Having a fanbase that swears you are the greatest rapper alive is more curse than blessing. This is very different from being merely “under-rated,” which applies to nearly anyone. Winning one Grammy instead of five is sufficient proof that the music industry is conspiring to gatekeep your favorites these days; that label just doesn’t mean much anymore.
Lupe fans are very different from the faithful flocks we’ve already discussed here, like Rapsody’s army of admirers, or the Python programmers refreshing the Copenhagen Crates site waiting for the latest Rome Streetz vinyl drop to go live. Lupe is not a musical artist, you see: he is a Messiah.
Just check the comments: “I truly think Lupe fiasco is the best lyricist to ever live,” offers rahim89. “I’m honestly starting to ask myself if Lupe is number #1 on goat list,” Sunset Wavy ponders. No word on his decision yet. “Lupe is officially in my top 3 along with Nas and Em,” asserts Youtube user Advaitamanta from the Indian Himalayas. “He just LYRICALLY MURDERED every MC in HISTORY!!!!,” according to Frederick Smith, who helpfully adds a flame emoji. These people are all insane, sure, but they’re also almost definitely real.
Being the most lyrically lyrical of all lyricists is no small weight to bear, likely a big factor in his dedication to martial arts training. Every fresh verse has to be scripture; every song needs to top the last one. Still, his next LP Samurai should be equal to the task, especially coming after the weirdly morose Drill Music in Zion, his last offering to the congregation. Befitting the Samurai name, the tracklist is lean, and features zero guest artists. Both singles have been wall to wall bar-fests with catchy beats & hooks, but few other concessions to commercial appeal. That’s admirable.
“Cake” is a timeless slice of rappin’-ass rappin’, but cats like Lupe, or RJ Payne, or Last Emperor, or Logic, have never really resonated with me for that exact reason. Their technical proficiency is top tier, no question, but trying too hard is hard to listen to. There is also the fact that all of these dudes are nerds; not as an epithet or insult, but as a tribal signifier in our consumer culture. They are earnest, studied fans of anime, movies, comic books & action figures. It permeates their work, like the microplastic in your balls.
I’m not hating, because I can’t: Lupe Fiasco is a famously nice dude, an unusually introspective & transparent artist, and an earnest, life-long student of the rap genre. But let’s be very real: he’s not even top ten in Chicago.
(Offhand: Twista, Griffen, SKECH185, Vic Spencer, IAMGAWD, G Herbo, Psalm One, Defcee, Qwaazar, Qwel, and you know damn well that Juice is still one of the all-time greatest alive. That dude just walks around freestyling better bars than most rappers can muster for their own albums.)
Taste is subjective and I’ll still be giving Lupe’s next album a spin either way. This track was charming fan service, but otherwise, this is a 500 hp engine on four flat tires. Three Dickies.
