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Review: Lupe Fiasco at Emo’s
On his albums “Food & Liquor” and the new “The Cool,” Lupe Fiasco positions himself as the anti-gangsta, a rapper whose moralizing plays more as realism than, say, the suburban positivity of the late 80s Native Tongues movement or the self-righteous undergroundism of the 90s “backpacker” hip-hop scene.
No, this dude comes from the same there’s-a-better-way Chicago school of Common and Kanye West (the latter of whom was Fiasco’s mentor).
On “The Instrumental,” Fiasco spun the metaphor of the box (TV, sport, confinement) into a morality play about mental limitations. “Sunshine” equated love of woman with love of rap (“Never met her before/ But I think I like her a metaphor”).
Which might be why Fiasco worked his verses from West’s “Touch the Sky” into the set mighty early Tuesday night at Emo’s. Of course, the sold-out crowd was so pumped for Fiasco (who hit the stage promptly at 10:45) he could have come out singing Celine Dion and folks would have been like “That’s what’s up, son!”
Decked out in a UT jersey, showing up with a full live band and playing with them a massive set also a signified of a certain kind of authenticity - I man not ripping you off with a few verses rhymed over a CD, the band seemed to say. Lupe Fiasco is where authenticity happens. (Common does this sort of thing very well.) After all, his most famous verse, from “Hurt Me Soul,” is “Hurt Me Soul,” “I used to hate hip-hop … because the women [were] degraded.”
But with shows this energetic, it’s no wonder hip-hop fans sure are flocking to him.
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By David
January 28, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this
The new age of hip hop comes into style with much grace and with great force; just wait. There is plenty more to come.