Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the controversial rapper got some camera guys together to shoot a lengthy apology video several weeks ago -- and we're told it ended up running about 40 minutes ... with Ye talking straight to the camera.

We're told in no uncertain terms, Ye was "rambling" and at times it was impossible to decode what he was saying.

One more thing about this apology ... our sources say whatever was shot is supposed to be released sometime ahead of his new album, "Vultures," which is scheduled to drop Feb. 9 -- this after several delays dating back to late last year.

A couple interesting things about this ... for one, Ye already issued an apology over all his antisemitic language -- dropping a statement that was written in Hebrew right after Xmas.

You'll recall, it was a very generic mea culpa, which read in part, "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused."

The problem ... many felt it wasn't sincere, and more importantly a lot of people thought it might've actually been generated by AI. In fact, we did some digging and that may well be the case. Bigger picture ... most just weren't buying what he was selling.

Now, we have word about this ... and it sounds like if he proceeds, we'll be hearing/seeing this new apology in due time. However, based on what we're hearing about it so far -- it seems like this one might've been a little clunky as well.

The other mystery here is how exactly the album is going to come out. As far as we know, he doesn't have any major distribution deal in place ... so who's gonna listen to this???