Album Review: Lupe Fiasco - L.A.S.E.R.S.

Lupe Fiasco has quickly become one of the greatest lyricists of our time - easily! Blasting his way into the hiphop scene with Food & Liquor, he took folks away from worrying about how blinged out they had to be and ultimately provided a totally new perspective within the hiphop community. Conscious lyricism at-heart, Lupe made his music appreciative by old heads, young'ns, and even the non-hiphop listeners. He actually had enough of a following to form together so that this album would see the light of day.

Little did the people know that this would be the album that had millions shouting "We are not losers. We are L.A.S.E.R.S."

The opening wasn't half bad, to be frank. It was typical Lupe Fiasco, spitting prolific rhymes aimed at breaking through the minds of the socially oblivious. Production was on-point for this portion: tense, energetic to the point of awakening for Lupe's conscious lyrics and it even rocked out from a Japanese Cartoon/punk-pop standpoint. "Words I Never Said" is the strongest track on the entire album as it possesses everything that Lupe wanted to get across to his listeners, executives and maybe himself. However, it wasn't strong enough to carry fans through the other 40 minutes of L.A.S.E.R.S. (yes, even with Skylar Grey's amazing voice!).

Once the album hits "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now," Lupe becomes cliche, pop-ish and confusing. He goes from putting out a dance record to acting like a baby about it in three songs or less, as present in the middle of this album. With L.A.S.E.R.S., Lupe has his fans thinking that he is either taking an exaggerative and sarcastic leap into pop culture or he put that kind of material out because of the flack his label gave him to satisfy their demands.

Overall, Lupe has some random lyrical content in his head. There's little to no conceptual records on there, and nearly every song could leave listeners trying to figure out where he's going. "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now," "All Black Everything" and "Words I Never Said" aren't as complicated and abstract as the rest of his records, but lyrically Lupe wasn't as adventurous as he was in Food & Liquor and The Cool.


One thing that is blatantly present in L.A.S.E.R.S. is some mildly depressing lyrics. Almost every title has some sort of gloom to it, except for "The Show Goes On," Lupe's least moody track. However, this isn't even a depression that can be felt by his listeners, but only himself. He stingily writes rhymes laced with tantrums, depression and obscurity.

Too much was done to bring L.A.S.E.R.S. into existence. When was the last time you heard of different cities forming marches for an album release? And for Lupe to put out such garbage after all his fans have done for him (garbage that he even admits is garbage), should let fans know that he ignored their cries for new Lupe Fiasco music.

Star's Grade: D+ (this grade may be biased because I was one of those people who wanted L.A.S.E.R.S, but I don't think he disappointed anyone more than me with this record.)