The expectations for Lupe Fiasco’s third album Lasers were lowered after his differences with Atlantic Records forced Lupe to put out an album that he was less than enthusiastic about. Anytime an artist’s heart isn’t 100% into his craft, the project will suffer. Atlantic clearly wanted more radio accessible music and Lupe simply isn’t that kind of rapper.
This isn’t Kanye, who we expect dope beats and decent rhymes from. This is an artist who is lauded for his lyrics and the way he tackles a broad range of topics. Lupe does touch on some political issues (“Words I Never Said”), as well as offers some thoughts on public education, the media (“State Run Radio”), depression (“Beautiful Lasers”) and the like, but his vision is tainted by the musical backdrop for his insights.
When it’s good, Lasers delivers exactly what we want from Lupe. “Till I Get There” is a perfect example. The keys compliment Lupe well as he discusses his struggle to become a household name. Lupe spits, “Doctor doctor please, the fame ain’t painless enough/That’s cuze you ain’t famous enough/You got a little game but your name ain’t ringing enough.”
The Skylar Grey assisted “Words I Never Said” and the Modest Mouse sampled “The Show Goes On” both teeter on the mainstream line and still deliver, particularly the former which finds Lupe calling out Obama for the violence on the Gaza Strip as well as dishonest banks that “gladly give you a loan today/So if you ever miss a payment they can take your home away.”
Unfortunately, when Lasers misses, it misses horribly. “I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now”, “Out Of My Head” and “Break The Chain” have no replay value at all. Trey Songz joins Lupe for “Out Of My Head,” for a lazy, R&B sounding love song, while MDMA is featured on “I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now” and “Break The Chain,” both of which are the worst efforts of Lupe’s career.
And that is the biggest problem here. There’s no consistency and no cohesion, which is a stark contrast from Lupe’s previous albums.
The inconsistency is evident over a three-song stretch towards the end of the album. On “State Run Radio,” Lupe addresses mainstream radio and how artists have to dumb it down to get heavy airplay. But he already discussed this on The Cool with “Dumb It Down.” The album follows with the club sounding “Break The Chain,” which is nothing more than a poor attempt at crossover and mainstream appeal. Lupe spits bland lyrics over a horrible beat, which sounds like a club or house remix rather than a hip-hop song. Lupe then comes with “All Black Everything” which is a brilliant take on what the world would look like today if racism didn’t exist and slavery never happened. Lupe is in prime form here, dropping thought provoking lines over a beat that would fit perfectly on both Food & Liquor and The Cool. And that’s exactly what’s wrong with this album. It’s a hodge-podge that leaves you nodding your head or cringing.
It’s hard to blame Lupe for this effort given the struggles with the record company, but compared to his previous efforts, this album fails mightily. All things tolled, 6 of the 12 tracks are solid, with “Till I Get There,” “All Black Everything,” and “Never Forget You” as the standouts. Hopefully album No. 4 will be all Lupe, and not the record label’s idea of what a Lupe Fiasco disc should sound like.
Final Grade: C
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