Run That Back: Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Lasers is an album which addresses self-essence. In the creation of his third album, Lupe Fiasco was fighting for his musical existence, which was being threatened by a major record label. The music of Lasers represents that creative struggle as Fiasco tries to preserve his artistic identity.

Creative Control

An element of music creation that is sometimes lost when enjoying a favorite album is the influence a record label has on the entire album creation process and release strategy. More popular and proven artists, such as U2 or Jay-Z, have more say in those proceedings. For a new or ascending artist, like Lupe Fiasco, the record label is guiding that process from start to finish, including influencing an album’s musical tone, selecting the songs included on the track list, or even assigning the first single. When considering a label’s creative authority, especially if the corporate push to direct an album’s creation is so public, it affects the consideration of that work.

Approaching the release of his third album, Lasers, Lupe Fiasco faces his climatic career moment. Coming off two critically acclaimed albums, Food & Liquor and The Cool, Fiasco is primed to address his largest audience yet. Knowing the scope surrounding his third album’s release, Lupe Fiasco doesn’t play it safe as he uses Lasers to tackle enormous topics, deliver thought provoking tracks, and craft an honest sound. Fiasco aggressively dictates politically driven lyrics on Words I Never Said and raps emotionally conflicted verses on Letting Go, which display a tremendous creativity and introspection from Fiasco, who is willing to leave nothing unsaid.

Atlantic Records, Lupe Fiasco’s record label, is also aware of the increasing attention on Fiasco’s music. Looking to guarantee profits, the label pushes Fiasco away from his individualized sound and toward their formulaic approach to music. So while Lasers delivers music and lyrics with an overall blueprint of being honest, introspective, and rebellious, Atlantic Record’s influence is felt on Fiasco’s third album. The tracks Coming Up and Out of My Head interrupt the album’s flow. Coming Up is produced with a basic R&B beat and features a generic chorus sung by MDMA, which amounts to a watered down pop song. The Trey Songz assisted track, Out of My Head, features Fiasco lethargically rapping a love song, which contrasts the rapper’s usual flow.

For the majority of the album’s tracks, Lupe Fiasco delivers full effort and compelling lyrics, but unlike the artist’s previous two albums, Lasers lacks a theme, continuity, and a natural flow. When weighing the affective tracks against the musical missteps, a re-listen of Lasers is an exploration of the album’s creation. Who won the battle of creative influence, Lupe Fiasco or Atlantic Records?

Backround

Entering 2010, Lupe Fiasco’s first two albums, Food & Liquor and The Cool, combined to sell about one million copies in the United States. In 2007, he also scored his first top-10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with Superstar. Atlantic Records realized Fiasco was entering the precipice of stardom and pushed the rapper to create music more in the mold of the current top-40 hip-hop hits. Fiasco, who built his career being an untraditional hip-hop artist, refused to be pigeonholed into the top-40 rap genre. This conflict of interest caused turbulence surrounding the release of Fiasco’s third album.

The biggest hurdle came in 2010 after Lupe Fiasco announced on Twitter that his third album was complete but delayed due to Atlantic Records. This caused a fan petition to circulate, demanding the release of Fiasco’s album, which garnered attention from networks such as MTV and CNN. The increasing demand and attention caused Atlantic Records to announce the release of Lasers on October 2010. The outpouring of support humbled Fiasco, as Lasers was released on March 8th 2011.

““If you turn on TV all you see's a bunch of 'what the fucks' Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such and such And that ain't Jersey Shore, homie that's the news These the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth” -- Words I Never Said

High Note: Words I Never Said

Words I Never Said begins with a stirring chorus communicating a regret surrounding not speaking the truth, which is effectively sung by Skylar Grey. Lupe Fiasco bursts in confidently rapping a politically honest song, which takes aim at everyone from Fox News to big banking systems to Barak Obama. Along with a booming beat, the song is impactful because Fiasco is not taking a political side but just sharing an intelligent criticism of society as a whole.

“So beware what's on the airwaves And be more aware of what's not getting airplay Independent spirit, you can barely hear what they're saying Truth ain't getting on like shampoo on an airplane Propaganda's everywhere, constantly on replay All the hits, all the time, back-to-back on relay” - State Run Radio

Under the Radar: Losing a Whole Year

Inspired by his public battle with Atlantic Records, Lupe Fiasco cleverly disguises a criticism of the music industry in the pop sounding State Run Radio, which is polished and catchy enough to make radio impact. As seen in the lyrics above, the track discusses the music industry’s effort to push music into a conventional profile in the efforts to censor creative or thought provoking works.

Very Vintage: Atlantic Record’s Influence on Lasers

In interviews following the release of Lasers, Lupe Fiasco admits that the process of recording and releasing his third album exhausted him both physically and creatively. The artist made creative concessions, one being the inclusion of the hit single, The Show Goes On. The concessions weigh heavily on Fiasco’s the performance on Lasers. While naturally Fiasco raps with energy and passion, Lasers includes a few songs, Till I Get There and Out of My Head, where Fiasco’s verses are lethargic and phoned-in. This leads to a deterioration of the listening experience from the need of skipping past less engaging tracks.

“Tired of all the wardrobe changin' Playing all these extra roles Filled with all these different spirits Livin' off these separate souls Point in life is getting hollow Can't wait for the exit hole” - Letting Go

Hitting the Point Home

Despite the Atlantic Record’s influence, the majority of the tracks on Lasers are the honest lyrics from a tortured artist being pulled in numerous directions. Words I Never Said has Lupe Fiasco pondering his influence and reach, and whether those powers assign him the responsibility of rapping the truth. As stated in the lyrics above, Letting Go, features a narration of Fiasco struggling with the pressure to conform, which threatens to deteriorate his personality and character. Beautiful Lasers communicates the struggle of Fiasco to preserve his sanity in an unforgiving world. As Lupe Fiasco is battling to maintain his identity in his music, the majority of tracks on Lasers deliver a comparable struggle. The artist is weighed down by his growing influence and the pressures to conform, while preserving his personality. The album concludes with the reminiscent track, Never Forget You, which features Fiasco narrating a simpler lifestyle prior to his rise to fame. Through the four-minute run of the concluding track, Fiasco’s desire to ditch the spotlight is genuine.

Top of the Charts

Lasers debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 200,000 copies in its first week. The album would also deliver Lupe Fiasco’s most successful single, The Show Goes On, which was a top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The album would be a commercial pinnacle for Fiasco but not the creative peak. Lasers would mark another evolution in an artist’s ability to musically share the business difficulties apparent in the music industry. Paired with the public battle between Fiasco and Atlantic Records, the album represented artists receiving increased musical control. With fan demand and slight concessions, the release of Fiasco’s third album was accomplished.

The Crescendo

Despite the negative impact from Atlantic Record’s influence in creating Lasers, a re-listen of the album establishes Lupe Fiasco won the creative struggle. The inclusion of personal, introspective, and rebellious tracks such as the controversial State Run Radio and Words I Never Said demonstrate that victory. Although the album is more crafted and polished than Fiasco’s previous works, the rapper delivers engaging songs worth the attention. Lupe Fiasco’s blueprint of Lasers delivers significant messages about the responsibility of influence, retaining identity in corporate structures, and protecting individuality. The Fiasco crafted songs on Lasers challenge the listener to find their self-essence, which is ironically the prize Fiasco fought for in creating his third album. A battle isn’t fought without negative impact though, and perhaps the fallout from this war with the label is not being able to experience Lasers as Lupe Fiasco envisioned.