Lupe Fiasco - 'Lasers' (Atlantic) Released: 07/03/11

Lupe Fiasco is as much an intricate wordsmith as he is stylish. There’s just something about the guy that you can’t help but like. Whether it’s his conscious outlook on the world’s newsworthy issues, or the way his shades compliment his b-boy stance, he’s an emcee who’s garnered much respect and attention since his introduction on Kanye West’s ‘Touch The Sky’ back in ’05.

However, it’s been four long years since the release of his second album, the awe-inspiring ‘The Cool’, and this past year’s on-off battle with label Atlantic Records, in relation to the shelving of ‘Lasers’, hasn’t been easy. Spawning online petitions and protests outside the Atlantic offices in New York, which were eventually halted by record exec Lyor Cohen’s promise to put the record out, ‘Lasers’, which is an acronym for “Love Always Shines Everytime: Remember to Smile,” finally sees the light of day.

Recently expressing his negative feelings towards the new album, there are in fact moments throughout the 12-track offering that help you understand his frustrations. It just doesn’t sound like the type of Lupe Fiasco album that we’re used to. The wordplay is there, as are the subject matters, but the production, and a few of the features chosen, just don’t fit the near perfect Lupe blueprint he broke down on his first two projects. It almost sounds as if he was pressured to make the musical decisions that he did. The lead single, ‘The Show Goes On’, sounds like a generic track that the likes of Chipmunk, Flo Rida or even Taio Cruz could have recorded, while the overly poppy and auto-tune laced ‘Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)’ is a Tinie Tempah record with an American accent.

On the plus side, ‘Coming Up’, which is an impressive cut with a bounce, rock, skate feel to it, helps to paint a vision of sunny days and good times. It’s simple, punchy, and what hip-hop should sound like. A delight to the listener, Lupe’s vocals give off an air of cheerfulness and ease, which can also be said for the piano-driven ‘Till I Get There’. Almost spitting with no effort, it’s easy to see that he’s a natural rapper with more cool than the average Joe. Returning to the deep and meaningful, ‘All Black Everything’ is a race role reversal that compliments Lupe’s intellect and shines as the album’s stand out moment. At his best when storytelling with a twist, the atmospheric and non-conforming production is what the entire album needed to be blessed with.   

Obviously artists these days need to expand their horizons and adapt to what’s hot in order to sell units, but Lupe Fiasco never seemed like someone concerned with such a fickle approach to music. He’s always had an army of fans behind him, which is why it’s surprising some of the material featured on ‘Lasers’ came out the way it did. Already talking about releasing another album before the year is up...let’s just hope he returns to ‘The Cool’.