By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
After going four years without releasing an album, Lupe Fiasco is preparing to provide two new releases in as many years. Last year, Lupe Fiasco released his comeback LP, Lasers, which was a commercial success, but met with mixed reviews. Battling his label for the actual release of the album, Lupe Fiasco had to make a number of compromises.
This will not be the case with his upcoming album, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Part 1. Last month, Lupe Fiasco released the first official single, “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free).” The release of the single led to controversy with Pete Rock, which has yet to be resolved.
While his personal issues may or may not be settled, Lupe Fiasco is continuing to promote, as his new album is on the way. Recently, GQ spoke to Lupe Fiasco about a number of topics and he delivered his ten essentials.
Read an excerpt of Lupe Fiasco’s interview below:
Reggae Music: “Reggae, oh man. It’s the ultimate music. The positivity. The musicality. The whole cultural expressionism of it. The dancibility. Just the cool factor. The melody factor.”
Tokyo: “I could just stay in Tokyo. I think that’s because I’m a slight Japanophile, a slight otaku kind of kid. I love manga. I love Japanese animation. I did martial arts for like 20, almost 30, years of my life. My father was a martial artist, so every time we went to our house, it was like Japanese culture infused with soul food, you know. All these different things, like Bruce Leroy.”
Knowing that this isn’t it: “It’s a little more complex, but it’s the idea of knowing that there’s something else out there. It’s very liberating. You don’t feel trapped in any certain way… When I used to live in the hood, I lived on Madison street. You could look down the street and the hood was literally fucked up. You had drugs, and prostitutes, and police, and these different things, but you look down the street and you can see the Sears Tower, the skyline of Chicago. And you knew this wasn’t it.”
