Lupe Fiasco

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A rapper who wears glasses in his video, how refreshing. "Kick Push" is great, a male equivalent of Estelle's "1980". Where's the ILM buzz?

danzig (danzig), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:03 (6 years ago) Permalink

I was ready to hate dude but "Just Might Be OK" is hot and "Kick Push" has grown on me.

Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

A rapper who wears glasses in his video, how refreshing.

the Lisa Loeb of 00s hip-hop?

Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

LOCK THREAD

yuengling participle (rotten03), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:10 (6 years ago) Permalink

yeah this is kanye x pharrell bullshit but kick push is hottt, hes either goin double balsa or end up the next black-eyed peas

and what (ooo), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

anybody else get a hiero '94 vibe from dude

and what (ooo), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

haha yeah never thought of that but yeah...."kick push" is great!

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

anybody else get a hiero '94 vibe from dude

Thats why I've liked his mixtapes, its that early 90s clever and down-to-earth backpacker thing. Kris Ex was actually otm about him, he's got the range and talent to make a great album but its too early to call.

deej.. (deej..), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 17:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

(and unlikely he'll live up to it)

deej.. (deej..), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 17:37 (6 years ago) Permalink

also, he made all the anime dudes at work happy when i played them the Lupin the 3rd line he says from the kanye song.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 18:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

i like the song but not the video...i doubt the kid can even skateboard

but dig the digital casio!

anonymous celebrity (anonymous celebrity), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 19:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

that shit is yoga flame for all time!

Tynan DeLong (TynanTynan!), Thursday, 8 June 2006 03:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Kick Push" is a great song. I'm really looking forward to the album, but August is too far away. :(

Harpal (harpal), Monday, 12 June 2006 22:59 (6 years ago) Permalink

i was gonna say "kick push" is near the top of my fave singles from this year so far but then i saw that tynan posted and now i feel dirty

applejack carney (dubplatestyle), Monday, 12 June 2006 23:59 (6 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...
BUMP.

The new DJ Envy/Lupe Chi-Town Guevera mixtape is. FUCKING. HOTTTTTT11111

i'm lovin it!

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 25 August 2006 17:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

THAT SHIT IS YOGA FLAME

David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 25 August 2006 17:34 (6 years ago) Permalink

for all time!

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 25 August 2006 17:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...
"Kick Push" has just come out over here - achieving the astonishing feat of making me temporarily enthusiastic about the notion of a "golden age" hip hop revival. At least while it's playing, anyway.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 10 September 2006 22:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yoga Flame? Time for googling.

Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 10 September 2006 22:57 (6 years ago) Permalink

OH SNAP DHALISM

Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 10 September 2006 23:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

Call me nostalgic for Native Tongues-style funkiness, but I bought "Kick Push" from iTunes after only very, very randomly catching the video (once) on TV. A lot of so-called backpacker business forgets to engage the "fun" button, but this doesn't.

Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Sunday, 10 September 2006 23:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

I like that its vision of "backpacker" (I dispute this to some extent - isn't it just "T.R.O.Y." X Illmatic with added lushness? Is that "backpacker" now?) is decadently aristocratic rather than wholebread nutritional.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 11 September 2006 01:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

"backpacker":- yet another retread of sample already exhausted by I Monster/Beta Band. This time with Jill Scott added in.

danzig (danzig), Monday, 11 September 2006 09:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

i hope this clears everything up for people.

rtccc (mwah), Monday, 11 September 2006 09:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yes. That's a very informative red x.

Rodney doesn't dance, he boogies. (R. J. Greene), Monday, 11 September 2006 13:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

(Is that the fruity-looking album cover?)

Rodney doesn't dance, he boogies. (R. J. Greene), Monday, 11 September 2006 13:23 (6 years ago) Permalink


deej.. (deej..), Monday, 11 September 2006 14:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

The Lupe album cover looks like it should be the cover of Scholastic magazine or in the opening credits of Reading Rainbow or something.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 11 September 2006 14:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

Fruits of Nature is a pretty good album btw.

deej.. (deej..), Monday, 11 September 2006 14:33 (6 years ago) Permalink

word up..UMCs were sweert.....didn't one of those dudes produce a bunch of 50 cent hits?

i'm still excited for lupe!!! yahoo!

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 11 September 2006 14:37 (6 years ago) Permalink

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 11 September 2006 14:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

Here's Kool Kim of the UMCs explaining what happened when KRS threw the dude from PM Dawn off the stage. Funny for all sorts of reasons.

deej.. (deej..), Monday, 11 September 2006 14:56 (6 years ago) Permalink

so i'm pretty surprised there's not more talk about the album. i know it's nerdy and i know it's a bit retro (but not as fucking looking to the past as someone like fucking Ugly Duckling). i mean, who uses samples and not synths anymore! but it's a pretty solid album. i think i only skipped one track the first time through. are people just not hearing anything that's remotely conscious? is it too talib kweli (bleh)?

and the album cover was designed by young buck, hot shit illustrator/designer chuck anderson. one of the most copied kids out there right now. http://www.nopattern.com

jaxon (jaxon), Monday, 18 September 2006 21:56 (6 years ago) Permalink

I still haven't heard it or I would be talking about it.

deej.. (deej..), Monday, 18 September 2006 22:07 (6 years ago) Permalink

i'm very very excited for this album

deej you can hear a bunch of it on his myspace. i checked it out sounded good even thru my shitty mono speaker at work.

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 18 September 2006 22:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

I've been spinning the leaked version of the album since April, but the constant delays on the official release have sort of put a damper on my excitement. Is it still set for release tomorrow? I'll have to pick it up if so.

Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Monday, 18 September 2006 23:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

Pick it up.

always crashing in other people's cars (kenan), Friday, 22 September 2006 01:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

So far I prefer Revenge of the Nerds to Food and Liquor.

alext (alext), Friday, 22 September 2006 07:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

ng-unit (ng-unit), Friday, 22 September 2006 10:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

i have to go get this.

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 22 September 2006 14:29 (6 years ago) Permalink

i think its going to do better-than-rhymefest numbers but not much better. I think if he's lucky the next single will do a slow climb, and if he's REAL lucky maybe in a year he'll get to go gold.

deej.. (deej..), Friday, 22 September 2006 14:33 (6 years ago) Permalink

What's with all the excitement for this guy I dont really get it. Listened to most of the album, nothing special.

Rowlando for the kidz (Sam Rowlands), Friday, 22 September 2006 15:32 (6 years ago) Permalink

he's a pretty tallented mc that has friends in high places. and when people start getting sick of what's on commercial radio (bling and drugs), they'll start looking for this kinda stuff.

but that said, i think only Kick Push and Spaze Out are the only standout tracks on the album.

jaxon (jaxon), Friday, 22 September 2006 15:41 (6 years ago) Permalink

i like his flow a lot. tricky w/o being so "oh look at what i can do" about it.

M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 22 September 2006 15:55 (6 years ago) Permalink

average beats - most are too cluttered with strings and guitar. could use harder drums, more bass. he's ok. the 12 minute shout out track at the end is horrible.

in all...duddish.

paulhw (paulhw), Friday, 22 September 2006 20:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

So unexciting that I missed him tonight supporting Jay-Z when I really had nothing better to do.

struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Friday, 22 September 2006 22:33 (6 years ago) Permalink

I've only given it one spin so far, but I have to say that this is a big disappointment compared to the leaked version. His verses & delivery on the new tracks aren't as fiery or compelling as they are on the leaked tracks. Jay-Z's attempt to imitate Lupe's flow really threw me off and killed what little momentum the track had. And I like Jay-Z.

Most of these filler tracks that take up space between the killers have overbusy beats that still manage to be unmemorable.

I'm disappointed. I really wanted to like this.

Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Friday, 22 September 2006 22:52 (6 years ago) Permalink

I like this alright. I've been told folks on okayplayer have been massively overrating it, on some 'best album since illmatic' shit. The song about how trying to be cool is going to send you down the wrong path is kind of weird, but i like his rapping and although the record is uneven i don't hate it.

deej.. (deej..), Monday, 25 September 2006 14:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

I've been told folks on okayplayer have been massively overrating it, on some 'best album since illmatic' shit.

When did "Illmatic" overtake "The Ministrel Show" in their affections?

Sadly, he will be the next Alexis Petridish. (Dom Passantino), Monday, 25 September 2006 15:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

Ha! This really didn't do much for me at all. Huge letdown.

Rodney doesn't like polka. He is racist. (R. J. Greene), Monday, 25 September 2006 15:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

this is a fun thread to reread

HOOS the master?? STEEN NUFF (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Saturday, 29 January 2011 10:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

didn't he say he was retiring 4 albums ago or something

HOOS the master?? STEEN NUFF (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Saturday, 29 January 2011 10:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

THIS

FUCKING

GUY

smanging pumpkins (The Reverend), Saturday, 29 January 2011 12:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

He's officially gone from somewhat awful with flashes of excitement to just being completely awful.

'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 14:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

yah this album is a total load

deej, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 16:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

that is disappointing but not unexpected

goth barbershop quartet (DJP), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 16:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

DJP, is there anything redeeming on this? i recall you being Lupe's #1 apologist the last two albums (frankly yr enthusiasm was what made me listen in the first place, found 'em hit & miss tho)

Damn this thread seems so....different without ilxor (ilxor), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

First album was great imo. Second was just a ghost of the first. The new one is different animal, but it's a rodent with rabies and I'm calling Animal Control to come take it away.

Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

LOL!!!!!!

Damn this thread seems so....different without ilxor (ilxor), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

The Cool gets a really hard time but it has plenty of good moments, I always thought Go Baby would have been a huge hit for him if it had been put out as a single. It wasn't as good as the debut which is pretty solid apart from the never ending last song where he says thanks to everyone he's ever met.

I listened to Lasers this afternoon and thought it sounded okay to begin with but my about track five I was just desperate for it to end, it seemed to get worse as it went on. I have a big problem with the artwork too, did he really think that looked clever?

Kitchen Person, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

lololo

Damn this thread seems so....different without ilxor (ilxor), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

All I've heard so far is "I'm Beaming" and some other horrendous piece of shit that made me decide I am going to focus on my positive memories of The Cool.

ancient, but very sexy (DJP), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

A rapper who wears glasses in his video, how refreshing.

― danzig (danzig), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 16:03 (4 years ago)

LOL not really novel any more huh

deej, Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

little humma boy (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

All I've heard so far is "I'm Beaming" and some other horrendous piece of shit that made me decide I am going to focus on my positive memories of The Cool.

Considering "I'm Beaming" isn't even on here, you are much better off focusing elsewhere.

'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 19:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

i wish he would have somehow let us know this was going to be a fiasco

open jason segal (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 20:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

what a fiasco for lupe disaster

gr8080 sings the blues (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 March 2011 20:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

"As Lupe tells it, "Strange Fruition" is a re-imagining of "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday. "It's about slaves in the south, and how they looked like strange fruit in the south. Which is funny, because the song was written by a white guy," says Lupe. "The fruit has ripened in 2012, it's still just as strange, just as odd, among the other layers in the song. That's the "America" portion of the album."

http://hiphopwired.com/2012/08/23/8-things-you-must-know-about-lupe-fiascos-food-liquor-2-the-great-american-rap-album-pt-1/2/

(professor) (longneck), Thursday, 23 August 2012 18:19 (9 months ago) Permalink

this fuckin guy

some dude, Thursday, 23 August 2012 18:21 (9 months ago) Permalink

you know, I read that comment and really didn't parse it until you said "this fuckin guy"

Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Thursday, 23 August 2012 18:25 (9 months ago) Permalink

That's the "America" portion of the thread.

some dude, Thursday, 23 August 2012 18:42 (9 months ago) Permalink

u_u

The rain in Spin circles mainly on the mansplain (D-40), Saturday, 25 August 2012 02:27 (9 months ago) Permalink

as opposed to the "great" portion of the album

i know your nuts hurt! who's laughing? (contenderizer), Saturday, 25 August 2012 02:34 (9 months ago) Permalink

have we observed that the album cover idea was stolen from spinal tap

The rain in Spin circles mainly on the mansplain (D-40), Saturday, 25 August 2012 03:10 (9 months ago) Permalink

I dunno -- Lupe himself is stolen from Spinal TAp

a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 25 August 2012 03:11 (9 months ago) Permalink

second response hall of fame up there

running like a young deer (symsymsym), Saturday, 25 August 2012 22:04 (9 months ago) Permalink

'An example of the split of the album is evident in its introductory track, "Strange Fruition (The Art Of Falling Off)." The first voice you hear on the album is a speech by James Baldwin on the "N-Word" and how it is a word created by Americans. "We invented the word N-Word, white people invented it," says Baldwin on the track before the Soundtrakk-produced beat drops. The song sets the pace for the album not as a return to form of the old Lupe from Food And Liquor, but as an evolution to what he is now. He's backing up his bold statements of our homeland with facts from historians.'

thomp, Saturday, 25 August 2012 22:21 (9 months ago) Permalink

i thought this revive would be for the SPIN thing

thomp, Saturday, 25 August 2012 22:22 (9 months ago) Permalink

spin thing chat is in the spin thread

The Reverend, Saturday, 25 August 2012 23:46 (9 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

so... Food & Liquor II appears to be a boring, poorly conceived exercise in concern-trolling

no real surprises there, I guess

set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Monday, 1 October 2012 19:09 (7 months ago) Permalink

He's backing up his bold statements of our homeland with facts from historians.'

farte blanche (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 1 October 2012 19:12 (7 months ago) Permalink

The thing that made The Cool work for me was so many of the songs were told from the standpoint of a character, whether it was Lupe himself talking about how much he sucks at Street Fighter II or vignettes about child soldiers or epidemics or a dude struggling to make it in the rap game; he was telling a story, and there was an implied moral viewpoint but you didn't need to subscribe to it, and the points where there was an explicit moral viewpoint were tied up in crazy allusions and wordplay (see: "Dumb It Down").

This has been replaced by songs like "Audobon Ballroom" with this immortal chorus:

Now white people
Can't say 'nigga'
Sorry gotta take it back
Now black people
We're not niggas
Cuz God made us better than that

DROP THAT SCIENCE, LUPE

ffs no one wanted you to rap MORE like Kanye, you moron

set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Monday, 1 October 2012 19:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

oh my god and "Bitch Bad" actually makes me want to smack my head against a brick wall

set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Monday, 1 October 2012 19:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

seriously how do you even make a song like this and not go "huh, not only is this condescending paternalistic Marc Loiism to the nth degree, but it also sounds like hot trash in July"

set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Monday, 1 October 2012 19:20 (7 months ago) Permalink

how is this the same person who wrote "Dumb It Down"

has he been smoking a lot of weed, is that what happened?

set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Monday, 1 October 2012 19:21 (7 months ago) Permalink

Eh, what the hell, I'll defend this record. I can't rep for "Bad Bitch" and some of the sillier songs on the second half of the disc, but the first side has a great energy. It's spirited and funny, and for the first time in a while Lupe sounds open to the suggestion that maybe he's opinions aren't the end all be all. He seems more self-aware than his obnoxious online presence would have you believe, and I like the way he #KanyeShrugs his way through some of his stupidier positions (not voting, calling the president a terrorist). Plus the production is really good. All in all way better than I could have expected from post-Lasers Lupe.

Evan R, Monday, 1 October 2012 20:42 (7 months ago) Permalink

huh

I didn't even make it to the second half of the album because I found the first half so self-important and stupid, so I can't even imagine what the second half must be like

set me on fire RAAAAH (DJP), Monday, 1 October 2012 20:44 (7 months ago) Permalink

Second half has some bad love songs and some misguided features, and it just goes on too long. But I think you're missing the humor in the record, taking some things at face value that aren't meant to be. That's probably Lupe's fault—he puts his foot in his mouth so much these days—but I think he finds a good balance on this album between serious Lupe and just fucking around Lupe

Evan R, Monday, 1 October 2012 20:47 (7 months ago) Permalink

one of the worst things about "Bitch Bad" is the smirking "ah, the plot thickens" attemps at levity

jaz a make wardance (some dude), Monday, 1 October 2012 21:45 (7 months ago) Permalink

So many bad things about "Bad Bitch" I couldn't even list them, but the "reading from a teleprompter" flow is a deal breaker, too. Also the story just makes no damn sense.

Evan R, Monday, 1 October 2012 22:02 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Bitch Bad," excuse me. Allergy med season has me typo-ing like crazy

Evan R, Monday, 1 October 2012 22:03 (7 months ago) Permalink

there's a local radio DJ who intros the song like "let's get into some new lupe, bad beeeeeyotch" with zero irony

jaz a make wardance (some dude), Monday, 1 October 2012 22:19 (7 months ago) Permalink

hahahaha. The weird thing is Lupe uses "bitch" in a non-ironic, non-deconstructed way on the album, too. Granted he doesn't direct it at women, but it just muddles his already confused argument that much more

Evan R, Monday, 1 October 2012 22:27 (7 months ago) Permalink

His "I'm killing these bitchesssss!" adlib is maybe the only part of that song I like. It's legitimately funny, and it makes an argument more cleanly in about two seconds than he's able to in 48 bars

Evan R, Monday, 1 October 2012 22:30 (7 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Lupe 2016

saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 21:09 (4 months ago) Permalink

Haha, I was actually thinking of you when that story broke.

HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 21:39 (4 months ago) Permalink

So did I!

Ulna (Nicole), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 21:43 (4 months ago) Permalink

he'll only be 34, dammit

saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 22:46 (4 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

LF was tweeting about social revolution, Marxist analysis of technology etc and retweeting others doing the same, then came this: https://twitter.com/LupeFiasco/status/333713212933562368. RIP Lupe, brutally silenced by capitalist apparatchiks.

ohmigud (Merdeyeux), Sunday, 12 May 2013 23:44 (1 week ago) Permalink

my favorite part of this is that the account now constantly retweets people who praise lupe, including one person who likes him "because he doesn't sugar code"

seanpennderizer (some dude), Sunday, 12 May 2013 23:52 (1 week ago) Permalink


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