Examiner.com

**Examiner.com** was an American news website based in Denver, Colorado. It was owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group. Initially, it was used by the San Francisco newspaper since September 1994, until the domain was acquired by Anschutz/Clarity in 2004 as part of its acquisition of the newspaper. In 2006, it transformed into a hyperlocal news aggregator and in 2016, was shut down. Music journalist and contributor Marian Tuin conducted two interviews with American rapper Lupe Fiasco during his *Lasers* era.

## Article

### October 7, 2011

Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco has always had a progressive, urban spin on his intelligent and soulful sound. His third album *Lasers* has met with great success netting him his highest selling and chart ranking album to date. And that could be because it is also his most diverse and experimental album, as well with a world message that is as relevant as the more romantic songs are charming, like chart topping hit "Out of My Head." I spent a few minutes chatting with the candid and amicable MC between stops on his Lasers Tour, and he told me the evolution of his sound stems in part because "I'm more comfortable in my own skin, you know. I'm a little bit more aware of what my fan base is and how I can grow that fan base, how much freedom I have to experiment with different forms of music and I'm a little bit more comfortable with the reaction from the press, which is inevitable when you do things like that."

Not only does Fiasco's sound put a fresh spin on hip-hop but his lyrics are among some of the most inventive and relevant in the industry. When I asked him about his creative process he openly revealed, "I think sometimes it's not as deliberate as it may seem." Continuing, "Part of my creative process early was, whatever everybody else was doing, I would do left, you know. If everybody was turning right I was turning left, and if everyone was turning left I was turning right kind of a situation. But now, it kind of comes out of nowhere sometime to be honest." Then added, "The message definitely comes from the world. The actual content comes from CNN or Al Jazeera or just things that I know exist in the world. But the actual putting it together, the styling and the music format and whatever, I have no idea."

With such a dynamic sound it shouldn't surprise you then to learn that Fiasco's influences and musical preferences are as wide ranging as experimental electronic music to quality driven alternative jams and reggae. "There's definitely a canon of music I listen to. There's a lot of the more experimental electronic kind of world, so things like Glitch Mob and M83 and then from the alternative world and the rock world I also like Silver Sun Pick Ups and Radiohead and Metallica and Killswitch Engage." Concluding, "And then there's my favorite band of all time which is, The Prodigy. And when it comes back to hip hop I still like Nas and Mos Def and even the newer guys like Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi who can definitely kind of catch my ear and keep my edge sharp I guess."

Lupe will be on the road for the next ten days in support of *Lasers* and he says his favorite song to perform this go around is, "It's probably 'I Don't Wanna Care Right Now.' It became such a sleeper hit for us live that we literally do the song twice. We have a lot of fun and the crowd reaction is fun." After the tour the talented and ambitious rapper doesn't plan to slow down at all disclosing, "Me and my partner Scott started a DJ collective called Sound Clash so we're working on that album right now and hopefully we'll have a single out by Halloween and will try and push an album out around that and tour and all that. There's a Lupe Fiasco mixtape that's coming which hopefully we'll have out before the end of the year and that will hopefully lead up to the next Lupe Fiasco album. And that's really it, just more touring, touring, touring and music, music, music, music." He concludes, proving his success stems from a rich and cultured passion in music itself.

### October 11, 2011

Lupe Fiasco is known for his musical and creative appeal but he is also earning a reputation as an energetic and engaging live performer. On the back half of his Lasers Tour he made a stop at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, CO and brought to the stage an explosive and contagious energy that ignited the venue.

When I spoke with him the week prior to his performance in Denver he told me, "What's probably more deliberate than the [creation of] music was more the performance and being on stage and being on tour for the last two to three years with all these different kind of bands like Prodigy and Rammstein, rock bands and dance bands and really, really experimental kind of Hip Hop kind of bands. It made me want to step my performance up and bring this level of energy and this level of showmanship."

The Chicago MC made good on those words in Denver laying down an almost two hour performance packed with tracks off of his current album Lasers as well as classic Lupe hits like "Kick Push", "Super Star" and current radio smash, "Out of My Head". Saving the best for last he performed "The Show Goes On" and rather than engaging in the timeless ritual of leaving the stage and waiting for the crowds encore appeals he stayed put taking an already explosive performance to the next level.

During my conversation with Fiasco he revealed a setlist secret telling me currently his favorite track to perform was one called "I Don't Want to Care Right Now" explaining, "It became such a sleeper hit for us live that we do it twice. We have a lot of fun and the crowd reaction is fun." That explanation was a modest description of what the repeat performance was like live.

Introducing the song he asked the Denver crowd if they wanted to be in a music video and have some "fun". Of course the reaction was resounding but reached a climatic explosion when they brought bottles of water and showered the audience during each chorus, turning the stage and audience into a rave-like atmosphere. The performance left his fans drenched not only physically but also in the spirit of his artistry which seems to be built on a passionate world view, creativity all centered by quality entertainment.

## References

1. ↑ Tuin, Marian (October 3, 2011). "A Conversation with Lupe Fiasco". *Examiner.com*. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011.
2. ↑ Tuin, Marian (October 11, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco 'Lasers Tour' Review". *Examiner.com*. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011.