OK, so my guess is this - first he recorded LupEND, albeit probably in rough and not completely finished form.

Then he started working on the great american rap album.

Then he started working on lasers.

Then he started working on the great american rap album again, this time it was called 'food and liquor 2: the great american rap album'.

then he started working on "lasers", and released "lasers".

Granted all of these albums might have shared some songs, and had maybe songs transferred between them. But it sounds like he has at least 4-5 albums worth of good material in the vault, and was forced to release basically some of the worst of what he had.

the most insane part was that The Cool was truly his album, he had sole creative control, it was completely abstract and complicated, and it sold great and had a hit single. Then some genius from the label i guess decided that that formula would fail if tried again, and that it would be a better bet to have him make a BoB type album.

Honestly, he doesn't even have to transfer to an independent label. Other majors would be able to get his product out there the way he wanted it, and still gotten it to sell. It's not even like Lupe uses the most expensive producers. I mean Janelle Monae released her album on a major, so there's no reason lupe can't pull it off again...