The Life And Death Of 'Lasers'

If you've been any sort of a self-respecting hip-hop fan, you couldn't help but follow the drama that was Lupe Fiasco versus Atlantic. For three years Lupe Fiasco and his fans waited for his third release, Lasers, with numerous reports of Atlantic shelving the album leading to dedicated Lupe fans (of which there are many) to protest outside of Atlantic. Drama indeed.

And all that drama ended when Atlantic finally released Lasers. There was just one problem, and that was maybe Atlantic was right. The album has been widely panned and rightly so. Aside from a few decent efforts, most of the album is incredibly frustrating. 'Out Of My Head' and 'State Run Radio' are songs I waited three years for? Even the better songs, such as 'Coming Up', leave something to be desired. Specifically with 'Coming Up', think of Tupac's 'Keep Ya Head Up' with a club-centric focus. Bummer.

But all is not lost! Since the release of this abomination of an album, Lupe has bemoaned the process of this album himself, claiming all the squabbling with Atlantic (he was told to not rap too deep on the album's single) left him less than fully invested in the project. For most hip-hop fans, this album was dead upon first listen.

And while Lupe and many of his fans may be less than satisfied with his project, there are clearly others that this album is reaching. The album has officially became Lupe's more commercially successful, blowing away his previous two efforts, both critically acclaimed. And it's fairly easy to see how this came about. Lupe has often been criticized for being inaccessible, a hip-hop intellectual of sorts. But this album is more characterized by pop beats and vapid rhymes. I guess Lupe followed his own advice.

But we all knew complex rhyming didn't sell. Atlantic knew it too. And while the fact remains that major record labels continue to mess up great hip-hop, Atlantic may have managed to expand Lupe's audience after all and turned out a successful hit of an album.

But that still leaves the rest of us asking what about that other Lupe? What about the the one that released this song or this song or this song? Or even what about the Lupe that released the rather awesome 'I'm Beaming' and 'Shining Down'? All of these songs would have been the best track on Lasers!

Oh wait, here he is.

Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell Williams, Travis Barker - If You Want To

It turns out, Lupe fans should have no fear. He's been releasing music and a pretty steady pace and is even rumored to have already finished his next album, Food and Liquor 2, which may even see a 2011 release. Just hope Atlantic doesn't get their hands on it first.

Goin' In For The Kill

Every once in a while, a song comes along that seems to be created to be sampled to death by hip-hop artists. I'm not talking about a drum sample that has been cut out of James Brown's 'Funky Drummer' or The Honeydripper's 'Impeach the President' as those are part of an era of hip-hop in which the samples were free. But now, samples cost money, and no one is going to pay for a James Brown drum beat that could instead be duplicated.

Instead, samples are often used as a way to replace a chorus (Nas' 'Get Down') or to make the song recognizable to a sought after demographic (Lupe Fiasco 'Show Goes On'). The latest sample to be passed around is from La Roux's 'In For The Kill'.




It's pretty easy to see how the chorus of this song is easily translatable to hip-hop. One could take it literally and use it as a chorus for a gangster rap anthem or one could use it to set the tone for a song focused on lyrical braggadocio. And it has been used in all of these ways. The Game used it as a potential single for his upcoming album, Swollen Members made a video, even Jim Jones got in on it. The list goes on and on. But by far my favorite has been the gangster rap rendition from Chicago's L.E.P. Bogus Boyz, and it has this awesome video to match.

Old English D

Detroit has been getting all kinds of shine in different ways these days. It makes sense after all, America loves the underdog, and there is no city that more represents the underdog (not exactly by choice) than Detroit. Home of American organized labor, Motown, the greatest baseball team known to human kind. The arsenal of democracy! What's not to love! Of course, there are the underlying racial tensions that continue to dominate an outsiders perception of the Motor City, not to mention the politics of the city itself, but to say that's not typical of modern America as well would be erroneous.

The most ubiquitous view of Detroit recently has been the recent Chrysler ad that debuted during that Super Bowl that I didn't watch. Without a doubt, the commercial is awesome. Nothing says grizzled like a commercial filmed in the Detroit winter (ask anyone). Sadly, it doesn't address many of the issues facing the industrial metropolis in the 21st century, most notably outsourcing, which Chrysler is no stranger to. Post-industrial life is rough in the Motor City, but at least this commercial is awesome (sarcasm unintended).



But Detroit's shine does not stop there! After all, a big commercial spot during the Super Bowl can hardly represent a city as unglamorous as Detroit. A more accurate representative is the up and coming rapper Danny Brown whose penchant for out of control rhyming and widely varying subject matter have made him one of the top young rappers to watch in the upcoming young year.

And he represents Detroit almost too well, often rapping about the ugliest parts of urban decay. In fact, it's hard to listen to his critically-acclaimed The Hybrid and not get a little depressed. But so is life in the D, and he represents it well when he raps on the song 'White Stripes' :

Roll deep like the roaches in my kitchen
Dawg I ain't trippin'
But they never gone
They don't even run when I cut the lights on

While much of The Hybrid shines light on Detroit, what has bee on constant rotation lately as a start to get ready for my return to Motor City is Danny Brown's 'New Era'. Assuredly, 'Black and Yellow' this is not. And in the many Detroit anthems that have come out of the most 'underestimated plus underrated city in this hip-hop game', none are as catchy as Wiz Khalifa's smash. But they shouldn't be. Undoubtedly, this is a song that can only be truly enjoyed by Detroiters. And this is Detroit's charm, and why Chrysler's ad claims 'Imported from Detroit'. Detroit, whether it's for better or worse, has become one of the most unique cities this country has ever seen. And while it would certainly be nice to revel in the big city feel of a more traditional metropolis, artists like Danny Brown makes one revel in that uniqueness, even if that uniqueness is slightly depressing.

Danny Brown - New Era