Lupe Fiasco Gives a Lesson in Cool on Sophomore Album

(andPOP) - Lupe Fiasco is cool. Never mind the glasses, the affinity for kung-fu and comic books, not to mention the unconventional way of hiding metaphor upon metaphor underneath hip hop beats and catchy choruses. He’s cool simply because he doesn’t give a damn if he is or not.

See Fiasco exists in a game that has been hindered by one-hit chasers, gangster wannabes and MCs more concerned with dance moves than lyrical sustenance. It’s cool to glorify violence and sip gin and juice in the current hip-hop world. But Fiasco’s not buying what the mainstream is selling. Amidst the Soulja Boys and the T-Pains here’s a guy that cares more about words like honesty and integrity than million-dollar bling and Courvoisier.

“At the end of the day, it’s about when you leave the business and go home. It’s about if you feel comfortable about what you put out into the world,” Fiasco tells andPOP from his studio in New York.

The Chicago-born lyricist has given the world mind-bending rhymes, gritty story-telling and positive idealism that has elevated him into critically acclaimed status. He’s got three Grammy nods, four BET Hip Hop Award nominations, a GQ “Breakout Man of the Year" recognition, and a nod from XXL magazine as one of rap’s rising stars under his belt - and he hasn’t even dropped his sophomore album. But critics aren’t the only ones to take notice of the socially inept wordsmith. Fiasco’s debut album, "Food & Liquor" (a play on the ying and yang of Lupe’s own personality), sold around 310,000 units.

“I always think it’s fun to get that same effect [of mainstream artists] and keep that integrity and artistic merit,” he says. “I look at it as a challenge. For me it’s about how I can talk about, you know, giant robots and make it fresh.”

Giant robots aren’t the only obscure topic to hip-hop that Lupe has taken on. Songs like skate park anthem "Kick Push" and "Cool," an ode to a zombie hustler, penned by the practicing Muslim (born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco) have made waves in the rap game. He’s been hailed, like fellow Chi-town alum Kanye West before him, as the saviour of mainstream conscious hip hop. Lupe Fiasco, however, is a reluctant hero.

“Everybody’s conscious. G-unit is conscious. 50 Cent is conscious. Everybody’s aware of what’s going on around them,” Lupe says defiantly. “For me it’s more about putting positive things into the world as opposed to negative things in the world.”

But when it comes to artists that are conventionally tagged as "conscious," Lupe fits the bill. He’s got Common’s spirituality, Kanye’s swagger, Kweli’s intelligence and Mos Def’s complexity. And if he continues to show off his intricacy and simultaneous musicality, the young MC could be catapulted into the hip hop history books. Right now though, he’s just barely scratching the surface of commercial stardom and doesn’t seem to care that he’s facing some bumps along the road to eminence.

Most recently, during a performance at the VH1 Hip Hop Honours, Fiasco flubbed the lyrics to classic A Tribe Called Quest jam "Electric Relaxation" of the group’s legendary album, "Midnight Marauders." Before that, Lupe had gone on record to say that he was not a Tribe fan growing up and had never even heard "Midnight Marauders." Industry heavyweights and fans alike slammed Fiasco’s lack of respect for the hip-hop pioneers.

Then, Vibe magazine added to the growing drama now referred to as "Fiascogate," by publishing an article maligning the 25-year-old MC and wrongfully using comments about Tribe that Fiasco had made prior to the performance.

In Fiasco’s defense, when the Tribe album was at its peak in the early '90s, he was probably still riding around Chi City on training wheels. Yes, it was before his time. Yes, Vibe lost significant journalistic credibility by vilifying the rapper and using his quotes out of context. But, bloggers are still pissed, his peers are still weary and the damage of Fiascogate seems to be too deep to mend.

“There’s a backlash of people who built me up in their own image," he says. "They wanted me to be something and when it came out that I wasn’t that, you know, people were pissed.”

Lupe should give props where props are due, they say. Lupe should know Tribe lyrics because the group paved the way for mainstream, positive, okay-to-listen-to-around-the-parents hip hop. The same type of rhyming that has brought Fiasco measured fame and glory is what Tribe is infamous for. The thing is though, Lupe never hid the fact he missed out on the "Midnight Marauders" mania. Fiasco has made it clear that his hip-hop role models came in the form of Nas, Jay-Z, Pharoahe Monch, and Mos Def, not Tribe or even De La Soul.

Lupe Fiasco is as stubborn as he is divergent and remains unapologetic for the mix-up. He doesn’t care about being popular and makes no apologies for being honest about his influences.

“The reason I remain unapologetic about the whole situation is because it was taken out of context. I’m not going to apologize for the lack of journalistic integrity of somebody else,” he says.

“I’m not going to apologize for my life. If I didn’t grow up listening to something, I didn’t grow up listening to it.”

Then Lupe—cartoon-loving geek turned hip-hop trendsetter—starts to show a little vulnerability. He’s like that kid in school that hung out alone and never conformed to the in-crowd. He may not care if you agree with him but he still doesn’t like being bullied.

“How unfair is it to say that you don’t belong to a certain club or certain community or that you can’t belong because of what you listen to?” Fiasco’s opinions are unwavering. “You can’t be punishing someone for their pre-requisites. You’re punishing someone for their life,” he says.

With his sophomore disc, "The Cool," on the horizon (due out Dec. 18), Fiasco may not care about impressing his misguided peers, but he does adhere to the needs of his fans.

“It’s not like I’m making this album for 15 kids and hoping that 15 million kids are going to get a long with it. I’m making it accessible enough for the masses… and at the same time have it deep enough and cryptic enough that it has a storyline.”

"The Cool" is a conceptually risqué work of art. The album’s title is inspired by a standout track from Fiasco’s debut of the same name. This time around, Fiasco introduces three new characters who all have one thing in common; they’ve dug themselves out of their own graves, literally. The concept is darker and deeper than “Food & Liquor,” Lupe says, and is rooted in an attempt to make uncool things, cool.

“So you can have kids who want to go skateboard now as opposed to kids who wanna’ go sell crack, as opposed to kids who think it’s cool to carry a gun to school,” he says.

The first single off "The Cool," "Superstar," scored Lupe the ultimate (conventionally) cool collaboration. Acclaimed music video director Hype Williams, or “the Martin Scorsese of hip hop” according to Fiasco, has been responsible for directing videos of everyone who’s anyone in hip hop. And yes, that means the booty-shaking, women-degrading videos. While Fiasco won’t hate on the director’s past projects, he is candid about how he made sure Williams didn’t compromise the rapper’s moral integrity during the video shoot.

“Hype’s taken you places visually that are just astonishing in hip hop,” Fiasco says. “But do I agree with a lot of stuff he made? No. Did I say ‘Yo Hype there is too much girl in that shot’? Yes.”

At this point, simply saying Lupe Fiasco is in touch with his conscience would be a gross understatement. He’s utterly aware that his words do more than just strike a chord, with the ability to grip hearts and challenge minds from beginning to end, Lupe is taking full responsibility.

No dissertation needed here; just soak in the unequivocal coolness of hip-hop’s most incorruptible MC.

“You know how they ask people what they want to be remembered for?”

Fiasco pauses for dramatic effect.

“I always want to be remembered as the person that didn’t lead you astray. You might have thought my music was whack as hell but as long as I didn’t lead you astray that’s enough for me. Because that speaks volumes in the next world as opposed to this world.”