Friend of the People: I Fight Evil

***Friend of the People: I Fight Evil*** (also known simply as ***Friend of the People***) is a mixtape by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released on November 24, 2011, coinciding with U.S.'s Thanksgiving, similar to the release of his other mixtape, *Enemy of the State: A Love Story*.

## Background

Originally slated to drop in Christmas 2009, following the release of *Enemy of the State: A Love Story*, the project was set aside as he scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in efforts to raise awareness of the global water crisis. He released it near the end of 2011 to thank his fans for their support. The record was preceded by two songs—"SLR" was published to Twitter on November 9, 2010, and "Lightwork" was released on October 21, 2011.

## Critical reception

Adam Fleischer of *XXL* praised, "Lupe offers no such mainstream indulgence; this is Lupe at his uninhibited best. [...] Whether or not the beat selection provides the best backdrop for a listener to connect to him doing so, Lupe is on a lyrical tear throughout. This is more than just a wordplay exercise, littered with similes galore. Sure, there’s that. But there’s also metaphors, boggling double entendres, concepts, and content". *Consequence of Sound* observed the "political mindset and very un-hip-hop samples", and highlighted the tracks "Double Burger with Cheese", "Joaquin Phoenix", and "SLR".

*Pitchfork*'s Jayson Greene gave a less positive review, describing it as "his wearying, dispiriting latest mixtape". He remarked upon Fiasco's versatility in genres, though concluded, "Sadly, he never does anything much".

## Track listing

All tracks written by Wasalu Jaco except for "Joaquin Phoenix", co-written with Ronald Jackson and Travis Barker. All tracks produced by their respective sampled artists, except for "Double Burger with Cheese", produced by Lupe Fiasco; "Joaquin Phoenix", produced by Travis Barker; and "SLR (Super Lupe Rap)", produced by Soundtrakk.

Sample credits
* "Lupe Back" samples "Doomsday" by NERO.
* "Friend of the People" samples "Jack Wire (Instrumental Version)" by SebastiAn.
* "WWJD He'd Probably LOL Like WTF!" samples "On'n'On" by Justice.
* "Lightwork" samples "Lights (Bassnectar Remix)" by Ellie Goulding.
* "Life, Death and Love from San Francisco" samples "Acknowledgement" by John Coltrane.
* "SLR (Super Lupe Raps)" samples "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom) (Remix)" by N.E.R.D. and "Crossing the Line" by Stomu Yamashta's Go.
* "SNDCLSH in Vegas" samples "Lick It" by Kaskade and Skrillex.
* "Super Cold" samples "Bad Wings" by The Glitch Mob.
* "The End of the World" samples "Midnight City" by M83.

## References

1. ↑ Huynh, Davis (November 24, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco - Friend of the People (Mixtape)". *Hypebeast*.
2. ↑ Huynh, Davis (November 9, 2010). "Lupe Fiasco - Super Lupe Rap (Produced by Soundtrakk)". *Hypebeast*.
3. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco - Lightwork". *Hypebeast*. October 20, 2011.
4. ↑ Fleischer, Adam (November 29, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco, *Friend of the People*". *XXL*.
5. ↑ Young, Alex (December 8, 2011). "Album Review: Lupe Fiasco – Friend of the People Mixtape'. *Consequence*.
6. ↑ Greene, Jayson (January 18, 2012). "*Friend of the People* by Lupe Fiasco". *Pitchfork*.