Every summer has its defining anthem, typically a sugary sweet, pumped-up pop song. But for me, every summer has an album I associate irrevocably with the season, with the slow-dripping humidity and that sense of ease you can only get in June through August. Though this album, the third major release by famed rapper Lupe Fiasco, actually dropped in March, I can\u2019t help but think of it as this summer\u2019s Recovery <\/i>by Eminem, which I listened to on loop throughout the summer of \u201910. There\u2019s a heaviness and a headiness to Lasers, <\/i>and Lupe\u2019s lyrics are just as dagger-sharp as they were on 2007\u2019s The Cool <\/i>or the new classic, 2006\u2019s Food And Liquor. <\/i><\/p>\n
While critical reception to this disc has been so-so, I was bowled over from first listen in a way that I wasn\u2019t with Lupe\u2019s previous work. His albums are dense, chaotic, and complex, yet he\u2019s got a strangely keen ear for crafting hooks. In many spots \u2013 and perhaps that\u2019s why I love it so much \u2013 Lasers <\/i>is so reminiscent of the aforementioned Recovery, <\/i>whose bold honesty put Eminem back on top of the rap game. Songs like \u201cWords I Never Said,\u201d with Skylar Grey\u2019s made-for-radio hook, turn the mirror on the MC himself just as much as they indict the agitated political culture. It\u2019s none too hard to take on the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world, but lines like \u201cI think that all the silence is worse than all the violence\u201d and the bare emotion of the chorus take a different sort of boldness, one that makes Lupe so accessible and fascinating. <\/p>\n
From start to finish, Lasers <\/i>has a prickly beauty to it \u2013 take opener \u201cLetting Go,\u201d which pairs its fuzzed-over rhymes with a positively soaring hook and dreamy piano, a combination of strength and musical sensibility. Other tracks are destined to be gobbled up as singles, such as the slick beats and swaggering vocals of \u201cOut Of My Head\u201d (featuring Trey Songz) and lead single \u201cThe Show Goes On,\u201d which has already become a summer staple. Incorporating the fancy-free melody of Modest Mouse\u2019s \u201cFloat On,\u201d this cut reconfigures that already amazing song and makes it a glorious and endlessly listenable reminder to seize the day while it\u2019s still in front of you. <\/p>\n
In some ways, Lupe even reminds me of Kanye West in his approach to soundscapes and the lyrical territory that West covered on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. <\/i>On Lasers, <\/i>it\u2019s \u201cBeautiful Lasers (2Ways)\u201d featuring MDMA that makes me think of West\u2019s \u201cRunaway\u201d in its haunting honesty. Lines like \u201cIf you feel like you don\u2019t wanna be alive \/ You feel just how I am\u201d are elevated by the shimmering instrumentation, and the moment when Lupe shouts \u201cMy heart been broke for awhile \/ Yours been the one keeping me alive\u201d it\u2019s raw and beautiful. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s not a song on this album that I don\u2019t like and that doesn\u2019t fit into the vision of the album. \u201cState Run Radio\u201d has a chorus that will lodge in your head, while \u201cAll Black Everything\u201d is signature Lupe, matching stark lyrics with a sweeping beat. <\/p>\n
Though this album was barely even released as a result of controversy with Lupe\u2019s Atlantic label, it emerges as a statement of integrity for the rapper. It\u2019s definitely got a different sort of sensibility than his previous records \u2013 more accessible, a little more pop \u2013 but for me that just makes it all the more masterful, and all the better that messages like Lupe\u2019s are becoming radio anthems.\u00a0 I for one will be spinning this on repeat long past the summer, and I recommend you try it out, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":30681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8721],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-42354","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-lupe-fiasco","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42354"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}