Lupe Fiasco

Released: November 24, 2011

Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco

[Verse 1]
Let's go, hah
It's some fresh new Vans on my fresh new plans
Obama lied to you you nigga no you can't, ha
Change these nuts, shout to Fox news tryin' ta change me up
Sorry Uncle Rush but I still don't vote
Cause niggas on the ballot and there's still no hope
So I'm back in the hood, Englewood to Inglewood
Doin' work that politician should, good
Blocks do they best tryin' to break my heart
Just tryin' to make you smart when I make my art
Occupy forever, more tents to the park
Howard Zinn gettin' spins in the Benz
If it's not him, it' NPR, Diane Rehms
Kai Ryssdal, Amy Goodman
Sorry Bill O'Reilly but I'm so involved
Can you ask Limbaugh to return my calls

[Verse 2]
Yeah, Atlantic on the fritz
Cause I might not step foot back in that bitch
It disgusts me like Jerry Sandusky
Goodness gracious pedophiles and rapists, in high places
Not to mention slavery and slave ships
Come on Lu, gon' and keep it out the past
Tell Jerry's cellmate try and keep it out his ass
What happened to the class? All the low blows
I guess that most of the kids who black from the choke holds
As long as y'all win you can still put it in
Yup, hip hop back with a vengeance
Spirit of Chuck D with a whole lot of interest
Just inches from the entrance
Not to knock nice, but to knock it off the hinges, huh

[Break]
I'm just playin', I'm just playin'
You know I like y'all
Well, some of y'all
But you know who I'm talking to, I rock with y'all
You know we do it big
Atlantic records First and Fifteenth all day
Yeah, let's go

[Verse 3]
SNDCLSH in Vegas, only dropping those new Kaskade hits
Let's see how crazy the rave gets
Might play my 2Pac favorites
Me and Sky back in the Labs
Q came through with beats by the back
Shout to Bassnec, count all that cash
Whatever you do, don't drop that flag
Watch is stll gold, chain is still gold
Feelin' brand new, Ferrari still old
Got the dreads cause Marley still cold
GTR my car be real slow
Nah my car be real close
To the speed of the light when I be on roads
Flow like I be on roids and I be on ten when I be on tour

The Chicago born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco first tasted success when he featured on Kanye West’s hit “Touch the Sky”, a track that shortly preceded his real breakout, his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, and he never looked back. He has established himself as one of the greatest urban wordsmiths of all time, with Genius even dubbing him the ‘Proust of Rap’.

While he’s now regarded of one of the 21st Century’s Hip-Hop greats, he wasn’t always a fan of the genre, initially disliking it due to the prominence of vulgarity and misogyny within it. In his late teens, he aspired to make it as a lyricist. In his early twenty’s, he met Jay-Z, who helped him sign with Atlantic Records in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor), which was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, as did his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

The following eight years of his career saw far less output than many would’ve anticipated. This can be partly attributed to his struggles with Atlantic Records. The executives wanted him to sign a 360 deal; however, as he refused to do so they instead shelved his already completed 3rd album, Lasers, and wouldn’t promote him as they had previously. The overseers at the label also interfered with his music (as they had tried to do with his fan-favorite track “Dumb it Down”); subsequently effecting the quality and sound of his third and fourth albums.

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