Why Lupe Fiasco’s “Lasers” Does NOT Suck Pt. 2, a Track-By-Track Breakdown

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”

Track-By-Track Breakdown

"Letting Go"

This was the opening track on the album, and featured Lupe’s long time collaborator, Sarah Green. The production was nothing less than eclectically superb. (A producer I'm not exactly familiar with, named "The Future" was behind the boards on this one. Let's just say his producer name is most likely great prophecy...) It had the alternative feel that Lupe was no stranger to. Lupe mentioned that 4 to 5 of the original records he made for "Lasers" had made the final cut. Now, I don't know if this was one of them, but either way, it certainly didn't sound like a "conformist" track forced upon him by the label. What was different about it though, was that Lupe became very personal in it. In the past, Lupe has always presented quite a strong individual stance, and served to be more of an informer, teacher and intellectual. This is one of the first times I've heard him speaking on his personal demons; not hidden behind a character or concept album, but literally speaking about the man, Wasalu Jaco. He speaks about how becoming a successful rapper began to take a toll on him, because as a person, he has so many desires to help the world positively, but somewhere along the line, he began letting the shallow ambitions of awards, money, status and accolades define "success" for him. The self-identification and vulnerability is very commendable. Lupe discussed some topics I feel some of his musical peers have also faced, failed and denied in recent years. Lupe actually acknowledges and externalized his flaws, and this song is like a step towards his acceptance and shift towards continuing to try and be his true-self, and being proud of that.

"Words I Never Said"

This song has been out for a little while, and I really don't need to say much about it. It's one of the most controversial "mainstream" rap songs in a long time. I am personally a fan of Alex Da Kid and Skylar Grey (I've actually been a fan of Skylar Grey since she was Holly Brook). She's worked with Lupe in the past, on the Mike Shinoda [Fort Minor, Linkin Park)] collaboration, "Be Somebody".) I honestly believe if we didn't know anything about the politics behind this song, none of Lupe's fans would be complaining about it. This is one of Lu's best controversial songs, speaking directly against the "system". It's clearly in the same vein as "American Terrorist" from his debut album "Food & Liquor", just packaged a little differently. Some may not like the popular production and chorus style, but the funny part is; this seems like a record Lupe would have made on his own in the first place. The "Alex Da Kid/Skylar Grey" sound has recently just became popular, and beforehand, was actually considered "alternative", and this is a sound Lupe's dabbled with in the past, with records such as "The Instrumental" or "Streets On Fire", so it wasn't completely foreign for him. I think the criticism stems from this sound being a popular sound now, and people always thinking that opposing all things popular defines being a rebel. Sometimes a good sound is just a good sound. The popularity of it shouldn't discredit it's quality. Lupe has never been a stranger to the big sound and the rock-influenced vocalists. In spectrum, this is one of the best songs to come out in recent years; and I hope it does well. Who do you know makes a "hit potential" song with this much honesty, embodying the raw idea of "speaking your mind"? Forget all the other B.S behind and around it; listen to the lyrics and understand how monumental of a record this is, culturally.

"Till I Get There"

Now I heard this song in a video snippet months ago, and couldn't wait to hear the full version. What I began to admire about this album as I continued to listen to it was the irony of all the records. It's ever-so prevalent on "Till I Get There". What you get here in a very simple tune, with a nice, bouncy, friendly beat, and not really any super lyrical raps from Lupe. What you do get is Lupe speaking about his current situation; with the label and his position as an artist. The world (and more specifically, the industry) is telling him what fame is supposed to be; and he just isn't that. But the problem within him comes when he should be proud that he isn't their definition of fame, but for some reason, it's not fulfilling, because that's just the way the world presents it to him as. Overall, the record is a self-reflection of his perception of fame, and telling the ones listening with ambitions and himself simultaneously that through all of the drama and "them" telling you who you're supposed to be, always stay true to yourself. It comes off from a position where Lupe still isn't fully sure himself, but he's once again externalizing the idea, and putting the positive idea out into the atmosphere; continuing to fulfill his duty to inspire the world, while still dealing with these things personally in his life.

"I Don't Wanna Care Right Now"

Now, as I mentioned above, I'm not sure which records were original "Lasers" joints, and which ones were the label-influenced ones, but I inquire that "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now" was most likely an original Lupe record. Most of his collaborations with MDMA I believe were his own conceptions, since they've worked closely in the past (see "We On "; the collaboration with GemStones & "Hi-Definition"). I believe this was one of Lupe's attempts to simply be expansive with his sound. Why shouldn't Lupe have a song that can get people on their feet dances and bang in the club? The first thing I thought of when I heard the chorus drop was Taio Cruz. But this was not a bad thing. I'm a fan of Taio Cruz (who writes and produces all of his own music, might I chime in; a musicianship trait most people tend to overlook about certain artists, since they disregard pop music all together) The problem people have with this doesn't lie in the fact it's a bad song. It's a dope song, that's catchy, rhythmic, and doesn't compromise anything lyrically by Lupe. People have a problem with it because it may take THEM out of their comfort zone, for those who are anti-pop everything, mostly for the sake of being anti-pop everything. Once again, that sounds like a personal problem to me. One of Lupe's favorite rap artists, Blu, said it best. "Underground rappers like to chill at the club too...". Though Lupe is not an underground rapper; he's usually hailed as it's representative within the mainstream, so I believe this line applies to him too. Sometimes, you just don't wanna care. This has to be the best backdrop music for not caring that I've ever heard...

"Outta My Head (ft. Trey Songz)"

Lupe was personally biggin' this song up on his Twitter and social networks, and mentioned in an interview it was a record he tracked out and personally acquired Trey for. It's nothing less than dope. He's been no stranger to songs to appeal to females. (See "Sunshine", "Paris, Tokyo" & "Go Baby"), except this time around, he took a more straightforward approach, rather than a figurative, interpretive one like he has in the past. Metaphorical female songs are all good, and welcome all the time; but sometimes it's okay just to say "Lady, you're wonderful, and I want to let you know you're wonderful." I can never shun anything showing positive admiration for the female species. As for the song itself, the production blended smooth synths with hard hitting percussion and an highly addictive chorus by Trey Songz; who's at the top of his game right now. You can't deny a hit record. This is certainly one. I really do hope it's selected as a single. I can see this definitely becoming big. Hip-Hop songs for females aren't unheard of people. It's really that simple. True lyricists still are allowed to like women, love and admire a lady who has caught their eye. There's something strangely unsettling about anyone hating on a concept like that; especially all the so called "heterosexual" males I've been seeing disliking it. Let me just hand you a remote, so you can pause yourself in advance.

"The Show Goes On"

This honestly will still be one of my favorite records on the project. The tune once against perpetuates the irony of the whole album. This was a forced single that Lupe had to do. He took the song, and talked directly about his situation with Atlantic Records. "Have you ever had the feeling that you was being had? Don't that sh-t just make you mad? They treat you like a slave; put whips all on your soul and put chains up on your back, they be lying through they teeth, hope you slip up off yo' path. I don't switch up, I just laugh; throw my kicks up on they desk; unaffected by they threats, then get busy (a double meaning by the way, as in literally getting to work, and getting "DJ BUSY", Lupe's Atlantic cohort, on the case) on they a**...". The song has done decent on the charts (just about cracking Top 40), was featured prominently during this year's Superbowl, and once again is a great example of Lupe taking a negative thing, and turning it into a positive thing. The song was one of the truest joints on the LP, that reaffirmed Lu's concern for individualism, and also the young generation following their dreams. The production shines here, no doubt, but even if that's not your cup of tea; just listen to the lyrics then. Something's gotta give...

"Beautiful Lasers"

This was easily my favorite record on the entire album. I had the honor of hearing this live in Minnesota here, at the show Lupe did at Gustavus College last April, and took some footage of it. In the same vein of "Letting Go", except a bit more deeper, Lupe faces his demons head on and talks about his mental state, battling depression and suicide in this tune. This was one of his original LASERS records. Easily the most personal song Lupe has ever done. You have to commend this brother for letting us look into his soul and hearing these things, and well as continuing to access the current situation he's directly engulfed in, as well as just discussing the reality of the system vs. the people. "Sometimes living in the world like this, it's pretty hard not to go insane; not pretty if you don't comply, pretty easy if you don't complain..." Real fans and supporters of his music should be uplifting this type of honesty, yet all I keep seeing is complaints about some autotune on the hook? Um...what? So you missed all of the part of the song that was one of the most candid Lu joints of all and just heard that? I personally was initially annoyed by the autotune as well, because I remember the live version sounded so raw and clean; but there's still no arguments here. You weigh the pros vs. the cons, and the pros definitely win here.

"Coming Up"

I must say from the get-go, I was loving the summer-esque, 90s feel good jam production that this joint had. This is once again a collaboration with MDMA, so I'm thinking this is a Lupe original. The first verse was to his sisters, continuing to uplift them and their ambitions as young women, as well as coping with the passing of their father. You don't hear many rap artists trying to uplift the younger generation of females anymore. The song was just an overall, feel-good joint that people should definitely be able to ride out to this summer, with undeniable realism from Lupe, that further exhibited his reasons for rapping. "In my day, I did a lil' somethin' somethin'; they like "How come you don't rap that? 'Cuz that's a backtrack, & I ain't trying to back-back...". Lines like that stuck out for me; and should clear up some things for listeners who don't know that Lupe is from one of the worst parts of Chicago, and came into the rap game as a "gangsta" rapper, promoting violence, drug-dealing, and all of the cliché topics so many modern rappers have made music about. They should come to respect more of what he's doing after understanding that. It establishes that he can fully understand and relate to all of that "detrimental" music, but he's just choosing to do something different, and approach it more positively.

"State Run Radio"

There wasn't a record more ironic on this album than "State Run Radio". The entire song was about how the radio just doesn't play real music anymore. I'm in a Mass Communication course at school right now, and I was just reading about this. We studied the history of radio, and how it shifted from the times of DJs breaking revolutionary records, to things being taken over by corporations when deregulation of station ownership occurred around 1996. All while Lupe spoke about the ills of the nature of the industry, the production and hook on this joint was highly addictive, and "radio-ready" if you will. Alanis Morisette would be proud..

"Break The Chain"

This record wasn't a favorite of mine on the album, but still served to be a highly addictive listen. It was almost unneeded, but a quality song nevertheless, just continuing to promote the message Lupe has been pushing for the entire album. I dug the production by Ishi, and Matt Mahaffey did his best Mr. Hudson impression on this one. It's a song I really like, but still can't get past the fact the album could have done without it. Sway's verse was nice; but there was nothing that really stood out. The trance-like production and the haunting chorus is what stole the show here. You can literally get lost in the song sonically, and sort of drift off into a daydream state with it. To me, all the records prior to this were needed. This record COULD be defined as filler. But if you're going to have anything be filler, I'll take this record. I'm sure this will do well overseas, which I believe was the intention of it. Don't sleep on the production of this joint. If you're a fan of quality European production, you'll like this.

"All Black Everything"

This is the record Lupe called one of his favorites, if not the most favorite period. Lupe's been the one to conceptualize in the past plenty of times, with joints such as "The Cool" from "Food & Liquor" and many other songs that landed on the extended concept album "The Cool", based on the original song. This time around, Lupe talks about if slavery never occurred and a history devoid of racism, and how that world could have been. The concept was really something cool to think about, and I can't recall any hip-hop artist in recent years doing something like that and touching on this topic. The dreamy production by The Buchanans was equally as good as the content Lupe placed over top of the song. This song was certainly closer to "classic Lupe" than anything else on the album; a concept-based, socially-conscious story, with the ultimately goal to promote a more positive society and view upon the world.

"Never Forget You"

Lupe closed out the album (aside from the already leaked bonus tracks "I'm Beaming" & "Shining Down") with the John Legend assisted cut, "Never Forget You". Now, Lupe acknowledged this was also a label-forced song; but he had worked with John Legend in the past. Regardless of how it came about, the song was very soulful, and John Legend's vocals were very powerful as usual, as Lupe used the canvas to elaborate more on his upbringing, in Chicago, and touch on the negative influences around him that he was able to overcome through the teaching and guidance of his late, great father, who he cites for being a very big inspiration for him coming up as a boy. The song is similar to "Fighters" on Lupe's previous effort; and is presented as sort of a memorial to his father. Overall, it reflected quite a refreshing way of therapy for Lupe to cope with the passing of his father, by remembering the positive influence he had on the world and on him as a person.

Conclusion

So after this 4000-word overview and breakdown of this most anticipated album, what's my point? What am I trying to say? It's this; Lasers is certainly different from Lupe's first two efforts; both content and sound-wise, for the most part. We know this is directly because of the label's influence. But even through all of that, Lupe was able to put together a very cohesive and good album; that still never compromised his beliefs in the content, and his initial desire of have it push positivity. Plus, all while doing that, he continued to be a rebel within his own circumstances, and never really backed down in his original goal and fight against the label. This album was equivalent to a somewhat conquered soldier at war, being a prisoner, and still talking big about the mission of their country all while they're in captivity. All things considered, the oppression upon the release of this album may have made this the most positive album that Lupe has actually put out, because the topic had to be overly promoted, due to the circumstances. The entire situation is almost unheard of in modern music. Lupe had to fight to put out this body of work, and the people, his actual fans, had to protest. This was a victory, that was the first of its kind in the rap industry, and probably even the music industry completely. Lupe faced the system, and came out with a few scratches, in the form of a couple comprises of the SOUND of his album. Like I mentioned previously, to me, that is a WIN. Every rapper will always have their classic albums, and usually, in the mind of a fan, it's difficult to necessarily to live up to the standard your own music has set.

You've seen people criticize artists in the past for lack luster albums, in comparison to their previous efforts (such as Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come", or Nas' "I Am") But looking at the body of work by itself, without comparing it to other Lupe albums, it's nothing less than incredible; and still what is expected of an artist with so much concern to make progressive hip-hop music within the mainstream music industry. For anybody to say it SUCKS, to me, is a fully sensational critique of it; based on your inability to listen to it and not try and battle Lupe against himself and previous works; your lack of expansion outside the box for your listening tastes, or the fact that you're not really a Lupe fan in the first place. Anyone who calls themselves a "fan" and who viewed this entire process, understood what the man went through to put the album out, and listens to the masterpiece he still put together through all that, literally being a prisoner within his own album, and still getting the point across of his rebellion to the system and being a progressive influence on the genre and culture, and turns around and complete disregards this album and decides not to support, was never a fan in the first place.

With that being said, I say THANK YOU Lupe Fiasco, for being the rebel that you are in this mainstream music industry and triumphing over these many trials you had to go through to simply present the truth through your music to the world. Trust me, this is a true example of VICTORY. Now that you're finished reading this, go ahead, refer to this effort as me "riding" Lupe Fiasco, being a Stan or whatever other euphemism you want to come up with. I could care less. As I fan and a true supporter of anyone doing something from the heart, and battling with the powers that be to put something out for US; the people, I will go to bat for them. At the end of the day, justice to me is when all things are considered before making a snap decision on a project that took so much anguish and difficultly to complete, and I certainly wasn't going to sit around and let the modern attitudes of the fickle generation of music listeners, who still don't clearly know where they stand as far as what they really think is REAL in modern music, and let them pan this album off to the left. All of the real and reasonable people who support this man's efforts, and understand how vast of an accomplishment this was, for hip-hop, for music, and for the freedom of speech and thinking in America.

"Lasers" will be in the stores and online March 8. To pre-order "Lasers", click here.

For "Part 1", an overview of "Lasers", click here.

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