Even if we had not been privy to every last detail of "Lasergate" - from the organized rally to be held outside the Atlantic offices all the way to Lupe recently admitting that he hates the album - one could gather upon first listen of "Lasers" that this may have not been the version of this album Lupe had originally envisioned. At least those who have been even casual fans of Lupe since he first came on the scene.Right from the first track, Lupe sounds exhausted: "Tired of all the wardrobe changing/Playing all these extra roles/Filled with all these different spirits/Living off these separate souls/Point of life is getting hollow/Can't wait for the exit hole..." Lupe resigns himself to the fate that is "Lasers". It's as if Biggie had started off "Ready to Die" with "Suicidal Thoughts". Set to Euro-pop emo production.
Then consider the irony of his second single "Words I Never Said". Where Lupe lyrically assaults America for its political, social, and cultural hypocrisy and concludes by declaring he will not be the one afraid to expose said hypocrisy. Yet the production is courtesy of producer-of-the-moment Alex Da Kid and his songstress-in-crime Skylar Grey. The track is actually not bad. But coming from Lupe, who had so loyally clung to his 1st-and-15th in-house production team for two albums, it feels slightly... conformist. (Yeah, I know he tapped the Neptunes for "Food & Liquor" but "I Gotcha" was never one of my favorites either.)
We could go right onto the next track where the chorus pleads, "Yeah I got flaws/I know I'm not perfect/But all the ups and downs will soon be worth it/When I get there..." A cry for help? Is it coincidental that the second verse is him metaphorically talking to his therapist about how to cope with fame... and the therapist prescribing more of it?
And so on and so forth.
Yes, this is most likely, yet again, just the paranoid ramblings of a hip hop elitist snob. But after toning down and filtering out all the hyperbole, it doesn't seem completely far fetched. Not to mention that every time I hear the hook to "State Run Radio", I have to restrain my own right hand from stabbing myself in the chest just so I can get to "All Black Everything", the near-lone saving grace of the album (at least as one song in its entirety).
And what Lupe has admitted to the press thus far only confirms these suspicions. I am sure it has not been lost at all on him, who proclaimed his favorite album was Nas' "It Was Written"... which at its time was also heavily criticized as Nas' own attempt for broader commercial appeal and success. Which, as it happens, turned out to be his best selling album of all time. And guess what? "LASERS" HAS ALREADY DONE LUPE'S BEST FIRST-WEEK NUMBERS YET.
I know, it's not that serious. It is just music after all. And, in all honesty, I am not one to criticize someone for their own personal taste in music. But if there is any grain of truth to anything I've just written, what I will take away from "Lasers" is that is, in fact, a plea. An impassioned one asking his fans to stick around for what will hopefully be the more traditionally-hip hop flavored "Food & Liquor 2".
Please?
