Lupe Fiasco is one of rap music’s most gifted and uncompromising rappers, and these 16 songs — from “Mural” to “King Nas” — are a testament to that.
The lack of universal praise that Chicago rapper
Lupe Fiasco receives within rap music is hugely disheartening. The fact that an artist of his caliber, so recognized in the field that he literally teaches
Rap Theory and Practice at MIT, doesn’t even exist as a footnote on a
prominent list of the “50 best rappers of all time” is, at best, confusing.
In 2006, JAY-Z called the up-and-coming MC a breath of fresh air, and upon dropping his critically acclaimed debut album,
Food & Liquor, his promise was all but recognized as he ascended into stardom. However, things got rocky after he released
The Cool, primarily due to artistic conflicts between himself and Atlantic Records (which he was signed to).
In a 2019 Twitter thread, he noted that he was “the most blackballed rapper in the history of rap,”
recalling a conversation with Lyor Cohen, in which a request for a 360 deal in exchange for his masters was met with a cold response of, “If you don’t sign [our proposed deal], I can’t guarantee we are still gonna promote your albums.”
He bluntly added, “From that point forward, I knew my career was over.”
Effectively, his mainstream run was cut short due to his reluctance to play into the industry to the detriment of his vision — and ultimately — his soul. But that was
far from the end of his career.
While he may have unplugged from the proverbial matrix, he has been anything but unsuccessful, with his last three studio albums (post-Atlantic Records) earning critical acclaim, and two of those even landing on the
Billboard 200 chart:
Drogas Light at 28 and
Drogas Wave at 60.
For the seasoned Lupe fans (who love trying to decode the many layers of his music) and new fans alike, Okayplayer is giving the underappreciated genius his flowers. Below are the best 16 gems in his catalog.
www.okayplayer.com
