Lupe Fiasco Gives Atlantic a Pop Single on His Terms With “Words I Never Said”

“Gaza Strip was getting bombed/ Obama didn’t say shit/ That’s why I ain’t vote for ’em…”

No one signs with a major label with the intention of being a regional artist. The deal is made because said artist wants national, if not international recognition for their work. But in order to achieve that, many times the artist is required to make concessions to the integrity of their work to obtain that tenuous mass appeal. Some do it happily, knowing that’s part of the game. Others dabble in it while trying to find ways to fight it. Count Lupe Fiasco in the latter, who just in the last few months has gone through a highly public rift with his label Atlantic, who flat-out directed him to make music he felt was trite and beneath his capabilities. A compromise was reached, and this latest single, “Words I Never Said,” is a clear indication of the dual nature we’re likely to hear plenty of on Lasers.

Fiasco is on record as stating the negotiation for this release resulted in the Lasers album being 70% his original vision, and 30% label ideas. You can bet the label rested their 30% on the singles. To that point, the production here comes from Alex Da Kid, and growing Hip-Pop chorus go to girl Skylar Grey. You can feel Atlantic’s hands all over this. When it comes to the rhythms and chorus, this is a mawkish power ballad in the vein of Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” and Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor.”

However, Lupe fans don’t have to throw up their hands in despair. The Chi-town lyricist has not degraded anything when it comes to words and flow. He spits highly challenging political and social lyrics at the listeners, who he feels are too complacent with inaction (“I think that all the silence is worse than all the violence…Fear is such a weak emotion/ That’s why I despise it”). He gives an opinion on 9/11 being a conspiracy, the inadequate education of our children, and even how the media has dumbed down the nation with the quality of its news coverage. These are heavy topics that come pointedly from Lupe and serve to remove the mindless pop expectations you initially have based on the production.

You child’s future was the first thing to go with budget cuts/ If you think that hurts/ Then wait here comes the uppercut/ The school was garbage is the first place/ That’s on the up and up…You get it/ Then they move it/ So you never keeping up enough/ If you turn on TV/ All you see is a bunch fo weather fucks/ Dude is dating so and so/ Babbling about such and such/ And that ain’t Jersey Shore/ Homie that’s the news!

There’s a lot of value here once you get past the production. Atlantic gets its single, and Lupe retains his original vision for Lasers, at least in content. One of the first things the mature adult learns in relationships is the importance of compromise. Lupe Fiasco may be on his way to mastering it when it comes to label politics.

LUPE FIASCO X SKYLAR GREY “WORDS I NEVER SAID” (PRODUCED BY ALEX DA KID)