REACH FOR THE LASERS - LUPE FIASCO

Occasionally, an artist comes along who, with seemingly little effort, redefines the audience’s preconceived notion and understanding of what a particular musical genre should sound like. By unbalancing the status quo, they simultaneously revolutionise they way the audience understands and relates to a particular style of music. In the process, these artists quickly rise from relative obscurity to cultural iconoclasts, leaving behind an indelible footprint on the musical landscape. In the early part of the 21st century, no other rapper has influenced hip hop dogma more than Wasalu Muhammad Jaco.
Better known as Lupe Fiasco, the Chicago native pioneered the commercialisation of socially conscious hip hop. In a period of ‘bling and bitches’, Fiasco rapped about the plight of African countries and gun control – he chose substance over style. Perhaps his cleverest move was to imbue his socially conscious rapping with high-end production that bluffed the audience into believing they were listening to just another hip hop track – albeit a very good one.
Jaco first rose to prominence after providing a guest verse on Kanye West’s Touch The Sky. Soon after – with the help of Jay-Z – he released Kick Push, a song that would divide hip hop aficionados, but that cemented Lupe as a genuine rap contender. With his popularity rising, Lupe Fiasco’s debut release Food & Liquor was the most highly anticipated record of 2006. Critically acclaimed, Food & Liquor would go on to be nominated for three Grammys, including Best Rap Album. In 2007, with the advocacy of some of hip hop’s biggest names (Pharrell, Kanye, Jay-Z) Fiasco would release concept record The Cool. The album, which expanded Jaco’s socio-political viewpoint even further, would be met with near universal critical acclaim. Fiasco’s popularity had reached fever pitch. In late 2008 however, he would drop a bombshell that nobody saw coming – his next album would be his last.
Entitled LupE.N.D, it would consist of three discs, rolled out over 18 months. Yet, in June last year, it was announced that this was not the case and the next Lupe Fiasco album would instead be entitled Lasers. The cynics claimed the original announcement was a well conceived marketing ploy, in a year that Jaco had released no new music. Fiasco stated, he had “unfinished business” and released the Lasers Manifesto – a somewhat idealistic mantra for the album. When 3D World queries whether the manifesto was created specifically for the new album or simply Fiasco’s ideal version of the world, his response is frank.
“Well, I know you can’t have utopia,” Jaco states forthrightly. “You can’t have everything you want and think that the world is going to be perfect. But you can at least strive for certain things. The manifesto idea actually came from a friend of mine who manages a punk band – he was telling me that his band had a manifesto. They had a clear purpose and reason why they were doing their music, it was super simple and that’s what they stood by. So my friend was like, ‘you should have a manifesto, you should have that list of all the things that you want and things that you want to see. Make it simple for the world to understand’. So the Lasers Manifesto really came out of that conversation; it’s what I would want to see in the world.”
Jaco is coy when answering questions; it is a stark contrast to the confident, opinionated, bravado-driven persona he carries on stage. At times he fumbles for answers on subjects he has written about and been outspoken on previously. Given his previous two albums and the release of the manifesto, 3D World wonders whether the album would be informed by the same level of social consciousness?
“My albums are always going to have that,” Jaco concludes after a moment of hesitation. “[Lasers] is not necessarily going to touch on those issues as much, not every song is going to be like Little Weapon or quote statistics about what’s going on in Africa or Oakland – it’s not going to be like that. But the album certainly aspires to some of the things that I put in the manifesto, or at least I hope that some of the songs work as motivation for people to aspire to those ideals I set out.
“On certain levels, Lasers is a performance album. I mean, you can listen to it, ‘cause its music, but it’s more designed for me to perform on stage. This is one thing I also strive for on my albums, to create songs that feel good on stage or that perform well. So instead of doing one or two songs like that, I tried to create a whole album that works on that level. That said, there are definitely some attempts to do new things and push the music sonically, so that I can step into 2010 fresher than ever.”
In a recent television interview, Jaco stated that Lasers was “all about changing the status quo and rebelling against the system”. A statement like this, coming from anyone other than a select few musicians, would, from an outside perspective seem clichéd. Yet, given Jaco’s past record, the stament seems entirely plausible.
“I think I’ve tried to represent that statement my whole career,” he says. “I mean, Kick Push was a revolutionary song, in terms of the climate in which it came out, what it was actually saying and who it was representing. So, at this point, I think Lasers is just me coming to grips with who I am and what I do and actually taking control of that. If it was a T-shirt, I’d pick it up and put it on to show the world, this is who I am, this is what I want to represent and these are the things I want to talk about. The Lasers album is definitely a culmination of my whole career and defines what I want to do and what I want to see in the world.”
Whilst Jaco brazenly threatens the status quo, his ever increasing popularity means that he faces the very real risk of actually becoming the thing he so detests. When 3D World asks what he would do if this became the case, he breaks into fits of laughter and replies, “I’ll guess I’ll have to destroy myself!” Settling down, he gives a more measured response.
“You know, I don’t fear that. I don’t necessarily fear becoming flavour of the month; I’ve been the flavour of the month before. For instance, some of the newer artists that have come out in the last year are getting compared to me or they’re saying this is the “new Lupe” or that they were influenced by Lupe. So for me that is awesome, because that has always been the point of me doing this – to change the status quo, to bring balance to what the kids are listening to. So I hope my style becomes the status quo, but that’s not really the point.”

WHO:    LUPE FIASCO
WHAT:    PLAYS PLAYGROUND WEEKENDER / ENMORE THEATRE
WHEN:    SATURDAY 20 FEBRUARY / SUNDAY 21