Send "Lupe Fiasco " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 A brief, incomplete recap of Lupe Fiasco's 2009: a stirring, live-band performance at the still hip-hop-phobic Coachella, a Hewlett Packard commercial that gets reprised as the last skit on this mixtape, unrelated plans to film with Matt Damon and climb Mount Kilimanjaro, an appearance on the Twilight soundtrack, and his influence manifesting explicitly in East Coast rhyme spitters Charles Hamilton and Wale as well as implicitly in L.A.'s jerkin' scene. Hell, planning to retire even before you release your first album got kinda big in 09, and Lupe was doing that before it got all trendy and shit. That's about as good a year a rapper can have while releasing almost no new music whatsoever. To cap it off? Actual music-- albeit just 22 minutes of it, on this mixtape that popped up in the middle of December.Maybe that needed to happen: If Lupe embodies any aspect of post-Kanye hip-hop, it's using greater access to candor and transparency to prove himself more unlikeable with every statement he makes outside of the booth. A lot of times, it's been tough to remember that we were intrigued not because he rapped from the perspective of a cheeseburger, but rather because he simply rapped his ass off. But outside of a few blips-- most notably, a RZA-styled, self-satisfied anthropomorphology of the United States tagged on to end of "The National Anthem"-- Enemy of the State tends to steer towards the latter version of Lupe with often fantastic results. It's particularly true of "The National Anthem": Though rappers have been sampling Radiohead since the glory days of Chino XL, for the most part, it's an olive branch to alternative nation, the easiest way to show how refined your taste in non-rap music is. Suffice to say the biggest compliment you can give is that "Anthem" bangs even if you've never heard one second of Kid A. It's crucial that Lupe raps with the beat as opposed to merely over it, sounding equally adept atop the bassline as he is during the horn-led climax-- it's a great touch as his boast "I don't think I'm best, I just think I'm better than..." is completed by Thom Yorke singing "...everyone." A question that's been raised by Enemy of the State is whether it's Lupe "going at" Jay-Z. While it's been Lupe's M.O. to mostly beef with rap bloggers, there is a notable lean on Jay's material ("Thank You", "So Ghetto") that goes beyond "Blueprint 3 could've been something if someone else rapped over those beats." "So Ghetto" showcases Lupe's "Food & Liquor flow" as a kite to an incarcerated friend, and perhaps self-consciously, "Where I'm From", one of Jay's gulliest tracks, gets flipped into "Angels", a rangy, Auto-Tuned love song....full text |
| Hiphopatlunch |
| Lupe Fiasco helped us celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday by dropping the Enemy of the State: A Love Story, which he had announced a few days prior via Twitter. The mixtape has Lupe going in over borrowed beats from the usual list of hip hop artists; Lil Wayne, Jay-z, Diddy, etc. He also mixes it up by rapping over Radiohead’s “The National Anthem,” and Travis Porter’s smash single, “Turnt Up.” Despite having only twelve tracks, three of which are skits, the well thought out lyrics reveal more with each listen. Originally released in cassette style (one large MP3), Lupe’s camp quickly re-released the mixtape with separated tracks, making for a more comfortable listen. Here is Lupe going in over the bass guitar riff on “The National Anthem.”...full text |
| Artistdirect |
| Like the boy who cries wolf, many rappers have threatened to retire, only to emerge with new music a "I push rocks, dawg." - Lupe Fiasco, on his 2003 single "Pop Pop" It's no secret I've had my sh First of all, I should start out by thanking my...full text |
Lupe Fiasco lyrics Music videoclips
|
| ||||||||||||||||
