Dear Lupe Fiasco,
First off, I want to say thank you for your contributions to hip-hop. You truly are the ‘coolest’ hip-hop artist to me, right now.
I say right now because at any moment, Nas could drop a mix tape or album, and well, you know how that goes. Of course you do, as your favorite album is Nas’ second LP titled “It Was Written.” I’m not saying your music is whack, far from it. Honestly, it a compliment to your musical style. You stand alone as an artist and that undeniably shows in your new album “Lasers,” however on this album I have a certain gripe that doesn’t vibe well with me.
Lupe, your album “Lasers,” a backronym for Love Always Shines Every time, Remember 2 Smile, is a lot different from your first two albums. “Food And Liquor” was positive, informative and fun. “The Cool” was gritty, still informative and still fun. “Lasers,” like its name, beams but, like a sun behind dark clouds, only certain tracks gives your fans what they have been waiting for and what they petitioned for.
You didn’t fail us with your finished product, it just seemed a bit lackluster and a couple tracks, and I hope you don’t get salty for this, I almost asked myself if you sold out.
The album starts off strong with “Letting go,” which rewards your listeners that your signature poetic style has not crumbled or faltered and then you bless us with “Words I Never Said,” a politically charged single that pulls no punches.
Verses like “Your child’s future was the first to go with budget cuts. If you think that hurts, then wait, here comes the uppercut. The school was garbage in the first place that’s on the up and up,” is only a taste to what comes further along in the song.
But later in the album you hit us with your first club track, “I Don’t Really Care Right Now.” Lupe, what does this song talk about? Wait, I know, just like the title of the song, you don’t really care what you’re saying as long as it sounds good. That’s not classic Lupe, that’s just a fiasco of words.
That was strike one, here come comes strike two.
In your first album, you wrote a song called “Sunshine.” Many might have thought that you were talking about your first date with a girl. They’d be wrong as you personified your first gig as a first date. Classic. But on “Lasers” you have a song titled “Out Of My Head,” which features the oversexed artist Trey Songs. Clearly, this song talks about a girl, and that’s it.
While “Lasers” has a few holes, it’s packaged well because close to the end of the album, you hit us with “All Back Everything,” which is one of the most imaginative tracks I’ve heard since Nas’ song “Rewind,” when he told a story backward. And like your song, “The Shows Goes On,” you say L-U-P the man, cause a brand that the fans trust, so even if they ban us they’ll never slow my plans up!”
We trust you Lupe, just don’t let us down.
Your fan,
Matthew L. Richardson