Released: March 24, 2006

Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco

Producer: Luis Resto Eminem

[Lupe Fiasco]
Lu myself, first of all accuse myself for being a fool
All attempts to school myself have failed
To improve means to remove myself
From this pool of sharks, dark as the mood I felt
I’m losing fuel, that’s all the food I refuse myself
That’s how you do when you do yourself
And if I lose, I could never excuse myself
Till I grow old, sit back and accrue my wealth
You don’t stand a chance, matter of fact, you don’t have half the stance
To stand if you stood half a chance
Like c-h-a to dance with this man from the C.H.A’s
Give it up, just abandon plan
Since you don’t have half the stance like an amputee
You don’t have half the pants that it takes
To command a family
The fan or command a fee
So you will never get the ransom you demand from me
The good news, my foot’s loose, my hands is free
So I dance all footloose and fancy free
Big Ups to footloose and all the fans of me
My fan base expands from Vans to Timberlands
From mansions to Section 8 campuses B
I’m they champion and I ain’t even SoundScanned it, see, I been lamping
Whipping up an answer to these rappers who got it backwards
Like zipping up their pants to pee
Like I’m just a rapper and I ain’t dapper
I'm frequently fly, I can go to France for free
But I ain’t no fan in base, cooking up grams of C
We in a wet stretching O’s like rubber bands to feed
But that was white boy 100 grand to key
When I’m posted up with this little punk ass chump cash advance
That they handing me, I came back with birds like Brandon Lee
I came back with words in a stanzas G
Told ya, right back like Stan, I'mma stand till it answers me
I’m concentrating man, I'm an oscillating fan
When they wanna shake hands with me, it sucks right now
Hear it through ya spirit just dampens B
Like damn that was my man, what the hell happened to he?
His fan base is disbanded B
‘Cause his lyrics don’t mirror when he first landed see
Don’t give into this land to please
So help me God, I'mma kill it, that’s my word
Remove this blindfold, just give us a chance to see
And I'mma quit it the minute it abandons me
My plan’s to be here for a minute
Then I’m finished, then I’m vamping G
Most these cats is pussies, pearl tongues, oysters and clams to me
Flintstone money can’t even stand being in their glances geez
They say it’s looking good, from my vantage B?
Shit is sinking like Atlantis B and I’m more set than Alanis
What, you ain’t understanding me? Am I speaking Spanish B?
Well adios holmes, am I getting sloppy Joe? Well what am I, a Manwich B?
I got a Big Mac if you want a sandwich G
Who else you know keep the Mickey D tucked
With the windy on his shoulder? I told ya, give it up dog, it’s over

Lupe Fiasco

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.