"Love Lockdown" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). The song was produced by West, while co-produced by Jeff Bhasker. The producers co-wrote it with Esthero, Malik Yusef, and Starshell. West initially shared the song via his blog on September 10, 2008, before re-recording it after negative reactions. The song was later released for digital download on September 18, 2008 by Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam as the lead single from the album. An electropop song, its instrumentation relies on piano and Roland TR-808 drumbeats.
West sings through Auto-Tune on the song, with the lyrics looking at a failed relationship's after effects. "Love Lockdown" received widely positive reviews from music critics, many of whom complimented the production. Some directed praise towards the drums in the production, while numerous critics highlighted West's vocal performance on the song. It was named to year-end lists for 2008 by multiple publications, including Pitchfork and Blender. The song won the award of Best Rap/Hip Hop Dance Track at the 2009 International Dance Music Awards. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it became West's highest debut by entering at number three on the chart. The song also reached the top 10 in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
"Love Lockdown" has been certified quadruple platinum and platinum in the United States and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively. An accompanying music video premiered on October 7, 2008. The video replicates the role of Christian Bale in the American film American Psycho (2000), with West making his appearance in his own apartment while all colour has been removed from the rooms. In 2008, Time listed the visual as their Video of the Year.
West first performed the song live at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, taking influence from the 2008 Summer Olympics' opening ceremony for the performance. He later performed it on multiple occasions, including at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Hollywood Bowl in 2011 and 2015, respectively. The song was used for Grand Theft Autos standalone video game compilation, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (2009). Cover versions of it were performed by Glass Animals and Lorde in 2014 and 2018, respectively. A remix 12" vinyl was released in November 2008 for "Love Lockdown", which included remixes done by Chew Fu and Jake Trothn, among others.
Background and recording
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". He contributed writing to multiple songs on 808s & Heartbreak, including "Love Lockdown", which was co-written by West, Esthero, Malik Yusef, and Starshell. 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. 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.'" West produced the song, while co-production was handled by Bhasker. 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."
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. 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. "Love Lockdown" was premiered live by West at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards on September 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. 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. On September 10, 2008, West shared the song through his blog. The shared version was met with generally negative responses from fans of West, including an Underwriter blog critic that heavily appreciated his previous works. 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." 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. The cover art for the single features PostScript's Type 4 font, which West described as "perfected" to please all the "design snobs, lol". 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. The stems included an a cappella, distorted vocals, the piano, and the outro synth-beat. West went on to name "Love Lockdown" as an example of him creating a track "that people never heard before".
Composition and lyrics
Musically, "Love Lockdown" is an electropop song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song is set in the time signature of common time. "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 G2 to a high of G4. 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.Bailey, 2014. p. 40 The song commences with a heartbeat-like low tone bass, which was described as "melodic". Prior to the drums of the song, a synth pulse is featured. 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. The chorus also contains hand claps and heavy percussion, the latter of which was contributed by Gibi Zé Bruno, Lula Almeida, and Rodney Dassis. Military drums are included in the song, accompanied by a house piano riff. West does not rap at all on the song, with him singing for the entirety of it. Auto-Tune is used on West's voice throughout, being accompanied by somber keys for much of the song.Bailey, 2014. p. 106 West sings through a voice synthesizer, while strangled squeals are also included in the song.
The song contains introspective lyrics, in which West discusses the after effects of a failed romantic relationship. Before the chorus of the song, West demonstrates trying to make the decision between staying and going. 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. 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".
Release 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. The song was serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations on September 30, 2008. West blogged that he considered the song making it to radio to be a triumph. On October 18, 2008, a CD single was released for the song in various countries.
A 12" vinyl was later released for the song across Europe on November 11, 2008. 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. An Essential 5 EP for the song was released for digital download in Germany on November 18, 2008. Six days later, West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak was released, including "Love Lockdown" as the fifth track on the album.
Critical reception
"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". 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. 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". 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". 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".