I read an interesting piece over on Vibe that claims Love Lockdown is one of his most important songs in recent memory. After spending years trying to outdo himself on each successive single, Kanye has released a song that is heartfelt and spontaneous:

"Love Lockdown" is a gut move, a personal record that, with this sudden and almost unhyped release, seems like something Kanye West needs to get off his chest. The verdict: We feel your pain.

The fact that Kanye is singing on this track is the cause of most of my surprise. The low-key instrumentation and subdued performance – note there’s no Kanye-standard bombast, bragging or generally hyping himself up – are disorientating for a West record.

The use of Auto-tune on the vocals gives the song a very stylised feel, but West’s delivery of the lyrics is startlingly heartfelt. If he keeps this kind of thing up, he may very well find himself transcending genres or other innovative stuff like that. One thing’s for sure, it’s getting harder to pigeon-hole him in the hip-hop category.

Love Lockdown is available as a digital download.