The Show Goes On

*Lasers*This article is part of the Lasers era.Released: March 7, 2011
Label: 1st & 15th Entertainment / Atlantic RecordsCategory

## Single by Lupe Fiasco

> No matter what's going on in the world, keep moving. Don't let it slow you down, don't let it stop your show.
>
> Lupe Fiasco

"**The Show Goes On**" is a song recorded by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released through Atlantic Records on October 26, 2010, as the lead single from his third studio album, *Lasers* (2011). It interpolates the 2004 song "Float On" by Modest Mouse and features vocals from JR Get Money on the hook. He told *Billboard* in 2010, "It's a big controversial record, and a lot of ears should perk up on this song. It really is what the direction of 'Lasers' is all about."

The song was nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 54th Grammy Awards. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on May 6, 2011.

## Background

On October 15, 2010, the peaceful fan protest dubbed as 'Fiasco Friday' was held outside of Atlantic's New York headquarters. During this, Lyor Cohen eventually came out with a boombox playing "The Show Goes On," and repeated to fans the release date of the album. Fiasco notified on Twitter, "NYPD kicked me out FYI."

"The Show Goes On" premiered during his live Ustream feed and later appeared on his official website, available for free download on October 29, 2010. In an interview with *Complex*, Fiasco shared that he had "nothing to do with that record." He did not know any of the people he collaborated with, and explained, "[Last April] I was backstage at a show at the House of Blues in L.A. and the president of [Atlantic Records] came to me and said, 'Hey check this out, I got this song.' He played 'Show Goes On' for me on the iPod. I was used to it because they presented me like ten other songs in the same fashion or via email. So for me, at that point, it was just another record like, 'Is this a song you want me to do?' There was nothing special about it for me at that point. It was like, 'You know we still want off the label, right?' That was the conversations we were having." Fiasco wanted "Beautiful Lasers" to be the lead single instead, as it was "super meaningful" for him.

In *XXL*, it was clarified that the record along with "Never Forget You" had to be on the album. He revealed to *The Guardian* of the particular lyric, 'Have you ever had the feelin' that you was bein' had?' was so fitting, because it had him "at gunpoint. It was, 'If you don't do The Show Goes On, your album's not coming out.'" He informed *Music Connection* that the first verse was directed at Atlantic, and continued, "It's about a process that was becoming very difficult. A very ugly, crazy situation with lawyers, managers, and all kinds of chicanery being done by certain people, and it get's kinda nasty. It's less about me throwing people under the bus or naming names, and more about the process of going from a nobody to a somebody in a business where they're trying to get you to be famous by any means necessary. They don't care if it's authentic or not, or if it goes against the artist's sensibilities, so I'm critiquing the whole process of the fame game." Meanwhile, he told *Chicago Tribune*:

>
> So now I get into breaking the cardinal rule, which Jay-Z told me early on was, "Don't chase radio." You fast forward to 2011 and it's let's chase radio. It becomes an interesting hypocrisy that affects how you write your songs, who you hire to sing hooks, who you hire to produce. I was literally told for "The Show Goes On" that I shouldn't rap too deep. I shouldn't be too lyrical. It just needs to be something easy on the eyes. Like a record company telling Picasso that we don't need these abstract interpretations of life, where people have to sit down and look at it and break it down. It was better to paint the Upper West Side lady and her poodle so everyone could look at it right away and understand what was going on. I felt like I was painting poodles. It's why in the first line of "The Show Goes On" I paraphrase Johnny Rotten at the Sex pistols' final show: "Have you ever had the feeling that you were being cheated."
>
>
>
>

He told *944 Magazine*, "I'd rather not [discuss "The Show Goes On"]. That song has a lot of baggage that comes with it, but not in a bitter way. I would just say that it's a fun record, people gravitate to it, and the record company is 1,000 percent behind it. It's a good lead-off, it's doing its job."

While Fiasco showed disproval for its creation process, the single ended up being his biggest hit, peaking in the Top 10 on *Billboard* Hot 100 and remained in the charts for thirty-three consecutive weeks. It achieved 3x Multi-Platinum by the RIAA on March 13, 2014.

## Critical reception

Andy Kellman of AllMusic wrote, "Lupe disassociated himself from the song and claimed he was told how to rap on it—an edgeless, sanitized imitation of Kanye West's 'All of the Lights' that, curiously enough, includes the line 'They treat you like a slave, put chains all on your soul.' It became one of his biggest hits." Todd Martens from *Los Angeles Times* assessed, "one of only a handful of songs not bogged down with guests. Ultimately, it's a celebratory, hook-filled song, with Lupe breaking free of the 'chains' placed on his 'soul.'" *Boston Globe*'s Carrie Battan described it as "lays a warm, catchy brass section under a lyrical pep talk," while *DJBooth* remarked, "One, I really enjoyed The Show Goes On, it's the album's only truly uplifting offering. But now, if I want to support Lupe and by extension independent music, I suppose I should dislike it. Right? Two, Lupe fills the song with lines like 'I don't switch up I just laugh / unaffected by they threat' which suddenly seem confusingly contradictory; in reality he was deeply affected by their threats."

*PopMatters* penned in their emotionally wrought review, "with a gratuitously uncreative sample of Modest Mouse's "Float On," complete with disgustingly gaudy Kidz Bop-style re-singing of the original Modest Mouse vocal. Lupe Fiasco continued to spit his political lyrics, though slightly subdued, but it would take Herculean levels of consciousness and humanistic insight to overcome what amounts to the most bastardized sampling of a former hit since Eminem's 'No Love' or P. Diddy's heyday." Conversely, *Rolling Stone* opined, "cleverly reworks the chorus from Modest Mouse's "Float On" for an inspirational missive to global ghetto kids."

## Music video

The accompanying music video, directed by Japanese-American filmmaker Hiro Murai, premiered to YouTube on December 25, 2010. It depicts Fiasco preparing to go onstage to perform. A majority of the footage was his walk from the dressing room to the stage. He remarked about the visual, "I've never really done a performance video. It was an interesting take for the performance not to be on the stage, but moreso the show behind the stage."

He told MTV News on March 7, "This one seemed fitting in the sense that [the director] wanted to tell the story about what goes on behind the scenes, which, I think, was so much a part of *Lasers*, the album. Why it is, how it's manifested, the songs on there, all have these massive amounts of story lines of behind the scenes. This is what happened; this is what happened with this record. Even 'The Show Goes On' has a story to it that some people, when they hear it in its completion, their jaws drop." He continued, "We already know what the performance is, we already know [who] you are, let's give it a little more of a personal feel, so we can see the route taken behind the scenes, literally, from the dressing room to the stage. We already know what is onstage. We already know what the public life is, so let's see what goes on behind the scenes. And [the video] speaks to a lot of the stuff on the album, beyond 'The Show Goes On.'"

Fiasco featured the Casio G-Shock GX56 watch in the video, where he checks the time on it before realizing it's his time to perform. Vice President of Casio's Timepiece Division, Shigenori Itoh, said in a press release: "G-Shock is thrilled to play such a prominent role in Lupe Fiasco's 'The Show Goes On' video. With its fashion-forward extra large case, the Ultimate Tough GX56 sets the tone for the entire video experience."

## Accolades

Awards and nominations

 2012
 Best Rap Performance

Year-end lists

## Live performances

Throughout 2011, Fiasco performed the song live on a handful of televised programs, including *106 & Park*, *Late Show with David Letterman*, *The Ellen DeGeneres Show*, and at the 54th Grammy Awards. When touring, he usually performs it close to the end or as the final song from his set. In the second verse, with the lyric 'Oakland out to Auckland,' he often replaces the latter with the city he performs at, repeating it for the remainder of the verse.

## Personnel

* Brian Gardner – mastering engineer
* Daniel "Kane Beatz" Johnson – vocals, writer, producer
* Dann Gallucci – vocals, writer
* Dave Pensado – mixing engineer
* Dustin William Brower – vocals, writer
* Eric Judy – vocals, writer
* Isaac Brock – vocals, writer
* Jaycen-Joshua Fowler – mixing engineer
* Jonathon Keith Brown – vocals, writer
* Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco – vocals, writer

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]

LA-SER

Yeah, yeah

Kane is in the building, n\*\*\*a

Yeah

[Chorus: JR Get Money]

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]

Have you ever had the feelin' that you was bein' had?

Don't that shit there make you mad? They treat you like a slave

Put chains all on your soul and put whips up on your back

They be lyin' through they teeth, hope you slip up off your path

I don't switch up, I just laugh (Ha ha) put my kicks up on they desk

Unaffected by they threats, then get busy on they ass

See that's how that Chi-Town made me

That's how my daddy raised me

That glitterin' may not be gold, don't let nobody play me

If you are my homeboy, you never have to pay me

Gon' and put your hands up, when times is hard, you stand up

L-U-P the man, 'cause the brand that the fans trust

So even if they ban us, they'll never slow my plans up

[Chorus: JR Get Money]

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]

One in the air for the people ain't here

Two in the air for the father that's there

Three in the air for the kids in the ghetto

Four for the kids that don't wanna be there

None for the n\*\*\*as tryna hold them back

Five in the air for the teachers not scared

To tell those kids that's livin' in the ghetto

That the n\*\*\*as holdin' back that the world is theirs

Yeah, yeah, the world is yours, I was once that little boy

Terrified of the world, now I'm on a world tour

I would give up everything, even start a world war

For these ghetto girls and boys I'm rappin' round the world for

Africa to New York, Haiti then I detour

Oakland out to Auckland, Gaza Strip to Detroit

Say hip-hop only destroy, tell 'em look at me, boy

I hope your son don't have a gun and never be a d-boy

[Chorus: JR Get Money]

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]

So no matter what you been through, no matter what you into

No matter what you see when you look outside your window

Brown grass or green grass, picket fence or barbed wire

Never ever put them down, you just lift your arms higher

Raise 'em 'til your arms tired, let 'em know you here

That you strugglin', survivin', that you gon' persevere

Yeah, ain't nobody leavin', nobody goin' home

Even if they turn the lights out, the show is goin' on, alright

[Chorus: JR Get Money]

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

Alright, already, the show goes on

All night, 'til the morning we dream so long

Anybody ever wonder, when they would see the sun up

Just remember when you come up, the show goes on

## Certifications

 New Zealand (RMNZ)
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Beyond the Video: "The Show Goes On"". *YouTube*. January 10, 2011.
2. ↑ Gray, Jazmine (March 4, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On". *Billboard*.
3. ↑ Frazier, Walter (December 30, 2010). "Lupe Fiasco Drops Label Beef to Focus on 'Lasers'". *Billboard*.
4. ↑ "American Single Certifications – Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On". *Recording Industry Association of America*.
5. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. December 14, 2016.
6. ↑ Huynh, Davis (October 27, 2010). "Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On". *Hypebeast*.
7. ↑ Raymer, Miles (October 27, 2010). "The Modest Lupe Fiasco". *Chicago Reader*.
8. ↑ Ahmed, Insanul (February 28, 2011). "Interview: Lupe Fiasco Hates His Own Album". *Complex*.
9. ↑ Ramirez, Erika and Hood, Bryan (March 7, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco on *Lasers*, Lame Rap, and His Battles with the Music Industry". *Vulture*.
10. ↑ Batey, Angus (March 3, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco: 'I Have the Right to Speak Out'". *The Guardian*.
11. ↑ Siwek, Daniel (October 9, 2012). "Q&A with Lupe Fiasco". *Music Connection*.
12. ↑ Greg, Kot (March 1, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco Discusses the Making of 'L.A.S.E.R.S.': 'It Was Destroying Me'". *Chicago Tribune*. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011.
13. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Lasers Review by Andy Kellman". AllMusic.
14. ↑ Martens, Todd (March 7, 2011). "Album Review: Lupe Fiasco's 'Lasers'". *Los Angeles Times*.
15. ↑ Battan, Carrie (March 8, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco: "Lasers"". *Boston Globe*.
16. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco - Lasers". *DJBooth*. March 8, 2011. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011.
17. ↑ Amidon, David (March 10, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco: Lasers". *PopMatters*. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
18. ↑ Dolan, Jon (March 8, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco Lasers Review". *Rolling Stone*. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011.
19. ↑ Gary, Kevin (January 3, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco Reveals "Lasers" Guest List". *HipHopDX*.
20. ↑ Rodriguez, Jayson (March 7, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco Aimed to Pull Back Curtain with 'Show Goes On' Video". *MTV*.
21. ↑ "Casio G-Shock GX56 Featured in the Lupe Fiasco's Latest Music Video". *Your New Watch*. December 30, 2010.
22. ↑ "Top 100 Songs of 2011". *XXL*. January 2, 2012.