Lupe Fiasco Primer (by Bob Short)

I enjoy conscious rap. Correction: I enjoy the idea of conscious rap. It's all fine to try to keep the bitches, blunts, and keys out of the equation, but many, including Spring Weekend alums Common and The Roots' Black Thought are too comfortable being defined by what they aren't to construct a lasting body of work. Lupe Fiasco is not one of those rappers.

When his debut, Food and Liquor, dropped in 2006 it seemed like deja-vu. The technicolor radio ready beats, the Rolling Stone features on backpacker fashion, the personality balancing between ambition and virtue...it was the second coming of Kanye West. But not only that, the skateboarding tale "Kick Push" was such an instant classic it was hard to believe that it hadn't been on the radio for years. His sophomore disc, an inscrutable concept album, The Cool, shares his first album's penchant for thought provoking lyrics, nimble rhyming, and consistently great songs. Rap fans everywhere should be concerned about his recent comments about retirement-as hip hop struggles through its adolescent years, anyone putting consistent, mature albums at this pace is a man among boys.


As the Brown Concert Agency continues to kill us with the suspense, we can bask in the knowledge that Lupe, as confirmed by representitives from Atlantic Records, will be at Spring Weekend. Here is a primer on the world of Lupe Fiasco to listen to while you apply vaseline to your windburns and fantisize about outdoor concerts in April.


Kick Push

Two years after it burnt up the blogs, this track still sounds great.

I Gotcha

Whereas lesser rappers settle for asserting how fly they look, Lupe Fiasco tries to get you to smell him through the speakers. Rhyming "musty" with "musky" sure helps.

American Terrorist

The inflammatory potential of an Islamic rapper naming a song "American Terrorist is leavened by the lyrics themselves, which passionately preach forgiveness and understanding. The Return to Forever sample still makes the song though.

Dumb it Down

What Lil Wayne's "I Feel Like Dying" would sound like if Wayne got high on books instead of codeine. The most minimalistic track of Lupe's career is also one of his best. The video is starkly modern-uncluttered, simple, and devestatingly effective.

Superstar

On this track Lupe dissects what is quickly becoming a hallmark of the 21st Century condition: obsession with recognition and fame. What once were diaries locked in drawers are now blogs on the world wide web. What once was a private guilt culture is quickly becoming a public shame culture. Press conference apologies are de rigeur, you aren't cutting yourself unless someone notices it. And as the body count increases in Iraq, Pakistan, Kenya, and elsewhere, the media focuses on Britney Spears' hospital release. If hip-hop is the definitive musical genre of our generation, this may be the definitive song.