IRON MIC: LUPE FIASCO
 In 2006 Wasalu Muhammad Jaco known to the rap world as Lupe Fiasco, delivered an album that lover of music went out and supported. Unfortunately fans loved the album so much that they bootlegged the debut early and heavily. Still Lupe managed to be nominated for over 10 awards in 2007, including four BET Hip-Hop awards and four Grammy awards. However, the seemingly overwhelming success of Lupe’s studio career did not live up to Lupe’s expectations. Similar to another slept on legendary emcee by the name of Nasir Jones, Lupe Fiasco owes the rapper for more than good music.
Lupe Fiasco’s name derives from Nas’ old group The Firm’s track entitled “Firm Fiasco.” Lupe contends, “I was a real big Nas fan, and you had Nas Escobar, Biggie was Frank White-to me all the best rappers had first and last names. So I picked the "Fiasco" and it became "Lupe Fiasco" and it just stuck since high school.” Lupe’s remarkable similarities with Nas are prevalent in their artistic depth and analyses of societal and political issues. Both are rappers with a conscience but not conscious rappers that are the poet laureates of their Hip-Hop generations. Album sales and mainstream appeal may not be the indicator of their talent but 2008 may be the turning point for Lupe Fiasco.
Lupe has yet to win any major music awards, but 2008 may be the year that the public starts to recognize. Whether lyricist of the year, album of the year, or artist of the year; Lupe has made a case with The Cool to win all three awards. The album is expertly crafted with every type of Hip-Hop fan imaginable in mind. First off the concept of the album demands attention because it is essential to understanding all the songs.
The disc is named after The Cool, a “zombie” thug character whom Lupe first introduced on the Food & Liquor song of the same name. Other invented personas who are featured on the album are The Streets, a stunning woman who's thousands of years old, and The Game, an image of the dangerous and often deadly criminal life. Lupe further explains, “For me, personally, it represents three negative influences that surround Lupe Fiasco: The want and the need to be cool, the attraction of the streets, and the evils of the game itself.”
The first fascinating aspect that the listener notices of Lupe’s The Cool is the puzzling album cover artwork. The cover depicts elements of The Cool, The Streets, and The Game. Lupe explains "They've got supernatural characteristics. Like the Cool, his right hand is rotted away. The only thing that rotted away was his right hand. It represents the rotting away of his righteousness, of his good. And the Streets and the Cool kind of have a love affair going on. So she's represented by this locket. And the locket has a key and it's on fire. And as a gift to the Cool on his rise to fame, she gave him the key. And the key represents the key to the Streets. So she wears a locket around her neck at all times.” The album concept is a definite contrast to the recent album releases by the Shop Boyz, Soulja Boy, and Gucci Mane.
The deepness of The Cool album cover is similar to Lupe’s rap idol Nas, and his concepts that mark his transformation as a human being and as an emcee. If we examine the album art work carefully we notice the "boy" to "man" to "king" to "prophet" progression that runs parallel with Nas' first four albums (Illmatic to It Was Written to I Am to Nastradamus). In each album cover the Queens Bridge (QB) projects are in the background with Nas in the forefront in different phases of his development. Succeeding the four album series is Stillmatic which is foretold by Nas on his fourth studio album, Nastradamus. The Stillmatic cover is representative of the downfall of Nas’ artistry and human kind in the larger society. The album is released post 9/11 when the world has just witnessed the birth of the new world order and war becoming the new peace. The album cover features Nas’ wearing a bright orange velour suit with large amounts of chains and various other jewelry. The cover art is very dark and shows rain clouds, a pigeon, and a dark image of the New York City skyline. This scene represents Nas as the Noah and the coming storm will wash away the trials and tribulations of Nas’ life. This metaphor is best understood if you view the succeeding God Son album art work and the imagery that it contains. Most now can see how Lupe would have become inspired by the thought and passion that Nas puts in to every album that he releases.
Beyond the art work The Cool is a great sequel to Food & Liquor and earns a place as one of the greatest concept albums ever conceived. The female poet, Isesha provides added depth on the introduction to The Cool as Jessica Care More provided on Nas’ Nastradamus. The retail release of The Cool is 19 tracks deep and has a great mixture of potential singles and featured artists that help Lupe shine even brighter. The standout tracks on the album are “Hip-Hop Saved My Life,” “Intruder Alert,” “Little Weapon,” and “Fighters.” The album is a work of art and the hope of this article is to show readers that The Cool is Hip-Hop in the manner that it was supposed to progress. Void of geographic location, class level, race, and gender, Hip-Hop music is the new popular culture phenomenon and Lupe Fiasco is leading the way in the 21st century.
According to Lupe, LupEND may be the final installment in Lupe’s short but illustrious career. The rap game takes its toll on the most talented individuals but when LupEND eventually is released, hopefully fans and critics alike will take notice of the immense talent and creativity that Lupe Fiasco brought to the rap game. All Lupe needs to do now is feature Nas on an album track, but I am sure he has already thought of that for LupEND.
-Kenji Summers |
