Typically, artists treat albums like their babies. It’s a massive labor of love, even when the music business can make them cynical. So it’s surprising to consider that Lupe Fiasco actually hates one of his albums. You would think someone so deeply intricate and intentional about their concepts and lyrical exercises would be even more protective about their work.
However, it’s not necessarily the creative process that made Lupe hate this album. It’s all the noise surrounding it that made him resentful. In a 2011 interview with The Guardian, he admitted that making Lasers was something he put his blood, sweat, and tears into. Consequently, he wanted it to be the biggest album it could be.
However, he blamed his label for not being so delicate with the marketing push around the record. “We wanted Lasers to be a humongous record,” Lupe Fiasco told the outlet. “There are so many ways of doing that. You can approach it in a very sleazy way – just throw money at it, go get a lot of the big-name artists, let them hijack it for you and just ride that wave into success. Or you can knuckle down and try to make a really great, different, classic, Kid A kind of thing, with commercial appeal and broad subject matter. The label wanted to do it the sleazy way.”
Lupe Fiasco Admits That He Hates ‘Lasers’ Because of How His Label Treated It
It’s this tug-of-war between Lupe and Atlantic Records that made him a bit resentful towards Lasers. Instead of seeing some records he loved, all he could see was the constant arguing over the album and how it should go. After a while, it became obligatory.
“I hate this album,” Lupe Fiasco admitted. “I don’t hate the music, but I hate the process. When I look at it, I don’t see song titles and artwork, I see the fight – I see the emotions, the blood, sweat and tears. There are a couple of songs on there that I love; but Lasers is a little bit of what you love, a little bit of what you like, and a lot of what you had to do.”
Ultimately, Lupe Fiasco shared a willingness to do the label-mandated records. But he’s not willing to act like he’s not selling himself a bit short either. “I can be Picasso if you want that, and I could do Guernica for you all day. Or, if you want me to paint your dog, I’ll come to your house and paint your dog. Once I know my role, I’ll play my role to a T,” he said. “If I’m supposed to be the slave artist, chained to the desk, painting poodles, so be it. Make me rich! You’ll get rich in the process as well. But I’m gonna let the world know I’m painting poodles.”
The post Lupe Fiasco Admits That He Hates This One Album in His Discography—and Not Because of the Music appeared first on VICE.
