Look beyond the endless guest stars with grating hooks and you’ll find a few morsels (“All Black Everything” is one of my favorite Lupe tracks ever and incredibly relevant today). Its biggest sin is that it’s just not Lupe. And despite its reputation as the worst album in the history of the cosmos, it’s not THAT bad. Most of you reading this already know the story – Lupe was on a meteoric rise, his label wanted more pop-friendly material, Lupe balked and the slapdash Lasers was born from that chaos. Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5Įdd said: Oh yeah, THIS album. The first half of the album is conceptually ambitious but by the end he comes off as a clone of inferior rappers. Did Lupe really “Dumb It Down?” Nah, but his attempts to please both Day Ones and mainstream audiences go off the rails.įorgotten favorites: “Jump,” “Tranquillo” But on this undercover mission, Lupe went in too deep and fell victim to the same mistakes as underachieving peers. He’s intentionally using contemporary rap styles and production to market his message to new listeners, almost using Drogas Light as a commentary itself on the state of modern hip-hop. I get what Lupe was attempting to do here with the uncharacteristic poppy production and sing-songy hooks. We’ll be excluding his mixtapes this time around.Įdd said: Sigh. Let’s look at the past 13 years of Lupe’s career, rating his LPs by quality, album consistency, and impact on the genre. His victories have often been clouded by both personal and professional drama, but when he’s good, he’s one of the best we’ve ever had. On his best day, Lupe is one of the greatest MCs to lay hands on a microphone – a man that has 5-star albums on his resume and typically outshines his peers with ease. And that’s what makes being a Lupe fan such a frustrating, yet fascinating experience. You never know what you’re gonna get from him. But even the biggest fan can admit that, despite his incredible lyricism and intriguing concepts, his career has had serious peaks and valleys. One of the most frequent criticisms I got was from fans of Lupe Fiasco, who felt I shortchanged him by placing him so far down my list. I couldn’t help but join in. Somebody gotta speak truth around here, might as well be me. Remember a few weeks back when everybody and their great aunt Erma were dropping top 50 lists ranking the best rappers of all time?

Lupe fiasco mixtapes sale