Lupe Fiasco as an artist can be more associated with the slick, well dressed image, with smart, hard hitting lyrics, like that of Kanye West, than the grime previously associated with this genre. The fact that he, Kanye and Pharrell Williams formed a group in 2007 called Child Rebel Soldier only shows that the three share the same frame of mind in their musicality.
The recently released track ‘Superstar’ (Atlantic Records) is about that rappers hot topic: superstardom. ’Superstar’ is from Lupe’s second album, ’The Cool’ and has a very
organic feel to it, the rhythms and rhymes flow gently together, the repeated backing track and Fiasco’s chorus meshed with Santos’s out there (but not in your face) rhymes mix well, creating a morose but very strong, very modern finish.
I chose a new song, originally aiming for a UK based artist to stick close to home, but I gave this track a listen and gave Fiasco a go as he kept appearing everywhere I looked. Before this weeks chart (13.01.08) the track was pegged to find a place in the top five by BBC Radio 1‘s 1extra, and there was just something about it. It actually came in at number 7 this week but this isn’t bad coming from relative obscurity.
Here’s a little sample of the lyrics: “…And the light bulbs around my mirror don’t flicker, everyone gets a nice autographed picture, one for you and one for your sister…”, a tasteful ironic prod breaking down the very business that the artists themselves are a part of. But these modern hiphop artists are not afraid to poke fun and leave behind the image they themselves are trying to break away from. The vocals take on a more Chris Martin melancholy feel than Snoop Dogg. Not to say that the songs breaks away from its genre, because it doesn’t, the backing track sticks like glue to the grimy, crackly true hiphop style, the intelligence and the maturity of the lyrics make this song what it is.
If you’ve come to associate hiphop with gun wielding aggressive gangsters than give the likes of Lupe Fiasco a go, you might refresh your opinion on this changing genre as artists like Fiasco and Kanye move it away from this unfortunate stereotype.
Sadly Lupe has said in interviews that he will be ending his career after his next album ‘LupEND’ later this year.
The album ‘The Cool’ is released at the moment, I highly recommend it.
Look out for: LupEND - tagged to be Lupe’s final album.
The recently released track ‘Superstar’ (Atlantic Records) is about that rappers hot topic: superstardom. ’Superstar’ is from Lupe’s second album, ’The Cool’ and has a very
organic feel to it, the rhythms and rhymes flow gently together, the repeated backing track and Fiasco’s chorus meshed with Santos’s out there (but not in your face) rhymes mix well, creating a morose but very strong, very modern finish.
I chose a new song, originally aiming for a UK based artist to stick close to home, but I gave this track a listen and gave Fiasco a go as he kept appearing everywhere I looked. Before this weeks chart (13.01.08) the track was pegged to find a place in the top five by BBC Radio 1‘s 1extra, and there was just something about it. It actually came in at number 7 this week but this isn’t bad coming from relative obscurity.
Here’s a little sample of the lyrics: “…And the light bulbs around my mirror don’t flicker, everyone gets a nice autographed picture, one for you and one for your sister…”, a tasteful ironic prod breaking down the very business that the artists themselves are a part of. But these modern hiphop artists are not afraid to poke fun and leave behind the image they themselves are trying to break away from. The vocals take on a more Chris Martin melancholy feel than Snoop Dogg. Not to say that the songs breaks away from its genre, because it doesn’t, the backing track sticks like glue to the grimy, crackly true hiphop style, the intelligence and the maturity of the lyrics make this song what it is.
If you’ve come to associate hiphop with gun wielding aggressive gangsters than give the likes of Lupe Fiasco a go, you might refresh your opinion on this changing genre as artists like Fiasco and Kanye move it away from this unfortunate stereotype.
Sadly Lupe has said in interviews that he will be ending his career after his next album ‘LupEND’ later this year.
The album ‘The Cool’ is released at the moment, I highly recommend it.
Look out for: LupEND - tagged to be Lupe’s final album.
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