Yesterday Lupe Fiasco’s long anticipated and final album was finally released. For fans, this was supposed to be the last gift of song bestowed upon by someone who has always been a true icon in the hip-hop world. For Lupe, this album was supposed to be a compilation of any last words and messages he wanted to leave behind. In the public eye all was going according to plan. So upon the release of this album, no one was expecting to hear exactly what they did.
When I say I expected something different I meant I thought I was going to hear an entire album of life changing songs. True my hopes may have been a little high but it’s Lupe Fiasco, one of hip-hops most educated lyricists. This album does have a different over all sound to it, not different for 94.9 however, but different for Lupe. I would say the album has a mainly mainstream sound to it; a sound I would put in the same category as Nicki Minaj’s- Pink Friday album. Some songs such as Words I Never Said and All Black Everything are good examples of Fiasco’s mental abilities; a majority of the remainder of his songs represent a radio like sound to it being forced on to his album by his own record label. Yes I am sad that this album did not meet my expectations, but I give Lupe the benefit of the doubt when he says that there was a lot of trouble behind the scenes that led to an album even he was not completely pleased with.
According to Lupe “One thing I try to stress about this project is, I love and hate this album. I listen to it and I’ll like some of the songs. But when I think about what it took to actually get the record together and everything that I went through on this record — which is something I can’t separate — I hate this album. A lot of the songs that are on the album, I’m kinda neutral to. Not that I don’t like them, or that I hate them, it’s just I know the process that went behind it. I know the sneaky business deal that went down behind this song, or the artist or singer or songwriter who wrote this hook and didn’t want to give me this song in the first place. So when I have that kind of knowledge behind it, I’m just kind of neutral to it like, ‘Another day, another dollar.’ As opposed something like The Cool, which is more of my own blood, sweat, and tears, and my own control. With this record, I’m little bit more neutral as to the love for the record.I don’t like the process behind Lasers. The music is dope but I just don’t like the process. We were literally at the point where all this music was done except for a couple songs that we did after the protest. So the bulk of the album was done. And we were talking about shelving the album and going to another label, that’s where we were like, ‘If you put the record out, put it out. Either move on to another album or can it and we’ll do other records at another label.’ The business of it got solved. I’m happy for the fans, this is their album. This is the album that they fought for and that’s what made me do songs like ‘Words I Never Said’ and ‘All Black Everything.’
I will filter out what I believe you wanted me to hear off this album and ignore the rest. You definitely put out enough hits to keep me satisfied for life and I will always consider you one of my top 5 artists. So if you haven’t already gotten the chance, I recommend picking up a copy of this album and listening between the lines, you will guaranteed hear something even you like.
