Artist versus label. This age-old problem essentially sums up the fraught history of Lupe Fiasco’s third album, Lasers. Lupe had originally planned to release a triple album, LupE.N.D, as his third and final album. However, this was prevented by his contract with label Atlantic Records.Lupe went back to the drawing boards and returned with Lasers, which has itself been held back for over a year by Atlantic, until a fans petition and demonstration forced the label into announcing a release date. To say that Lasers has had a checked history isn’t a far stretch, then. In fact, even Lupe has stated in one interview that “I love and hate this album”. So, how good is Lasers if even the man who created it is indifferent to it?
The album begins strongly with ‘Letting Go’, where a beautiful melody backs Lupe’s distorted vocals, evoking a similar sound to Kanye West’s vocals on 808’s And Heartbreak. Next up is ‘Words I Never Said’, which is by far the strongest song on Lasers.
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