Last Friday, a rally was held in front of the Atlantic Records building in support of Lupe Fiasco in a movement to release his upcoming album, Lasers. You would think a talented superstar like Lupe Fiasco wouldn’t need to fight so hard to have his album released, but that was exactly the case for him, just a couple weeks after Nas sent an email to the Def Jam execs about the delay of his album.
Lupe, born, Wasalu Jaco, has already released two critically acclaimed albums under the Atlantic Records imprint and is associated with the likes of Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z and Kanye West. The previous albums, Lupe Fiasco’s Food And Liquor, and Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool may not have done extreme numbers for the label, but they have earned him top 5 or top 10 honors from many Hip-Hop afficianados. With LPs of this accord under Lupe’s belt, it’s hard to believe that Atlantic Records withheld on giving a release date on his upcoming album, Lasers (a backronym meaning, “Love Always Shines, Everytime Remember 2 Smile”), for nearly 2 and a half years. According to blogs, Atlantic wanted him to sign a contract that would give them 25% of anything he makes from shows or deals with other companies like Nike, etc, also known as a 360 deal. When Lupe refused to agree, they threatened him by not pushing any of his new songs on the radio or giving him money to make the videos (the “I’m Beamin” video came out of his own pocket). Allegedly, Atlantic even went as far as sending him hooks they wanted him to do, but when Lupe would record them and send them back, the execs decided they didn’t like them anymore and tried to have him change the hooks a numerable amount of times.
In the end he had enough. It was long and hard, but after over 30,000 signatures, and a rally, Lupe emerged out the building to his adoring fans triumphant, expressing his thanks and appreciation, as well as letting them know Lasers would drop on March 8, 2011. Although a little later than most fans would like, it’s a release date and a victory nonetheless and with the politics finally out the way, we can surely expect another great album and hopefully more to come in its wake.
Check out our video from the event:
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