Listened to it last night and again this morning. Album is FIRE. I can appreciate Freedom Ain't Free and Lamborghini Angels more now within the context of the album. Lupe Fiasco, like Nas ironically, isn't really a "singles" artist per say. When he drops something natural to himself that just happens to cross over (Kick Push, Superstar) it's a great thing, but when he does something forced and label coerced (Show Goes On, Out Of My Head) then it just doesn't feel right. I'm one of the main ones who enjoyed Lasers outside of the songs that were obviously forced on him, F&L2 is an improvement in almost EVERY facet in comparison. This truly is his Stillmatic in the sense that its a statement album for those who should have never doubted him in the first place. When has Lupe EVER fallen off lyrically? When has he truly ever lost his way? Is this NOT the same man who had both Sunshine and American Terrorist on the album? The same man who had Superstar and Hi-Definition on the same album next to an entire semi-concept album about a young man falling victim to the street life? The same man who Hello/Goodbye next to Dumb It Down and The Die?
Now where exactly was the great and unforgivable hypocrisy of Lasers? An album that had Till I Get There mixed with Words I Never Said. Show Goes On mixed with All Black Everything. It's the natural progression of the artist, as the artist himself said that certain things were forced upon him by the label and never backed down from those claims even as he debuted at number 1 for the first time? It boggles my mind when I hear posters saying that Lasers was just so garbage that they had completely given up on himit doesn't make any sense, ESPECIALLY since he gave us an excellent mixtape before that album and another excellent mixtape following...
F&L2 isn't a return to the "old" Lupe. It's less a sequel and more a progression, in the same way that "Nasty Nas" will never again appear for an entire album, neither so will the 25 year old Lupe who was on the OG F&L. This is what the artist has grown to be and that's a damn great MC who chooses to use his platform to speak on issues that are relevant to not only Black culture, but the greater AMERICAN culture. This album should receive the utmost of praise for its lyrical prowess, message, and determination to actually SPEAK to the listener. Again for those who say that they are tired of preaching and heavy handed messages throughout the music let me ask you, who ELSE on a mainstream level is doing this? Are Hot 97 and your local radio stations blasting Freedom Ain't Free all day on the radio? Has video been number 1 on 106 & c00ns for the past two months? Has the album received nonstop promotion that I've been personally missing? Where ELSE are we being "preached too" in popular music? The only other artist who goes as deeply into such subjects for an albums length is Nas, that's pretty much it. J.Cole will give you a Lost Ones and Lights Please every so often, Kendrick Lamar will spit a fukk Your Ethnicity or Hiiipower, but Lupe Fiasco will shoot a video for bytch Bad and break it down for you EXACTLY how the popular themes and messages sent to today's youth have negatively effected our culture. How can we dismiss such songs as "overly preachy" when such songs are such a tiny minority of our genre? A genre that we are so quick to claim as an expression of "Black Culture and ingenuity"? THIS is what we should championing as the forefront representative of Hip Hop, not Chief Keef laughing over the murder of a fellow teenaged rapper. Not Kanye West proudly proclaiming that his bytch got famous over a home made porno video that her MOTHER leaked.
Lupe Fiasco is an extremely gifted lyricist who has crafted an excellent album that can be placed alongside Life Is Good and R.A.P Music as the finest examples of Hip Hop for a more seasoned listener, and by more seasoned Im not implying older or even more mature, I'm saying that the themes expressed in these albums speak to the appreciation of Hip Hop as art through expression. Pain, Joy, grief, disappointment, longing, ambition, determination and great contemplation went into the writing, production, arraignment, sequencing, and concept of these albums. How in the world can somebody listen to this album and come away thinking that Lupe lacks passion for subject? Listen to Battle Scars, sure it's a love song, but the lyrics, delivery, and presentation of the entire song doesn't scream "generic club banger". Form Follows Function doesn't scream "lazy/uninspired". This is exactly what we've been waiting on from an artist of Lupe's caliber. This is a beautiful album brehs, a piece of work that was given very careful thought and should be appreciated as such
one of the best posts since the-coli started
he has his own charity, he donates to various disadvantaged children in chicago, every year he feeds the needy during ramadan, he climbed mt kilimanjaro for the children in africa, he supports and funds occupy chicago. so im looking to where all he does is bytch and complain. LOL at build schools like hes a billionaire or some shyt fukking clown.
