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Tag Archives: Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco on “Steppin’ Laser” tour
In April, Lupe Fiasco embarks on a monthlong tour of major markets in support of his forthcoming album, We Are Lasers. Or is it called Lasers now? I’m not sure. B.O.B., the talented ATL artist who will finally (fingers crossed) … Continue reading
Brief tour for Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco will complete a few college dates this fall. He also issued a new YouTube video touting a slate of artists on his 1st and 15th imprint, including Sarah Green, Mathew Santos, Gemini and Hey Champ. It’s been over … Continue reading
Review: Lupe Fiasco, “Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool”
Lupe Fiasco’s morality play, The Cool, is his second and partially successful attempt at making progressive rap suitable for home stereos and sporting arenas. Continue reading
Lupe Fiasco tours for “The Cool”
It’s December 18, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool is in stores, and the Chicago MC has been working overtime to promote it. XXL cover (albeit with nine other so-called "Leaders of the New School")? Check. "TRL"? Check. Placement on MTV’s "The Leak" a week prior to release? Check. High-profile guest spots from Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy and Snoop Dogg just so he can piss off a few Okayplayer.com conservatives? Check. TV appearances on "Rap City" and "The Sauce"? Check. Classic single on par with 2006’s "Kick, Push"? Uh, not yet.
Unlike last year, when Lupe Fiasco wasted several months on sporadic spot dates for Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, dude has already booked a monster U.S. tour that kicks off in January. Check out the itinerary below and see if he’s hitting your town, and then — if you haven’t seen it yet — watch Hype Williams’ mock-operatic video for Lupe’s "Superstar" single.
Lupe Fiasco blows out “The Cool”
Well, it’s almost the end of November and, despite my initial skepticism, it seems that Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool will indeed be out before the end of the year, reaching stores via Atlantic on December 18. But it almost didn’t happen, thanks to an absurd controversy nicknamed "Fiascogate."
Most online rap geeks are familiar with the contours of the matter, so I won’t get in too deep on it. To be brief: Lupe Fiasco participated in a tribute to A Tribe Called Quest during the "VH-1 Hip-Hop Honors" on October 5. During his performance of "Electric Relaxation" and "Award Tour," Lupe flubbed some of the lyrics. Several bloggers, and many posters on the Okayplayer.com chat boards, criticized Lupe for the error. In response, Lupe noted that he hadn’t been a fan of Tribe when he was growing up, and wasn’t knowledgeable about their music. This led to a huge torrent of criticism, with many Internet heads castigating Lupe for not knowing about one of the best hip-hop groups ever. Adding fuel to the fire, Q-Tip noted that he was aware Lupe didn’t know their music, and only added Lupe to the tribute after his label brokered it. The controversy grew so big that MTV.com felt obliged to weigh in.
In the immediate aftermath, a lot of bloggers claimed that they wouldn’t support Lupe. A month later, who cares? Lupe doesn’t have to be a hip-hop scholar — he’s an artist, not a professor. Leave the studies to the journalists and others who present themselves as "hip-hop experts." All Lupe has to do is achieve his stated goal, which is to make good music. And to all the Internet gangstas that front their knowledge of Tribe, how many of them listened to the Last Poets, Amiri Baraka & Sunny Murray, H. Rap Brown, Bob Kaufman and Allen Ginsburg?
Lupe Fiasco promises “The Cool”
Back in May, I noted with some amusement that Lupe Fiasco planned to release another album before the end of the year. It was going to be called Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, named after one of the tracks on his acclaimed debut Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor. I didn’t take it seriously…most rappers talk up projects well before they’re completed. (See Dr. Dre’s Detox, et cetera.)
Well, the summer’s almost over, and Lupe Fiasco continues to insist that The Cool will hit stores in 2007. However, it has been pushed back from October 31 to November 20. Most of the production, it seems, will be handled by Pro and Soundtrack — the guys who drew some criticism for overproducing Lupe’s debut. Fiasco previewed two of its tracks, "Us Placers" and "Superstardom" (feat. singer-songwriter Matthew Santos, last heard on Food & Liquor‘s standout track "American Terrorist") during a showcase set at Lollapalooza this month.
According to a Billboard story, Fiasco is also relying on a few cliches, namely the "supergroup" concept and the "retire before I fall off" concept. The former is in regards to CRS (Child Rebel Soldiers), his pairing with Pharrell Williams and Kanye West.
Lupe Fiasco cools out in the studio
Even as he prepared to drop the critically acclaimed Food & Liquor last September, Chicago phenom Lupe Fiasco told anyone who’d listen that he wanted to quickly follow up with another album. Now, according to a Billboard.com news item, the Muslim rapper is heading into the studio to work on a new project called The Cool.
While Lupe gave away few details, he says he wants to collaborate with Pink Floyd (is it Roger Waters or the David Gilmour-led trio?) and hopes to have the album out by October 31 via his Atlantic-distributed imprint 1st & 15th. I’m always skeptical of release dates, especially if an album isn’t complete, but it would be nice to get another Lupe Fiasco joint this year. Meanwhile, what’s up with the Gemini album?
While you wait for The Cool, you can see Lupe procrastinate with a handful of summer gigs at various national festivals. Tour dates are below.
Review: Lupe Fiasco, “Food & Liquor”
On Food & Liquor Lupe aka Lupin III is painfully conscious of his otherness, a skateboarding, drug-and-alcohol free Muslim amidst a generation of self-proclaimed crack rappers. Continue reading