Lupe Fiasco held a private listening party for a few fans and tastemakers at the Sound Table in Atlanta. With G-Mack spinning on the ones and twos, Fiasco introduced several songs from his new album, L.A.S.E.R.S. While he has always provided gripping social commentary in his music, L.A.S.E.R.S. could be his most politically-charged album thus far. Here are a few songs that could provoke change in hip-hop. –amir shaw
Produced by Alex Da Kid, Fiasco speaks candidly on the terrorists, the war in Afghanistan, budget cuts on education, and he even questions President Obama. “9/11, building 7, did they really pull it? And a bunch of other cover-ups, your child’s future was the first to go with budget cuts. If you think that hurts, wait, here comes the upper cut. The school was garbage in the first place. That’s on the up and up.”
Similar to Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream Speech,” Fiasco gives his dream for the hip-hop generation. “You will never know what you could ever be. If you never try, you will never see. Stayed in Africa, you ain’t never leave. So, there were no slaves in our history.”
Lupe proves that he can flow with the top emcees of his generation. On “SLR,” he continues to use clever wordplay to speak on the travesty of slavery without sounding preachy and out of touch. “Next up is crustaceans and fast food allows, The beef is all the same. It’s just how they kill the cows. Somebody tell Malcolm X that I’m trying to steal his style, And tell Cornell West that I’m trying to steal his frooo. Go back in time. Take the slave plows, shovels and the hoooes, The masters get the ‘It Was Written‘ intro.”