lauded West's vocals, noting that he "at one point goes into a brief robot scream".[28] He continued, directing praise towards the song's piano melody and "high-powered drums", admitting that the latter "kick the song up a thousand notches".[28]

Chris Richards from The Washington Post said that the rhythm of the track "feels particularly vivid", with him opining that West's "scorned" performance alongside "a stampede of percussion" is "as thrilling as it is melancholy".[20] The Sunday Times' Dan Cairns stated West shows "an emotional candour of such a personal nature" on the track that listening to it "can seem almost voyeuristic".[40] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times wrote that the track's "thunderous drums cut through an electro haze", which he viewed as suggesting West's "old, oversize sound".[41] Jody Rosen from Rolling Stone highlighted the track for being "powered by thundering tribal drums", while describing West's vocals as sliding "from digitized trills into strangled squeals".[22] Scott Plagenhoef was less positive in Pitchfork, citing "the clapping drums" of the track as being one of the album's sonic highlights and calling it a "very good" song that does "work surprisingly well on the car radio", though he pointed the track out as a "second-tier" single from West.[42] Reviewing for Digital Spy, Nick Levine praised the Taiko drums of the track and observed "a house piano riff" as well as "military-style drums", though called the result "unsettling" and "a little bit paranoid".[31] He elaborated, branding the song "much less radio-friendly" in comparison to West's singles "Stronger" (2007) and "Homecoming" (2008); Levine concluded by labeling "Love Lockdown" an "interesting experiment" but wondered why West would "want to turn himself into a barely adequate singer?"[31]

The song's debut at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 broke the previous record for West's highest entry on the chart, set by the single "Swagga Like Us" earlier in 2008.

On the US Billboard Hot 100, the song opened at number three for the issue date of September 29, 2008, with first-week digital sales of 213,000.[60] The song became West's highest debuting single on the chart, surpassing his previous record of entering at number five with "Swagga Like Us" one week prior.[61] "Love Lockdown" also became West's sixth entry as a solo artist on the Hot 100 and his third highest charting single as a lead artist, behind "Gold Digger" (2005) and "Stronger.[62] The song experienced the second highest debut of 2008 on the chart, tying with David Cook's "The Time of My Life".[61] On the Hot 100, "Love Lockdown" also became the 10th song of the 2000s decade to debut in the top three. However, the song was the second entry in the top three of the chart by any artist unaffiliated with American Idol.[61] As of May 31, 2018, the song stands as West's ninth biggest hit of all time on the Hot 100.[63]

The song entered at number 13 on the US Pop 100 for the issue dated October 4, 2008 and remained at the same position the following week.[64] For the issue date of December 20, 2008, the song reached the top 10 at the closing position, rising from number 12 the previous week.[65] It eventually peaked at number eight on the Pop 100 on the chart issue dated January 10, 2009.[66] The song was the 24th most downloaded single of 2008 in the United States, with digital sales of 1,863,000.[67] By July 2011, the song had surpassed digital sales of 3,000,000 in the US.[68] This made it the fifth track to do so that includes West, while the song became his fourth track as a lead artist to surpass the sales amount in the country.[68] On September 23, 2020, "Love Lockdown" was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 4,000,000 certified units in the US.[69]

On the Canadian Hot 100, "Love Lockdown" debuted and peaked at number five.[70] The song debuted at number 30 on the New Zealand Singles Chart for the issue dated September 29, 2008, though departed the chart for a week before re-entering at number 29.[71] It climbed the New Zealand Singles Chart during the succeeding four weeks, going on to peak at number 11 on the November 10, 2008 chart issue.[71] On January 12, 2009, "Love Lockdown" was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) in its 15th week on the chart for sales of over 7,500 units in the country.[72] In Australia, the song opened at number 37 on the ARIA Singles Chart dated October 5, 2008.[73] Later that same month, it reached number 39 on the chart and remained in the top 40 for 13 consecutive weeks prior to peaking at number 18 for the week of January 25, 2009.[73] The song lasted for 23 weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart.[73] By February 16, 2009, the song had been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for exceeding 35,000 shipped copies in Australia.[74]

The song peaked at number four in Denmark and Ireland on the Danish Top 40 and Irish Singles Chart, respectively.[75][76] On the German Singles Chart, "Love Lockdown" debuted at number eight, becoming West's first top 10 single in Germany as a lead artist.[77] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number 84 on the UK Singles Chart for the issue dated September 21, 2008.[78] The following week, the song rose 68 places to number 16 on the chart.[79] It later peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart for the issue date of October 26, 2008.[80] The song remained at the same position for two consecutive weeks and lasted for a total of 26 weeks on the chart.[81] On January 27, 2017, the song was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 400,000 units in the UK.[82] As of October 24, 2019, it ranks as West's 16th most successful track of all time on the UK Singles Chart.[83] It further charted at number 10 and 11 in the Netherlands and Sweden on the Dutch Single Top 100 and Sverigetopplistan charts, respectively.[84][85] The song also reached the top 20 on Norway's Topp 20 Singles chart,[86] the Billboard European Hot 100 Singles chart,[87] Austria's Ö3 Austria Top 40,[88] the Switzerland Singles Top 75,[89] and the Official Finnish Singles Chart.[90]

West performed the song live with an instrumental intro at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

West first performed "Love Lockdown" live at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, with the performance closing the show.[7] The performance was noted for taking influence from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics and saw West singing a version of the song through Auto-Tune that featured a deep bassline, a simple piano riff used to emphasize his vocal melody, and a beat delivered for the chorus by a series of marching drummers.[91][92] On October 14, 2008, West performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! while wearing a Sonny Crockett outfit and sang off-key at points.[93] West started his appearance at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards with a performance of the song.[94][95] He performed it for the Late Show with David Letterman on November 24 of that year, being accompanied by drummers and lights.[96] In 2015, Complex ranked the performance as the 17th best hip hop performance on the show.[96] On December 13, 2008, West performed the song live on Saturday Night Live (SNL) but went silent for the high notes, which were delivered by a piped-in female backup singer.[97]

A rearranged version of "Love Lockdown" was performed by West for his 2010 live album VH1 Storytellers in February 2009, though the performance had not been included for broadcast and was solely made available online.[98][99] West delivered a performance of the song at the 2011 Coachella Festival, using the Alan Parsons Project's instrumental "Sirius" (1982) as an intro for it.[100] For West's two night concert of 808s in Heartbreak in full at the 2015 Hollywood Bowl, he performed the song as the set's fifth number.[101][102] This marked West's first time performing the song since October 26, 2013, and saw him wearing loose garments in white and off-white shades.[102][103] The performance started with a monolithic white background wall that went on to be turned into a two-story-high stairwell by "Broadway-like stagecraft", filled with numerous muscular African-American men who were stripped up to their waists.[101] The men wore white jeans and had chalky white makeup on; they moved from the stage to the crowd for taking strategic positions in the aisles there during the final chorus, after fireworks went off above.[101][103][104]

For episode eight of competitive dance reality TV series America's Best Dance Crew's sixth season, a dance challenge set to the music of West used "Love Lockdown", "All of the Lights" (2010), "Touch the Sky" (2006) and "Gold Digger".[105][106][107] I.aM.mE, ICONic Boyz and Phunk Phenomenon, who were the remaining three crews for the episode, performed dances to the singles for the challenge.[106] The episode first aired on May 26, 2011.[105] For the 2009 episodic expansion pack Lost and Damned of the action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), the song was one of the new tracks to be added to the fictional hip hop radio station The Beat 102.7.[108] It is the 14th track on the radio station, with the song being among the tracks presented by DJ Funkmaster Flex for his radio show.[108] The song was featured in the video game compilation Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City later in 2009, which contains The Lost and Damned alongside fellow Grand Theft Auto IV episodic expanasion pack The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009).[109] A mashup of the song with Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" (2008) was used for the soundtrack of rhythm video game DJ Hero 2 (2010), with the track listing being revealed on September 22 of that year.[110] The New York compilation album for annual promotional event the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was released in 2018, featuring "Love Lockdown".[111]

A re-imagined version of the song, titled "Warden", was shared by American rapper Tonedeff on September 29, 2008.[112] On June 24, 2015, American record producer Y2K released his remix of "Love Lockdown" through SoundCloud.[113] The remix features an edited version of West's vocals, which are in a slightly lower pitch compared to the original.[113] It is an upbeat remix, with the beat being prominent.[113]

The song was covered by English post-punk band White Lies for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge segment on January 22, 2009.[114] On April 3, 2014, psychedelic pop band Glass Animals performed a cover version of the song for Australian radio station Triple J's Like A Version series.[115] The cover maintained the same melody as the original, though featured the band's trademark sound.[115] Glass Animals later performed the cover at other live sets throughout 2014 and also recorded a studio version, which premiered via the Billboard website on July 15.[116] Explaining the cover version, the band's frontman Dave Bayley called the original "so well-written" and highlighted the "incredible" work West did for the song, though recalled that they "thought it could be cool to push it in a different direction".[116] The cover includes Bayley's throat vibrato over moans and handclap, both of which are looped, and was ultimately included on the EP for Glass Animals' single Pools (2014).[24][116] During New Zealand singer Lorde's concert in West's hometown of Chicago on March 27, 2018 for her Melodrama World Tour (2017–18), she performed an a cappella rendition of the song.[117][118] The rendition featured Lorde performing a section of the song while she moved around the stage, with the performance lasting for 90 seconds.[118][119] Lorde said to the crowd at the concert, "It must be nice to come from the same place as Kanye West."[117]

Information taken from 808s & Heartbreak liner notes.[2]

Recording

• Recorded at Glenwood Studios (Burbank, California) and Avex Recording Studio (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Personnel

• Bailey, Julius (2014). The Cultural Impact of Kanye West. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-57425-1.