Flowers Vol.4: Lupe Fiasco

Everyone has their first favorite rapper, but one of mine was probably Lupe, my introduction to him being “Superstar”, but as time went on I went to do a deeper dive of his catalog and I truly started to appreciate how good he was.

I hate to use basketball analogies at times, but if I had to sum up Lupe’s career, he’s that underappreciated player that had the tools to succeed, but management did not have the proper direction for him. But, the skills and catalog spoke for themselves more times than not.

From the very beginning to of his career, Lupe showcased a technical talent at a high level very early, with the Fahrenheit 1/15 series, “Revenge of the Nerds” being my personal favorite, with Lupe the Killer being my favorite song. Lupe has always drawn me in multiple ways, but one of them being the way he portrays himself and how naturally charismatic he is with his music. I feel like part of Lupe has played a major part in making sure you know your hip-hop history as something that’s important.

The talent that Lupe posses’ is something that I believe is very hard to do well. Making music with a overarching concept behind it is one thing, but executing said concept is a whole other monster. With albums like Food and Liquor, Tetsuo and Youth, Drill Music in Zion, Lupe’s ability to show a very wide range in songwriting prowess is something that should be given appreciation on a wider scale due to difficulty and high level of performance at the same time. But, to pair with that the tool of flexing his lyrical muscles too….specifically on his mixtapes.. and of course songs like Mural.

With Fiasco, the sum of his legacy to me being that talent always shines through in some way, shape or form. He will and is going down as one of the most talented rappers out of the Midwest and one of the best ever in rap, with a skillset very few can rival and certified genre staples no one can forget.