Lupe: I don't want to be Jay Z i wanna be more like nas
Quote:
Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco is a curious kind of hip-hop star, writes Andrew Murfett.
HOW did you start 2010? To say that the first month of this year was eventful for Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco would be a colossal understatement.
Having leaked his excellent mixtape Enemy of the State: a Love Story at the end of last year, his first in four years, in January the 28-year-old Sunni Muslim joined a group of personalities (including actress Jessica Biel) to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of the world's lack of drinking water. He climbed all 5895 metres, he declares proudly.
''It actually changed my life,'' he says. ''It was the hardest thing I've ever done. At a certain point, the altitude medicine doesn't work. It becomes more about your body. And then a spiritual and mental thing.''
Lupe (Loop-ay) - real name Wasalu Muhammad Jaco - is difficult to pin down but, when finally on the phone, he proves articulate and candid. He speaks passionately about the fact 1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water.
''They literally drink their water from pools on the side of the road they share with animals and use as toilets,'' he says.
''You get to a certain point in your career and you wonder if you're being arrogant or you are on the right path. This showed me I am on the right path with what I talk about. And now I have more to talk about.''
The rapper returns to tour Australia this week at a strange time in his career. Having started making music at the age of 16, he earned his first record deal, with Epic (Sony in Australia) at 19, before moving to Arista (BMG) and, finally, his home today, Atlantic (Warner).
Historically, there has been a conflict between the music he wants to create and the music his label wants him to make.
''It's less about me being a celebrity, because I guess I'm not really a celebrity,'' he says. ''The most difficult part of the music business is the label. What I want to do and what they want me to do - creatively - is in conflict. It doesn't keep me up at night. I look at it as a challenge. It's not meant to be easy.''
His first album for Warner, 2006's Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor was a mini-revelation. With mainstream hip-hop flagging, the debut managed to be something the genre lacked - bold and fresh.
Critics touted Lupe as being on par with Kanye, Jay-Z, Talib or the Roots. Many astute hip-hop observers called it a modern classic. By now, then, he should be a star. In 2007, with the crossover smash single Superstar, he even had a genuine hit single on pop radio. Yet, for a number of reasons, many of his own doing, he is not.
''There's a misunderstanding with my fanbase,'' he says. ''People [at Warner] feel they know my fans more than I do. They want me to step out of my comfort zone and step into theirs. I don't have necessarily the celebrity success they want me to have but it's more social success and being able to speak at a college about world affairs. That's a success, to me.
''I don't want to be Jay-Z and be worth $400 million and perform on every awards show. It's getting in touch with somebody who needs to improve their self-esteem. As opposed to driving a Bentley and putting some chains on.''
At the same time, he is balancing film scripts, a documentary he produced for the History Channel and a clothing line.
His third album for Warner, Lasers, was submitted last month. The label has yet to announce a release date. ''It's an album we both feel comfortable putting out,'' he says. ''I'm somebody saying the things that maybe 98 per cent of the music industry is not.
He has said something similar to the thread title already on several occasions:
Lupe explains why nas is his favorite rapper
Quote:
"Why Nas Is My Favorite Rapper...(If You Even Care)"
While in the midst of listening to "It Was Written" as a teen I was completely unaware of the existence of "Illmatic"...I remember some dudes beating a song in a car that sounded like a Nas song and I asked my homey what was that and he was like "Its from Nas 1st album"...then on a trip to my sisters college I was in her boyfriends dorm room and he had a poster of the "Illmatic" cover and I was like what is that and he was like "that's Nas 1st album" .............
“Nas is my biggest influence in Hip-Hop, I based a lot of Food and Liquor off the moods on It Was Written,” Lupe said. “It’s more of an ‘observing album’. I’m telling other peoples’ stories. It’s conceptual.”
The Hilltop: How did you come up with the name "Lupe Fiasco?"
Lupe Fiasco: My name is Wasalu, so I always had "Lu" and I always went with some variation of "Lu," whether it be "Lu-Lu" or "Lu-rical Underdog or somethin'… I picked up the "-pe" from one of my friends I went to high school with the name Lupe. He was real cool, he was this Columbian kid. So I picked up "Lupe" from him and I picked up the "Fiasco" from "The Firm" album. A song called "Firm Fiasco." And I was a real big Nas fan, and you had Nas Escobar, Biggie was Frank White-to me all the best rappers had first and last names. So I picked the "Fiasco" and it became "Lupe Fiasco" and it just stuck since high school.
My question tho is why would he want to be broke, alone, paying child support and a chump who continues to lose instead of a 400 millionaire fucckin Beyonce daily and hanging out with Gwenth Palthrow?
__________________
1. Nas - Illmatic
2. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full
3. GZA - Liquid Swords
4. Main Source - Breaking Atoms
5. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
My question tho is why would he want to be broke, alone, paying child support and a chump who continues to lose instead of a 400 millionaire fucckin Beyonce daily and hanging out with Gwenth Palthrow?
thats how most of the really great artists lived
its only aftet their death when they are truly appreciated/worshiped/studied
its easy to say that you dont want to be somebody that you could never be. im not dissing lupe by any means, but he knows that he could never be the artist that jay is(as far as popularity) goes. nas felt the same way once he realized that he couldnt be that big of an artist either. its ironic to see him say he's not in it to be rich(money, cars, clothes, and hoes) but his fav rapper is nas and his fav album seems to be iww. nas has always been a money, cars, hoes, and clothes rapper and iww was a album that glamourized the gangster/mafia lifestyle. it damn sure wasnt an album about lifting up ppl's self esteem and all that.
why did you have to falsify your thread by saying he wants to be more like nas? yea he probably would be more like nas, but your title discredits the thread and article as a whole.
its easy to say that you dont want to be somebody that you could never be. im not dissing lupe by any means, but he knows that he could never be the artist that jay is(as far as popularity) goes. nas felt the same way once he realized that he couldnt be that big of an artist either. its ironic to see him say he's not in it to be rich(money, cars, clothes, and hoes) but his fav rapper is nas and his fav album seems to be iww. nas has always been a money, cars, hoes, and clothes rapper and iww was a album that glamourized the gangster/mafia lifestyle. it damn sure wasnt an album about lifting up ppl's self esteem and all that.
i did not know you knew nas personaly.
__________________
Proud Dad of Damdam since - april 12 / 2010
NegRep Gangsters are out to get me.
It's obvious he doesn't wanna be like Jay-Z because he actually challenges his audience to think instead of dumbing down for them....
He does sound a little jealous with that "perform at every award show" line..What artist doesn't want the most opportunities? C'mon Lupe..
well, here is the thing though...
if i was an artist.. i would rather be in the Ludacris lane.. 120 mil in the bank...
an album every 1/2 year... NOT having to perform every guard damn award to stay in the ficticious number one position.. and still live plenty comfortable...
frugg it.. i would take AKON career...
then when my career sums up tp like 6 albums... go a on 2 year tour and make rock and roll money while letting my brain rest from overcreativeness exhaustion.. cuz when you ain't you no more... you start jacking new artist or some shyt like that.
__________________
Proud Dad of Damdam since - april 12 / 2010
NegRep Gangsters are out to get me.
Lupe: I don't want to be Jay Z i wanna be more like nas
