Lasers

Most of Lupe Fiasco's fans know that the production of this CD was like going through hell. All of the drama with Lupe & Atlantic Records on how they wanted the CD to be done; Lupe wanted to stick to what he did best, while Atlantic made it more "radio friendly" so to speak. With all that aside, this is one of the best Hip Hop/Rap Albums to come out in the past few years. While this may of not pleased all Lupe fan's, Lupe still managed to make this own and I enjoyed almost every song on "Lasers". Heres my song by song rundown/review:

1.) Letting Go ft. Sarah Green
This album immediatly starts of with the goods. "Letting Go" is a very powerful song and Lupe really tells a story on the struggles of Laser's production. You really get the idea of how frustrated he was within the song's lyrics. The chorus grabs your attention and then Lupe just tears it up. Sarah Green dosen't have a huge part, but her part was good for what it is worth.

2.) Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey
Another powerful song here. This is one of two current "hits" on lasers, with Skylar Grey contributing in the chorus, which is just as good as her part in "I Need A Doctor" by Eminem & Dre. One thing that I respect about this song is that Lupe actually rapped about politics and world problems, instead of just talking about something completely pointless. If this would of had Grey's hook and some pointless verse's like we mostly hear on the radio today, this would probably be a #1 hit. I'm glad Lupe didn't do that because this one deserves to be a huge hit in it's own right. One of my favorties.

3.) Till I Get There
This sounds a lot like a Kid Cudi song to me, infact, a little to much. I enjoyed the flow & beat of the song, but I don't think it was Lupe's best work. Per say, if Cudi was actually in this one, it would of made a lot more since to me because it sounds so similar to him, needless to mention that would be a great track. Still, I wouldn't recommend skipping this one, because you might like it more than me; I just wasn't in to it that much.

4.) I Don't Wanna Care Right Now ft. MDMA
This was one of the more controversial song's on this album, because this is where Atlantic took control of the track to make it more "radio friendly", like I mentioned earlier. A lot of people have complained about this being to much of a club song, but you have to ignore the auto-tune and the type of beat and pay attention to the lyrical content. While this is a "club song", Lupe still managed to put some good stuff in here and still made it his own as much as he could. Not to many complaints for me here, but I'm probably a little more positive than others on this one.

5.) Out Of My Head ft. Trey Songz
Now I didn't mind I don't wanna care, but this is one song I just can't stand. Lupe's part isn't bad, but in Songz's chorus, it is really just the same old stuff from him, the stuff we hear 5 or more times a day on the radio. Once again, credit to Lupe, but this was one song I can't and won't listen to again.

6.) The Show Goes On
Arguably the most popular song on "Lasers". This one has recieved quite a bit of publicity, for being used for highlight reels on SportsCenter & NBA All-Star Weekend. Lupe used the beat for "Modest Mouse" and he turned it around and made it his own (like most of the song's on here). The message was mainly directed toward's the kids in the ghetto and the song was not only fun to listen to, but inspiring at the same time. This is definitely my favorite track a long with the next one.

7.) Beautiful Lasers ft. MDMA
Yes, this is indeed my favorite track along with "Show Goes On". In all honesty, I think this is the most underrated song on this album. Despite the chorus being auto-tuned (which also drawed complaints), I really enjoyed it because it captured me in for what was to come next. This is also a very deep song, with Lupe bringing his talents to full circle. This had a nice mix of that rap/rock vibe that was actually worth listening to and I enjoyed all four minutes of it.

8.) Coming Up ft. MDMA
"Don't Wanna Care" was decent and "Beautiful Lasers" was very good, but at this point I was a just a little tired of MDMA. This really wasn't all that great.

9.) State Run Radio ft. Matt Mahaffey
Once again, just another forgettable song here. Lupe's verses were just decent and not his best and this one kind of just annoyed me.

10.) Break The Chain ft. Eric Turner & Sway
This was an improved track from the last two. This one also played on ESPN SportsCenter along with "The Show Goes On". The chorus is very catchy and the producing of this song was brilliant. The beat really hooked me and Lupe's verses were awesome as always. This basically talked about working your way up and getting that chance, so once again, something that hit an inspirational note. Really enjoyed this one here.

11.) All Black Everything
I know I've talking a lot about inspirational lyrics, but this just takes the cake. This had so many good moments and a variety of memorable content such as "racism has no context" and this is just Lupe's point of view of a certain situation (just as Words I Never Said). This is most people's favorite track, while it isn't my favorite, it is something that I could just kick back and listen to all day long. Yes, it is that good and it is that meaningful. True Lupe here.

12.) Never Forget You ft. John Legend
This was far from the best track on Lasers, but I thought it was a good finish to the album. John Legend has one of the best voices and Lupe had great chemistry with him in this song. Length wise, the song ended a little to quick for me; there was nothing memorable, but nothing bad here either.

Download These: Letting Go, Words I Never Said, The Show Goes On, Beautiful Lasers, All Black Everything

All in all, I give a big round of applause for Lupe on this one. After all the Atlantic Record release drama, this one still turned out good. Some of the hardcore Lupe fans may not have been pleased, but in my opinion, I think this is something we can all enjoy. This is the first CD I've bought in three years, so it definitely caught my attention.

Let's get one thing straight: this is not a Lupe Fiasco album! Atlantic Records rejected his version of Lasers years ago and he constantly battled with the label over just about every song. In the end, he "acquiesced" (his words) and decided that something (putting the album out, however mangled by corporate interference) was better than nothing (an unreleased masterpiece).

Now that we've gotten that out of the way: Lasers is awful bubble-gum rap interspersed with moments of brilliance. I'm not someone who is a knee-jerk pop music hater, but how anyone can truly enjoy bland pop electronica like "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now" is beyond me. You can hear Lupe's resignation on "Till I Get There" with his monotone flow and the lyrics of the chorus which contain veiled references to his label difficulties. "Out of My Head" is catchy but it's not Lupe. "Beautiful Lasers" sounds tainted because it combines lyrics dealing with his suicidal feelings over a wholly out of place beat. Even the single, "The Show Goes On," sounds forced, although it has Lupe's signature upbeat message for the "kids in the ghetto." (In an interview, Lupe said he was literally told not to go "too deep" lyrically on this track.)

The only tracks that sound like authentic Lupe to me are Letting Go, Words I Never Said, I'm Beaming, and Shining Down (the last two were released some time ago, probably before the label's interference). I hope his next album is better; I'd like to see Eminem add him to the Shady 2.0 roster but I don't think that will happen.

As if it weren't bad enough to ruin our standard of living and our environment, corporations are busy destroying the music of musical geniuses like Lupe Fiasco. He deserves better and so do we.

Let me start off by saying I'm a pretty diehard Lupe fan. I listen to his pre-Food and Liquor mixtapes all the time. I maintain that F&L and The Cool are two of the most underrated albums in hip hop in the last 5 years. I regularly tell people that Lupe is the most underrated lyricist of our generation, and arguably ever.

But I don't know what happened in this album. The rawness, the realness, the style that makes Lupe Fiasco different from other "pop" rappers... is missing. At first, I was appalled that Amazon categorized this album as "Pop Rap", but they actually got it right, sadly enough. Yeah, Lupe still raps about things other rappers won't touch, but for some reason it now sounds forced. It's like he's trying to be too lyrical over beats that were made for the radio. Lupe used to use great but not overpowering beats to show off his amazing flow (go go gadget flow, anyone?). But Lasers is filled with distracting beats and hooks that almost completely take away from Lupe.

I have no doubt that people will love this album. It might even end up being his best selling one. But it will be from the 50 Cent, Flo Rida, Pitbull etc fans who listen to beats and hooks. It will not be because of the true hip hop heads and old Lupe fans. So yeah, you might like this album, but not if you loved Lupe's last two.

After listening to Lasers a few times through, I just had to play Food and Liquor and the Cool. And damn, those albums are straight fire. NO ONE rapped like he did over those two albums. Sadly, that includes the Lupe Fiasco that showed up to Lasers. To me, Lasers is just another album that will come and go. I can only hope that Lupe makes another hip hop album sometime in the future. But given the success that Lasers will probably have, I wouldn't count on it.