This is what the eff I'm talking about: comics and the Qur'an? Really homie?!?!Lupe's excuse for flubbing the lyrics was that he never listened to A Tribe Called Quest as a youth. He never encountered "Electric Relaxation" until his label (at the request of VH1 and, to a much lesser degree, Q-Tip) asked him to do the show. In fact, Lupe says that 8 Ball & MJG were far more important in his development as a rapper. He even throws out a convoluted argument that MC Hammer could be considered as more important to rap music than ATCQ. Lupe, whose first album did not go gold, bases this particular bit of idiocy on the fact that MC Hammer sold more records than ATCQ.
Ummm....there is no way that MC Hammer is better at anything than A Tribe Called Quest. Correction: There is no way that MC Hammer is better at anything than A Tribe Called Quest except profligacy. He can waste money way better than all 3 members of Tribe combined. Amendment: There is no way that MC Hammer is better at anything than A Tribe Called Quest other than profligacy and he's probably a better dancer too.
Whatever, you get my point. Lupe's argument feels forced. It feels like the response of a man cornered by unexpected backlash. But, Lupe brought this on himself. The best response to all of this would have been no response. If Jay-Z can totally ignore Cam'ron's jibes; Lupe Fiasco can ignore a few bloggers. But, it's not surprising to see Lupe in this teapot tempest. Just as Kanye gets irked whenever a pizza-stained critic scrawls that he is arrogant or overrated, Lupe gets pissed at every piss-ant blogger that doesn't love him. And for the same reasons.
This picture makes me slightly uncomfortable.
Last year, Lupe got into a protracted war of words with chotchbag extraordinaire, Byron Crawford, because Crawford was doing what Crawford always does. Namely, he was disparaging an artist and an upcoming album...this time it just happened to be Lupe and Food & Liquor. Crawford's beverage of choice is haterade (is it in you?), so I stopped reading his half-formed amateur commentary. This would seem to be the sensible route; but, Lupe didn't take that road. So, Lupe and Byron got into a long-winded Internet squabble.
It was as bitch-like as it sounds.
Like Kanye, Lupe is too easily influenced by outside opinion. And, just like Kanye, Lupe is barefacedly guilty of cultural appropriation. I don't think that these things are unrelated. Kanye went from popped-collar prep to high-topped hipster in 6 weeks. We don't believe you, you need more people. Lupe repeatedly shouts out SB dunks and skate culture, but is not exactly a skater. He talks about how much he loves anime at every opportunity. He collects toy robots, even featuring one prominently on his album cover (as shown at the top of this post). Pretty much, he reps whatever is hot on Hypebeast this week. If your public persona is that trendy, it makes sense that you are going to be hyper-aware of what fans and Stans think of you.
But, it also makes sense that Lupe works to present an image that appeals to a wide swath of hip youth culture. That's just good business. However, the constant effort to be everything to everybody can leave him stretched a little thin. It makes his interests seem more calculated than heartfelt. Worst of all for him, it opens him to reproach. In the end, it may just be that Lupe needs a good manager. A sensible person that will not let him fly off at the handle and make ridiculous statements, fashion or otherwise. Or, maybe, Lupe needs to concentrate on making more music that he likes and let his image work itself out.
In other news: Tiggalo (Phonte of Little Brother) apparently leaked his own album. It's really interesting the way that some artists (Radiohead, Lil Wayne, and now Little Brother) are now approaching the shambles formerly known as the music industry.
Here's the album for now:
Little Brother - Get Back
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