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Lupe might have actually outgrown hip-hop. The music
today is mostly black death music. Kendrick has found a way
to not upset white fans in a way that Lupe never has.
As have J.Cole and Drake (Drake's ticket has been through
women, and good for him) But other than that, the easiest ticket
to getting (white)listeners is to celebrate black destruction
or fetishize black coolness.
Lupe does neither.
I don't think this artform is equipped to deal with someone
like him right now.
The fanbase isn't really in the mood for someone who
talks about Atomic bombs in this artful kind of way. Again,
the music now either (a) celebrates destructive black behavior
or (b) fetishizes the coolness of black culture
BLACK kids who read books and want to rhyme about them are
better off picking up a guitar, because the white fan base that
has made hip-hop rich don't want to hear Neil De Grasse Tyson
rapping. They want to her Bobby Schmurda.
Note how Mackelmore, a white kid (who I like, btw), was able to
be political and have a hit record. Smart black kids aren't
afforded that same freedom.
>This is an incredible lyrical exercise. And T&Y goes there
>better than any album in a long time. But I wonder if this is
>something that can be sustained?
I'm not sure what you mean here. Lupe obviously has years
worth of rhymes this good written. I think the general sentiment
is that given the space to choose his own producers, he'll
put out quality music like this. No guarantee, but signs point
towards that being true.
>My only qualm with Lupe's newest is the musical direction. The
>aesthetic musically is to be as accessible as possible. I
>understand it fits with the current climate of hip-hop, but it
>just doesn't fit for what he's trying to say artistically, in
>my opinion. At times, Lupe feels very disjointed from the
>music he's working with. There just doesn't seem to be an
>organic connection with the art he's creating.
This paragraph didn't make any sense.
Lots of abstract ideas piled onto nebulous concepts.
>I wish he'd taken more chances on that front, and then we'd
>really have the genre-defining, revolutionary act Lupe is
>capable of becoming.
I and many others say that T & Y is genre defining.
>Not to say that he isn't doing something interesting and new.
>But to me the overall package of Shabazz Palaces, as one
>example, is pushing the envelope in more interesting and more
>important ways (despite Lupe's phenomenal lyrical flash this
>year).
I disagree. Shabazz Palaces simply sounds eclectic and cool
because of the music. There's no comparison.
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