Let me start this off by saying this. I love Lupe Fiasco.
As a girl that is hardly a fan of most hip hop or rap, I find Fiasco to be a breath of fresh air, rapping about issues that actually matter rather than superficial things like money and hot girls. So of course when it was revealed that his long-awaited new album “Lasers” would be hitting stores on March 8th, 2011, I was beyond excited and even pre-ordered it. The day came and went and my copy arrived at my house the day after it debuted and I eagerly put the new music on my iPod and hit play.
This new CD is quite a departure from Fiasco’s previous albums “Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor” and “Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool”. In many ways, this album is the weaker of the lot. There’s a lesser focus on the style that made Fiasco the icon he is in exchange for more radio-friendly music. Now, I truly wasn’t expecting a dark, depressing CD especially with the Laser campaign Fiasco had been championing with L.A.S.E.R.S. standing for “Love Always Shines Everytime, Remember 2 Smile” even going as far as to release “The L.A.S.E.R.S Manifesto” which can be found here: http://www.wearenotlosers.com/. But even with that, the album has a much more commercial feel to it in comparison to his previous works. One of the tracks “I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now” sounds like any run of the mill club song until the verse starts and you realize it’s a Lupe song. “Out of My Head” features popular singer Trey Songz and its intended audience is fairly obvious.
Overall, the album’s not terrible. I’ve listened to it all the way through a couple times. But those looking for the sound Lupe’s known for will probably be a little disappointed. While “Lasers” was still in production, two singles from the album, “Shining Down” and “I’m Beamin'” were released onto the internet, the former of these illegally. Both songs were great and only increased the hype surrounding the new album. However, when the track list for “Lasers” was released, both songs were missing, available only on deluxe editions. Instead, two real singles were released called “The Show Goes On” and “Words I Never Said”. These songs were also good, but don’t replace the original two in any way.
Many believe the various changes to “Lasers” from production to release are a result of a dispute between Fiasco and his record label Atlantic Records. Lupe’s original plan was to release a three disc album entitled “LupE.N.D” which would be his final, but his contract with Atlantic prevented this. So the album went through many transformations with its content and titles until “Lasers” was announced. One day Fiasco said on his Twitter that the album was ready and that it was up to Atlantic to release it. The CD, however, had no official release date though it was supposed to be out in 2010. This was the start of many fan-made petitions calling for the album’s release. After a lot of time and media coverage, Atlantic announced the day of the album’s debut. There are some who believe that the final product of “Lasers” was a type of settlement between the label and Fiasco with the content being changed to suit the label’s demands in exchange for its release. Though at times, I lean towards this line of thinking, we obviously can’t forget that this music wouldn’t have gone out if Fiasco hadn’t wanted it.
So even though it differs from the style I’m used to from Lupe, I can appreciate it as something he created. It’s not my particular favorite and probably won’t be replayed nearly as often as his previous stuff, but it’ll give me music to listen to as I await whatever else he has in store.
2 and 1/2 stars out of four.
~Nia!
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