Kanye West Pushes Date Up On New LP Release

Kanye West announced today on his blog that he's pushing up the date for his next release, 808's & Heartbreak.

"I changed my album to November something, 'cause I finished the album and I felt like it," he wrote. I want y'all to hear it as soon as possible."

The album's first single, "Love Lockdown," currently sits atop the iTunes Top Songs list.

West first premiered the song earlier this month at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The rapper closed the production with a version of the song that later appeared online. 'Ye then later leaked two versions himself, a rough version and a mastered version of the track.

The song has been downloaded over 215,000 times as of its official release.

West penned the only weeks before he first premiered it and announced he would be releasing a new album by the end of 2008.

Initially retailers such as Amazon.com and Target had the date for West's album slated for a December 16 release.

Currently West is working on a clip for "Lock Lockdown" and finishing off his LP. The producer is also working on tracks for Jay-Z's next album, The Blueprint 3. As of press time, Def Jam has not confirmed an official release date for either album.---Anthony Thomas