S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper Lupe Fiasco has taken the opportunity to discuss more hardships and battles with Atlantic Records he underwent to while completing his Lasers album.
Lupe claims Atlantic requested specific demands from him regarding his third album’s material.
“I was specifically told” — Fiasco chuckled — “‘Don’t rap too deep on this record.'” He laughed some more. “That was a specific order from the top. ‘You’re rapping too fast or too slow, or it’s too complex.’ … There are consequences and combat that comes from that process and the eventual compromise. With me, though, I’m not writing about someone else. I’m writing about me. This is my life. It’s very personal for me. So for somebody to kind of put their fingers in that and play with that, it becomes more damaging.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
The rapper went on to accuse Atlantic of holding stipulations toward him.
The process of finishing “Lasers” he described with words one hates to hear from a creative artist. He “hunkered down” and “got through it.” He “went along,” he “acquiesced.” He “found some emotional distance from the music.” He “lost those aspirations.” “I am a hostage,” Fiasco said. “I gave them what they wanted. If I didn’t, at the end of the day the album wasn’t coming out.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
Earlier this week, Fiasco expressed feelings of hatred toward the new solo effort.
“One thing I try to stress about this project is, I love and hate this album,” Fiasco explained in an interview. “I listen to it and I’ll like some of the songs. But when I think about what it took to actually get the record together and everything that I went through on this record–which is something I can’t separate–I hate this album. A lot of the songs that are on the album, I’m kinda neutral to. Not that I don’t like them, or that I hate them, it’s just I know the process that went behind it. I know the sneaky business deal that went down behind this song, or the artist or singer or songwriter who wrote this hook and didn’t want to give me this song in the first place. So when I have that kind of knowledge behind it, I’m just kind of neutral to it like, ‘Another day, another dollar.’ As opposed something like The Cool, which is more of my own blood, sweat, and tears, and my own control. With this record, I’m little bit more neutral as to the love for the record.” (Complex)
In October 2010, after announcing a March 8th, 2011 release date, Fiasco explained how he squashed his beef with Atlantic.
“We just came to a reconciliation, saw both sides of the argument of what was going down, found a midway point that we can all agree on, and we’re rolling,” Fiasco said. “March 8: Lasers. Single drops in a couple weeks. It is what it is…I’m not a 360 artist, and I’ll never be a 360 artist. And you should never be a 360 artist. If that’s something that you need, then your situation is different. I’m not the type of artist that needs a 360 deal, but it’s probably some newer artists that need that kind of motivation or extra support to enhance their operations in the future. I don’t necessarily need that. If it comes along in the future, who knows? But, right now, I don’t need it. Thank you, but no thank you.” (MTV)
Lasers is set to drop Tuesday, March 8th
Check out some recent Lupe Fiasco footage down below:
