The issue with post-"The Cool" Lupe Fiasco is that he intentionally goes over his audience's head. He seemed to take pride in people not understanding him. And Lupe didn't go over heads in the "I'm a dope rapper, I'm more clever than you" way, but in a "I'm smarter/more well read than you" way. There's a big difference between "I have this vision and I don't care if you get it, because one day other people will," and "I'm making this complex SO you don't get it." For a while, I associated Lupe with the latter.

All that made me wonder who Lupe was making his music for. Was he making his music to spread a message to people who need to hear it, to speak on *behalf* of people who don't have a voice? Or was his music for the people who were just going to be impressed that he's complex and watches the news?

I don't think it's as simple as fetishizing black death, or respecting the art of crafting lyrics. Because I thought Food & Liquor and The Cool both had purpose, artistically and inspirationally in terms of uplifting people, and while he did have some detractors around then, I think a lot of people disliked him after that. And it's not like people haven't been praised for crafting lyrics.

I'm not saying all this to focus on the old Lupe, because I like this new album. Moreso trying to articulate why the density of his lyrics means one thing now vs. what it meant (to me) before.