Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)

"Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)" is song by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released as the seventh track off his third studio album, Lasers (2011). It features guest vocals from MDMA and production from King David. Fiasco wanted to release it as the album's lead single, though his label opted for "The Show Goes On" instead. The song peaked at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100.
== Composition ==
"Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)" runs for a duration of four minutes and one second (4:01), containing an electropop beat with elements of rock and usage of vocoder. Lyrics detail suicidal ideation, which Fiasco experienced during the recording of Lasers.Batey, Angus (March 3, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco: 'I Have the Right to Speak Out'". The Guardian. There is directness in lyrics, void of his signature layered complexity, as he shares his personal demons. Vocals were recorded by Claudio Cueni at Mally Mall Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada, with mixing handled by Joe Peluso at Amerycan Studios in Los Angeles, California.
He informed Chicago Tribune of its message, "I was reading about Hunter S. Thompson and why he committed suicide, the Kurt Cobains, people in the same business as I am who actually carried it out. You have the corporation in your ear and you're living a public life, but you also have a private life and are thinking I don't want to be here. And it also refers to social suicide, where I would just leave, just not do music anymore. […] Saying that I didn't care became my therapy, my recovery. And I felt like I needed to document it. I felt like if I'm going through that, and I'm a normal person, I felt like other people must be contemplating this too because of similar pressures to do things they felt were wrong or against their better judgment." He added it to be therapeutic, where he was "going through this classic breakdown" and the track embodied that."Lupe Fiasco Discusses the Making of 'L.A.S.E.R.S.': 'It Was Destroying Me'". Chicago Tribune. March 1, 2011. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011.
== Critical reception ==
Chris Coplan of Consequence felt it to possibly be "the most emotionally gripping and earnest cut" on the album, where the delivery of rawness and emotionality that's "free of Fiasco's trademark wit and wordplay," can summarize the entire record: "There's BS everywhere, but true Lasers can rise above."Coplan, Chris (March 9, 2011). "Album Review: Lupe Fiasco – Lasers". Consequence. Los Angeles Timess Todd Marten similarly found it to be an emotive song, with "heartbreak,"Martens, Todd (March 7, 2011). "Album Review: Lupe Fiasco's 'Lasers'". Los Angeles Times. while HipHopDX editor Edwin Ortiz less favorably opined that the production work "diminishes his message to the point that it becomes overbearing."Ortiz, Edwin (March 4, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco - Lasers". HipHopDX.
== Personnel ==
* Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – masterer
* Claudio Cueni – recording
* Dan Manzoor – guitar, bass
* David "King David" Manzoor – writer, producer, keyboards, drums
* Jason "MDMA" Boyd – featured vocals, writer
* Joe Peluso – mixer
* Josh Berg – assistant mixer
* Trevor Astey – additional engineer
* Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco – lead vocals, writer
== Charts ==
Chart (2011) 	Peakposition
US Billboard Hot 100	
== Lyrics ==
== References ==
Category:2011 songs
Category:Collaboration songs
Category:Explicit songs
Category:Lasers
Category:Lupe Fiasco songs
Category:Songs