Jenny Lewis Helps Kanye with New Single

So even if you didn’t catch the VMAs earlier this month (we forgive you, by the way), you probably heard about Kanye—which, of course, is precisely the way Kanye likes it. The majority of the post-show coverage focused on the premier performance of Mr. West’s new tune “Love Lockdown,” an R&B ballad from his forthcoming album 808’s & Heartbreak (due out December 16th). Never one to stay far from the spotlight for long, Kanye posted a studio version of the track to his blog just three days later. Not a bad song, we thought. Still, all those auto-tuned vocals were a little much. (Though the cover art for the single is pitch perfect.) Then, two days ago, Kanye posted another, remixed version for our listening pleasure. “Your prayers have been answered!! There's a new version of Love Lockdown coming,” Kanye exclaimed the day before. “We used new taiko drums and I re-sung it... it's being Mastered now...." Kanye had just turned his blog into a songwriter’s clinic, albeit one in which he was the only student.

And now, proving that Kanye’s hubris is trumped only by his bank account, we learn that the dude’s been traipsing around airports, iPod in hand, to get feedback from complete strangers on his new material—as if the entire nation has time to spare for Mr. West and his muse. It seems, though, that Kanye hasn’t just been talking to Joe Six-Packs. According to a report from EW.com (via Stereogum), Kanye bumped into Jenny Lewis at an airport while the singer was en route to perform at the Democratic Convention last month. The flight was delayed and while Lewis was waiting in the lounge, the two made contact. "I noticed Kanye West was waiting for the same flight," Lewis told EW.com. "He looked over and said, 'Excuse me, would you mind listening to my new track?'" Yet, Kanye just thought he was talking to a cute redhead. "He had no idea who I was," said Lewis. "I guess he was doing research." We’re just glad Ms. Rilo Kiley didn’t whip out a camera and try to take a few pictures of her presumptive suitor. We know what Kanye does to those folks…