Tale of How You Lost Me: Lupe Fiasco

Seeing “American Terrorist III” on all the music sites inspired me to write this.  I was originally going to call this article “Lupe Fiasco: Why I Dig Him” – but then I thought about my relationship with his music as of late, and opted for the title you see above (I’ll explain as I go).  There may be one of these for Linkin Park one day depending on how their next album sounds…

I wasn’t always as into Music as I am now — heck even now I’m admittedly more of a secondary source when it comes to things considered newsworthy.  But I’m ok with that.

This talented young man is Lupe Fiasco...

I mentioned that just so that you could understand that the first time I remember hearing Lupe Fiasco was on a Kanye West song called “Touch the Sky”.



Even then I wasn’t sure if I dug his style that much.  It was cool – but the flow wasn’t anything that would’ve blown me away back then really (even now).  But I kept my ears to the speakers and eyes towards the Hiphop sites, and kept hearing people talk about him.  It’s like Lupe Fiasco was designated “the new Truth” or something overnight.  Not because of the verse with Mr. West, but because people had gotten hold of his album early byway of bootlegging (a plague on the music industry).

Did I get a copy of the bootleg?  No.  But did I hear it?  Without releasing any names, or incriminating anyone – I most definitely did.  I mean how could I not have heard the album?  Almost everyone I knew at the time had it.  The only reason I didn’t was because my stint in music made me a bit more understanding of the Musician’s plight with bootleggers… but I digress.  Point is, even the most upstanding of citizens had ripped-off this CD because it was just THAT good at the time (and sort of still is to me).

I can remember the first time I heard “Kick Push”.  An urban love song that although speaking in skateboarder lingo – could’ve easily been deciphered into drug dealing terminology.

I didn’t recognize any of the other songs by name (“Kick Push” was the lead single of the time getting rotation on radio stations and music video programs), but all of that would change once I actually got my hands on a store-released copy of the album.  This was all thanks to an internship I had lined up at the time, I wasn’t hurting for any money – so why be a crook, when I could be a Gentleman and support an artist I enjoyed?  I digress again…

Point is, the bootlegging continued – but he still sold like crazy.  He didn’t go Platinum in a week or anything (an artist has to sell 1 Million units of their album to get that status), but he did make a nice enough splash for a new guy who had knowingly been bootlegged to high-heaven.

The amazing “Daydreamin’” featuring Neo-Soul Songstress Jill Scott stayed true to its name in terms of melodic pleasure…

The song was abstract, as was a lot of the album… something that a lot of artists at the time just didn’t play with.  On top of that you took Lupe’s Chi-town flavor with his ability to lace couplets and metaphors together into verses made of solidly built bars… *slowing down* It was Ethereal Rap for lack of a better term.  Something no one else was doing at the time – and if they tried, they weren’t doing it as noticeably well.

Then came “I Gotcha’” off of the same album.

The Neptunes assisted track quickly became one of my favorites with its bouncy beats.  You could just literally sit and vibe out to it on any given day – this fact was especially welcomed by me because I was a young college-going Hiphop-head with a Black Honda on Chrome-lipped Aluminum Wheels during the Summer.  Life was good.  Simple even.  Especially when listening to music like that.

“Real”…  “The Instrumental”…  “He Say, She Say”…  “Sunshine”…  “Hurt Me Soul”…

These songs weren’t soul-tearing deep, but they had substance while maintaining their entertainment factor.  I felt informed when I listened to his music.  But I also enjoyed what I heard.  There was no salt or bite to the lyrics, just a man who had lived and was sharing his perspective the best way he knew how.

Crap, even the more “make you think” vibe of “American Terrorist” sat well with me.

However, in the world of Literature, that song would come to be the foreshadowing vibe of his career.

Lupe was no one’s dummy, anyone who listened to the man speak knew that almost immediately.  He wasn’t ultra delicate, he wasn’t always politically correct — he just spoke his truth through his art form, and he did it well.  That’s what made it so much fun!

Well eventually he got around to explaining that he was only planning to release 3 albums in his career because the music industry didn’t sit well with him and his personal values…  Couldn’t knock the guy for it – the action came off to me as noble more than anything really.  I was honestly expecting for him to release more stuff like I’d never heard before to follow-up Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor (which I’m listening to right now as I write this post), but then I got Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool (The Cool)… which was just that… “cool” *Kanye-shrug*

In case you hadn’t guessed it yet, The Cool didn’t blow me away like Lupe’s first masterpiece (yes – MASTERPIECE) did.

Not to say that it didn’t seem like he’d put as much love and passion into it – it’s just that it started to sound, well… fabricated.  I don’t know how else to put it.  My first listen to the album was “Superstar”.

The song was good, a welcoming return for the hero of this story so to speak – but it wasn’t a classic like his entire last album was.  If sounded like it was made for the radio, and not so much from Lupe like his past work.  Figuring I was taking it too deeply, I bought the album anyway.  I found a few gems on it, but I’d have the best memories with a song called “Paris, Tokyo”



The affinity for the song had everything nothing to do with a girl I liked at the time (whose name I won’t say because, well… I don’t know if that’s kosher to just drop names like that on the internet – nor if she’d want to be mentioned at this point <we fell out… ok… I did>).  But out of my feelings!  I’ll just say that a perfect memory (and I mean it in every definition of the term) was finally going to a Lupe Fiasco Concert in another state.  She and I, along with some friends, drove all the way to Colorado to see and support Lupe as he jammed with The (Legendary) ROOTS (Crew) to a packed arena.  We sang every single word of that song together

That’s what Lupe’s music was to me.  Sort of a “Soundtrack to my Life” for that moment in time.

Then… this happened.

I’m not trying to make the man dumb his music down.  To me it was never really the lightest thing out there when it came to “education-level required to appreciate” – but this was different.  This was the beginning of an upset Lupe who was just beginning to vent his dissatisfaction with his record label and how they managed him and his art.

After “Dumb it Down,” there came a slew of articles in which Lupe was very vocal about his unhappiness with his label.  His new work was constantly being shelved and pushed back -and back –and back.  It went from Lupe being happy with his work to him just doing it (or so it seemed).

And then came The Manifesto some time later…

At this point I’m like…



I couldn’t help but wonder if the dude who’s music had basically played in the background of my highs and lows for the last few years would deliver that same “YES” on what I was under the impression would be his last album (remember – he said he was only doing 3), now dubbed Lasers.

Well… I got “I’m Beamin’”.

It was a hood anthem and all, but too slow for me.  So what did they do?  They released the radio friendly “The Show Goes On”.  People liked it.  It was played on the radio enough — but to be honest I kind of hated it.  It didn’t have an original sound.  It pretty much seemed (again – this is to me) to bastardize the melody of a classic Modest Mouse song and go on about its day.  I didn’t sense any soul in it reminiscent of his original album.



After that, the whole Bill O’Reily debate happened and I was done.



I wasn’t done because I thought that Lupe was wrong.  I wasn’t done because I didn’t feel like Musicians should have opinions — in fact I appreciate that trait in my entertainers (hated Beyoncé for the longest because of how “void” she was in interviews).  No I was done with Lupe because all of his Love was gone.  He still had plenty of Passion – but it seemed like it was tainted by a new overly militant agenda.

I’m good on that.

You lost me.

What do you think of Lupe Fiasco?  Do you have his albums?  Which would you rate as his best-to-worse and why?  Are you a Laser?  What do you think of the Manifesto?  It’s not wrong to me – just too damn heavy.  Tell me your thoughts in the Comment Section below.

If you’ve read this far – you won’t mind me saying one more thing.  I haven’t even listened to Lasers – not even once.  The marketing, the singles, his new (or maybe even “true”) persona… all of it turned me off and made me disconnect for the moment.  I couldn’t help but notice that this was the one album that didn’t have his name attached to the full official title.  I wonder if that was symbolic?

I hope people reading this can see the nostalgic love I have for Lupe and his work, and don’t think I’m just hating on his “artistic growth” or anything like that.  I still respect him.  I still consider myself a fan.  I just hope that he gets back to the dude who seemed more at peace (even if it’s just with himself) in the past. 

He’s like an angry intellectual now… O_o

Congrats on the Sound Off Honor by the way sir…

Peace and thanks for reading.