Lupe the Great...Mostly
written by Just K
written by Just K
In terms of raw talent and ability, I can’t really think of anything Lupe Fiasco is incapable of doing. The MC out of Chi-town has taken time to go way over the general listener’s head (see: Dumb it Down), then was kind enough to come back to Earth to allow us to process his music (see: Intruder Alert or Hip Hop Saved My Life). He can do the braggadocio, he can tell stories, he can make social commentary, and he can do things in song that I probably can’t even fathom. His lyrics are filled with intricate wordplay and well-placed metaphors while never losing focus of the actual song topic. As for flow, put him on any beat and he’ll ride it like it came with handlebars. He can do it all. Lupe Fiasco is like a rapping machine.
Therein lies the problem.
Aside from Rosie on the Jetsons, Johnny 5, and the Terminator (and that wasn’t even until the sequel), when was the last time we really fell in love with a robot? Wall-E didn’t even do as well as most Pixar flicks. The one thing that Lupe lacks is emotion in his voice and delivery. He’s a far cry from being the hip-hop version of Ben Stein (see: Lloyd Banks or Fabolous), but I’ve never actually felt anything from a Lupe song other than wow, he can spit or cool, that’s a different topic. Evoking a real feeling is what separates the huge superstars such as Jay, Kanye, Wayne or T.I. from young Fiasco. Even on a song like Fighters, it was his lyrics and not his actual presence on the song that brought us to what he was going through.
Everybody’s had that moment with their favorite artist when they can say yeah, they were really feeling this song when they recorded it. For me it’s Jay – Soon You’ll Understand or Where Have You Been, Eminem – The Way I Am and anything about Kim or Ms. Mathers, Andre 3K – Return of the Gangsta, Kanye – he’s emotional all the time so you can pick a song, Nas – One Mic, and the list goes on. I just can’t find THAT song for Lupe.
So continue on, you phenomenal MC, you. ‘Cause every song you do I feel you, I just don’t feel you.
6 comments:
K, I can't go in the way i want to because i gotta run (I will do it later), but i had to say this might be one of the best PTM posts ever.
brb.
Keep in mind, Lupe is one of my favorite rappers ever. I think his skills on the mic are rare. Now being who I am and where I'm from, being a lyrical robot is fine by me. It's why Canibus captivated me in '98, and Rass Kass did in '02.
But i never thought about emotions. Lupe doesn't really put his own emotions in his music. He is rarely the subject of his own rhymes. Many of the tales that he tells is about someone else. He might have the detail but it doesn't have that emotion behind it. It's like a news reporter, you tell the news, fact for fact and let the audience choose whether to feel it or not.
"He said, She said" nearly brought me to tears the first time that i heard it, not because of any emotion that Lupe emits, but because I can relate to the people in his story.
While I can't say its a flaw in his game per se, I would like to see some of his rhymes get more personal. That would be crazy!
Jus, "he said, she said" almost broke me down too similar to the way that Fresh Prince episode where his pops shows up and then bounces again hit me, crazy. Great point about him being a reporter, but i'm not gon lie "go go gadget flow", i was feelin him, hahaha, maybe it was the bangin ass beat and DEF the flow, but i guess what i felt is hip hop, that's who he is, through and through, as he's shown us and (triple no homo) i felt him on that one. Nas is a rapper, Jay makes great songs, Em again a rapper, Lupe IS hip hop, the perfect embodiment of it all.
Fam, my eyes still get watery everytime that episode comes on. no bullshit. i feel you on the Lupe IS hiphop thing but i still think he doesn't bring his own emotions into his art form the way other rappers do.
great f'n post.
I gotta disagree, I really felt Lupe on "Fighters"
man, i really miss my pops
hope that god watches over him and that hes on top
that there is no more disease and that he's alright
that hes one of the generals inside the army of the light
and grandma, you know i had to bite somethin from ya
so after every show its peace, and much love to ya
auntie tweetys on the way please look out for that girl
i know we'll meet again so it's never me against the world
That was real to me...
and also on "Hurt me soul"
"I had a ghetto boy bop, a Jay-Z boycott
'Cause he said that he never prayed to God, he prayed to Gotti
I'm thinkin golly, God guard me from the ungodly
But by my 30th watchin of "Streets is Watchin"
I was back to givin props again and that was botherin"
gWiz
So I went to the Beyonce concert a couple summers ago (man, no homo to the third power - my girl @ the time made me go; it was like Sex and the City w/ roid rage) and I remember she sang Flaws and All. She cried at the end of the song and threw up the Roc sign and everybody started tripping out. Yeah, then she did it in NY and Houston and ATL and every city she was in. Then you see her in and interview and it's all soooooo perfectly rehearsed and staged. She's just always a little too crisp, a little too sharp, and a little to composed. It's like she never fully invests herself in her own music.
I love Lupe. He's definitely one of my favorite artists (I went to see dude perform three times). GWiz, I definitely feel you on the lyrics to those songs. I definitely felt him on the lyrics, but I just don't feel the emotion from him to match his lyrics. Maybe it's the natural tone of his voice or something, but I think it may be a part of the reason that some folks just can't fully invest in Lupe as an artist.
Is it a flaw? Maybe, maybe not, but I do think it's missing.
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