I have a feeling once Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Part 1 (we need an acronym for that because it’s quite the mouthful) finally drops, Lasers will be considered an experimental afterthought. After listening to this latest single, I think it’s safe to say Lupe’s back.
Oh boy, I was not expecting this for Lupe’s first single from his upcoming album, Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album. He basically took the beat from Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y.” and made his own song out of it. That might’ve been cool when he did it as a freestyle, but I guess it isn’t cool when he’s selling it as his first single. Personally, I don’t Lupe spitting over the beat, but you can’t really call it a new song when the sample you make sounds exactly like the sample used in the classic Pete Rock track. Lupe defended the sample himself though, saying it was more of a nod to the classic than anything else.
(Source: Spotify)
Bassnectar - Vava Voom Feat. Lupe Fiasco
I know I’ve been M.I.A. for quite awhile now, but what better way to make a comeback than by posting up this monstrous collaboration between Bassnectar and Mr. Lupe Fiasco? You might remember the last time Lupe spit over a Bassnectar track was when he went in on the remix to Elle Goulding’s “Lights.” Now the two are working together for real, and they brought some real heat with this one. ”Vava Voom” will serve as the first single off of Bassnectar’s new album, which goes by the same name.
Lupe Fiasco - Double Burger With Cheese
This new video for Lupe’s standout track from Friend of the People is actually really creative. It features clips for every line that Lupe spits, taking great care to even matches the quoted lines with lines from the movies as well.
Lupe Fiasco - American Terrorist III
Man, I’m already hyped from that IU-Kentucky game, so this Lupe track did nothing but add to my excitement! It’s probably one of the best tracks Lupe’s dropped in awhile, although I could do without the annoying robot voice on the hook.
L.E.P. Bogus Boys - Zombie Land Feat. Lupe Fiasco
L.E.P. Bogus Boys recruit their fellow Chitown native to help out on this aptly titled track for Halloween. Gotta say Lupe goes HARD on this.
Lupe Fiasco - LightWork
Lupe goes in over the Bassnectar remix of Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” for the first track off of his long awaited Friend Of The People mixtape. As you might remember, Friend Of The People was supposed to be released on Christmas 2 years ago as a follow up to his Enemy Of The State mixtape, but was cancelled because he was busy training for Summit on the Summit. It was then announced again on “Fiasco Friday” last October, but was then delayed again last December. Well, barring any delays again, we should finally have Friend Of The People this Thanksgiving.
My guess is that this new product will sound much different than the original mixtape, that is if he made any music at all for that effort. Anyway, if you were a fan of Lasers, then you’ll definitely like this track. If you hated Lasers, then chances are you won’t. ”LightWork” features Lupe rapping over a similar electronic-dubstep-ish beat that was so prevalent on Lasers. Even if you didn’t like Lasers, this is worth checking out. Just because it’s not like his old music, doesn’t mean Lupe isn’t still strong with the lyrics.
Jay Sean - Say Yeah Feat. Lupe Fiasco
Now this is fresh. I really prefer Jay Sean when he’s showing off his true R&B roots, rather than trying to make the next club anthem or working with any of the Cash Money artists on his label. He just sounds more natural and smooth this way. Another bonus on this one is the addition of one of my favorite emcees, Lupe, who’s been adding some nice guest verses to his resume recently. He definitely brings it again, but you’d hardly be able to notice, considering he’s so laid back this time around.
Nikki Jean - Million Star Motel Feat. Lupe Fiasco & Black Thought
This is some truly beautiful music right here. I have to say, as soon as I pressed play, I knew this was the song I’ve been searching for all summer. While that may sound bold/crazy, it holds true. It’s got that light, airy feeling to it, complete with some very soothing vocals that just instantly put a smile on your face. It doesn’t hurt that it also features two of my favorite lyricists of all time. It really is a complete package, and I know this will get plenty of burn in my iTunes/iPod for the next few days at least.
(Source: 2dopeboyz.com)
Trae Tha Truth - I’m On Feat. Lupe Fiasco, Big Boi, Wale, Wiz Khalifa & MDMA
Trae’s new single features a verse from your favorite rapper (you decide which one of these is your fav).
(Source: 2dopeboyz.com)
Patrick Stump - This City Feat. Lupe Fiasco
I may be temporarily residing in New York, but Chicago will always be my home. Good to see these two natives hooking up to produce a new dedication to the great Windy City.
Lupe Fiasco - Airplanes Feat. Hayley Williams
Wow, I cannot explain my excitement in listening to this track. I’ve been waiting to hear it ever since Lupe said in interviews that he’d made a version of this track. Previously, Lupe has also had versions of both “Nothin’ On You” and “Stereo Sun” leak as well, songs that were respectively given to B.o.B and Tinchy Stryder. I’m glad he passed up on “Nothin’ On You” since it didn’t really fit his style, but he definitely did a much better job on “Stereo Sun” than Tinchy did.
“Airplanes” now is actually a hard one to judge though. As the story goes:
I was actually working on a session in Chung King [Studios], and [Atlantic Records chairman] Craig Kallman called me during that session with that particular track, to work on it for Lupe Fiasco,” Jonsin told MTV News. “I told Craig, ‘I like the song a lot. It’s a smash and could be somebody’s single. But it’s not Lupe’s record. I need this record for B.o.B. Please give this record to B.o.B.’ I guess they went through whoever they went through, convinced whoever they needed to, and it got to B.o.B
Now if you listen to both versions, you can definitely tell Lupe’s lyrics have much deeper meaning to them, but I can see why B.o.B’s version would be more popular. I can’t say Lupe’s version wouldn’t have been successful either though, because that’s just playing into a whole what-if scenario that I probably have too much bias towards. It’s just interesting how things played out, especially considering that so much of B.o.B’s success has come from that record. It’s also interesting that B.o.B was able to release two versions, one with Eminem. Just imagine hearing those three versions all blended together. They should have just done that from the beginning.
UPDATE:
Lupe recently spoke to XXL regarding his feelings about “Nothin’ On You” and “Airplanes.” What he says actually makes a lot of sense.
Would “Airplanes” and “Nothin’ On You?” have been just as huge if they were your songs?
No.
Why?
B.O.B. made those records. He took those records where they needed to go. To say, if it was my records would they be different. For what? There is no way to know. When it first happened, it was me and Bob did the second verse. It was supposed to be me and Bob. Bob’s verse was what they wanted, it was like, ‘Why don’t you do that?’ I’m like, ‘Why don’t you give it to Bob.’ I remember Lyor was like, ‘Why did you let that record go?’ I’m like, ‘It’s the same money. It’s the same money I’m not going to get. It’s the same money you’re going to get. And you broke an artist, as what you should be doing. The way you did?’ Eh, I can’t really rock with those records because of the way they did the business. For me, it’s like, Who knows if it would be as big with me on it. Probably not. I’m already branded in a certain way. You got the people who fuck with Lupe and people who don’t fuck with Lupe. You have a whole industry that don’t fuck with Lupe. Some are malicious but they haven’t been acquainted with me and they’ve seem me do other things so they put me over here. It’s like, I’m not Nelly, I’m dead prez. The people who rock with Nelly aren’t as quick to rock with dead prez. But if it’s someone new, they are open to the forces of the market. With me, there are certain records that I would do that the radio stations wouldn’t play because it’s Lupe. It instantly starts to be, ‘Well, is it going to be weird?’ But then you get Bob and it’s like, ‘Who is this B.O.B. dude?’
Link to the full article here
Previous: Lupe Fiasco - Who Are You Now Feat. B.o.B | Lupe Fiasco - What U Want Feat. Kenna
(Source: pigeonsandplanes.com)
Lupe Fiasco - Who Are You Now Feat. B.o.B
This is an unfinished track from Lupe’s Lasers. It would have been nice to see Lupe and Bobby Ray hook up for a track on Lasers, but I’m not sure how this would’ve fit in with the rest of the album. I really like the concept of the song though. The song itself reminds me a lot of the last time these guys shared space on a track, on Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope (Remix).” It only makes sense then that Lupe wanted either her or Cee-Lo Green to close out the track here. I’m just going to let Lu explain the rest though:
“Who Are You Now - Lupe ft. @bobatl (wanted ceelo or janelle on the 3rd!) from Phase 2 of LASERS … for those who say i dont put out free music or question my love for my fans…take this as a peace offering or a STFU whatever fits you haha … Prod by Lupe Fiasco, @bobatl on Guitar & Matt Nelson on the boards. Was an early track for LASERS that got put on the backburner Unfinished … oh and graham burris on BASS!!! Japanese Cartoon On The Check In”
Lupe Fiasco - What U Want Feat. Kenna
Here’s another track from Lasers that never quite made the final cut. I can see why, since it doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the album (that also didn’t stop a lot of the other songs either though). Apparently an early version of this leaked about a year ago, but I guess this is the final version.
On this one, Lupe hooks up with his Summit on the Summit running mate, Kenna. The duo could previously be heard together on such tracks as “Resurrection” and ”Say Goodbye To Love (Remix).” Considering they’ve spent so much time together recently, I was kind of surprised that Kenna wasn’t featured on Lupe’s new album. Now I see that they did collaborate, but the track simply didn’t make it on the album. For some reason this beat reminds me of the old Batman video game from the NES, but I can’t really tell why. (Someone should really rap over that beat actually…)
(Source: somekindofawesome.com)
Travis Barker - If U Want To Feat. Pharrell Williams & Lupe Fiasco
This is a new track off of Travis Barker’s Give The Drummer Some album, featuring Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams. I’ve gotta say, Lupe absolutely spazzes over this Neptunes-produced track. It’s definitely the most energetic I’ve seen him in awhile, and showcases exactly why I started listening to him in the first place. I’ve also included another collaboration between these 2 called “Joaquin Phoenix” from Travis’ Let The Drummer Get Wicked Vol. 1 mixtape. Lupe goes just as hard on that one too.
Bonus:
Travis Barker - Joaquin Phoenix Feat. Lupe Fiasco
(Source: pigeonsandplanes.com)
