Why Lupe Fiasco’s “Lasers” Does NOT Suck Pt. 1, an Overview

An extended overview & review of Lupe Fiasco's long-awaited third album, "LASERS"

Hello world. So, I haven’t positioned myself in the journalist chair for a while. I guess life occurred, as well as continuing my plight for follow my musical ambitions and dreams. I have some great things underway for 2011, but as always, I’m also a connoisseur of music and try and stay up on what’s going on in the scope of the music industry, especially with my favorite artists. As most know, Lupe Fiasco is just about my favorite rap artist, period, coming in with close competition such as Eminem and Kanye West. I am a writer, but most of the times, I don’t abide by the rules of unbiased journalism. If I have an opinion, and a general admiration for an artist, that’s definitely going to be reflected; though those who trust my opinion, will know it’s not just blinded by those facts. I still try and look at everything for what it’s worth and critique from that standpoint. I guess that was simply my disclaimer. Now, let’s begin to talk about one of the most anticipated hip-hop/rap albums in recent years, “Lasers”

Overview

Cutting to the chase, before I even begin breaking down each song, let me just say my opinion overall on the album. I consider this album to be a triumph and a win for Mr. Wasalu Jaco. It was a bittersweet win, and a gruesome journey, but a win nevertheless. If you’re a true supporter of him as an artist and a person, it should be a win for you as well. I also cannot respect you if you call yourself a true fan, but you say this album SUCKS. SUCKS is a very strong word, and I'm quite sure your sentiments are misguided in your critique. I'll elaborate on that later. What are the main oppositions I’ve been hearing about the album from people who have heard it? Of course, it’s the expected “this is not our classic Lupe”, and “the beats are too pop” and even the highly ludicrous “he sold out” comments. It pains me to read this, because overall, the album is not bad at all. It's NOT "Food & Liquor" or "The Cool" by any means, but it's a Lupe album. What does that mean? That means it's still going to be a pretty incredible piece of listening material, contrary to everything else.

Now, watching the interview by Lupe about the process of this album is what’s going to put things into perspective for you. He said a lot of things were a compromise between him and Atlantic to finally put out his 3rd studio album. Overall, he “loves” the album, but hated the process. Remember, if he completely was opposed to this album, he would have disowned it completely. Even within all the politics and the idea of Lupe making "popular" sounding music, I remember in a piece of writing that I hail as one of my favorites, Lupe has been the most recent example of being a vanguard of infiltrating a mainstream music industry while simultaneously staying true to him. To even try and fathom how he survived in such a vicious and shady industry this long is really difficult. He has been the true definition of a rebel, and been a great inspiration to those who want to fight the system to change it; not just fold hands to a niche market or take the easy way out by saying “This industry is evil, and that’s why I choose to stay underground”. He defied these odds in 2007 with “Superstar” and “The Cool”, hitting Top Ten Charts, and even having his album be #1 on the Billboard Rap Charts for 9 weeks straight. Could it be that Lupe had figured out a way around the system? In many ways, he did; but I should have known it was too good to be true.

In the initial interviews I saw regarding "Lasers", Lupe mentioned that the album would have a popular, expansive sound, while still being very positive and uplifting; a term I dub as “content progression”. What I’ve liked most about Lupe from jump street is that he’s not “in the box”. I’ve spoke on “hip-hop purism” in the past, and how I basically despise it, because it’s generally promotes a movement of people who look down upon advancement and progression within the genre. Some of their opposition is rightly justified, due to the amount of crap put out, but at other times, they’re simply throwing the baby out with the bathwater. People tend to identify the “underground” with “staying true” and the “mainstream” with phoniness. The thing about Lupe is that he always resided cleverly between the two. He didn’t settle for textbook, boring mixtape beats; he traded those for a diverse set of productions, cross-genre ambitions and wasn’t afraid of large choruses, that complimented his content well. When “Shining Down” dropped, you can see that he didn’t waiver from this plan. The intent of "Lasers" was going to be big-sounding records, with classic Lupe content. Why? Because Lupe was well aware of what it was going to take to have longevity in this mainstream industry, and had found a middle ground; not to mention the fact his taste was very diverse in the first place. “Shining Down” was a record I felt could have done fairly well on radio and the charts. Lupe had secured a loyal fan base already, and the song still had mainstream appeal. The problem was the label, being overly afraid and so driven by making sure they had music that followed a specific formula and was guaranteed to make money, not even paying attention to the shift in the sentiments of music fans, who desired more real content. There was a market for that. There was now a lane. I’ve never been a part of the industry at all, but I could tell you that.

So after all of that; what do we have? We finally get "Lasers", the long-awaited album. Knowing about all the politics and everything, let’s simply just speak about the music and talk about why I believe the album was still incredible. Considering everything that he went through to put this album out, the actual music isn't nothing less than remarkable. This was the epitome of flipping a bad to good. This time, it was less about Lupe showing how he's one of the best lyricists to ever touch a microphone, with highly complex stanzas and rhyme schemes. But he's already proved that to us anyways. This album was personal, and was more about Lupe sharing the stories of his struggles to be the kind of artist he is, his battle with music industry politics, society and his own self. It was a very personal record, in the same vein of Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Drake's latest projects; a subject matter that has actually become much more popular as of late. So why wouldn't you want to allow Lupe a chance to let you see into his soul; all his faults and his ambitions to overcome them?

This is about the human being, Wasalu Jaco. It's not necessarily a body of work to show how dope this artist is (but it does that anyways). It's about showing who this man is as a human being. But here's the thing: If you're a hip-hop purist (meaning you don't really like progression in the original sound of hip-hop), you won't like this album. If you're not a fan of music (that includes pop music as well), you won't like this album. If you can't seem to commend an album for stellar, sincere content because it just might also simultaneously have a generally "current" sound, with danceable, likable tunes that have the potential to actually have mass appeal, you won't like this album.

At the end of the day, I can just about guarantee that the only way you can justify saying that album wasn't great is if you came into the whole process hoping to hear "Food & Liquor" or "The Cool". It isn't those albums, but it's better (and will be better) than most likely all of the "rap" albums that come out in 2011. If the only current competition with Lupe for this record is OLD Lupe, I think that says a lot. You can dislike the album and say it's not the Lupe you may have been expecting, but it's far from the "suck" category by any means. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, it's not even in the ballpark of bad; and is one of the best hip-hop albums to come out in recent years, in its own right, in spite of all things considered. I'm willing for defend these claims.

For "Part 2", a track-by-track breakdown of "Lasers", click here.

For a counterpoint article, "Lupe Failed Us All", click here.