I should hate you, according to the situation in which we formally met.
"You know who did you know what with you know who, but let's keep that between me and you for now." -Lucky Lefty
In any event, I always catch myself thinking how different my life would be had we not both been assigned 4th period lunch in our freshman year of high school. Where would we be had we never spoke? In the past few years there have been tons of eras, stories, beefs, good times, dramas and et cetera, but there's always been a common denominator. You've been there next to me through all of it. Your support means much more than you probably realize. Hopefully I'm not deceived, and hopefully this is a fair assessment to make, but I feel like you really share the same principles and morals of loyalty that I do...which I commend, because the absence of those principles has been poison to some of the most influential friendships of my past. This blog post is probably a jinx though, and you'll probably attempt to have your way with my new girlfriend as soon as this is published, haaaa. I'm glad I've had a partner in crime that represents individuality and trend setting...we could've told them about Drake and Wiz Khalifa ages ago. Any dream, any ambition you have, I'm 100 percent behind you. Fear versus Courage.
Freedom lies within your own thoughts. Who can tell you what to do in your imagination? Don't fear your dreams...embrace them. "One who hates themself cannot truly love or trust others." If you don't like your immediate reality, know it is only that...immediate. We are all a part of the Human Instrumentality Project, and the differences among our families and circles complement each other's imperfections and bring us to equilibrium. You may not realize it now, but the things that make you stick out from the crowd are the things that will make you who you are as an independent being. Hold onto that. That's your goldmine that nobody can ever take away from you. If they're scars...so be it...but don't let them consume you. Even in darkness, keep looking and I'm sure you'll find much more.
"I want my music to sound like somebody chasing you through the forest with ax. That’s what I want my music to sound like. Like somebody chasing you through the woods with a chainsaw. What does the soundtrack to that? “Heirplanes,” video okay. Let’s chase somebody through the woods with a chain saw. The whole song “Heirplanes” is about no monarchy. No real need to question the people who are in power or the techniques and the tactics that they use. If you go through and start listening to the lyrics and break down the hook and different stuff like that, its kinda questions the authority of what’s going on. That’s why we’re chasing these girls through the woods. It’s like that’s the point. It may seem as not as direct as saying that, but it’s like, I got somebody’s attention because we’re chasing these girls through the forest. Now that I got your attention, ‘Do you really know what your congressman is doing?’ " -Wasalu
"It was an opportunity to experiment with pushing the digital envelope as it pertains to the visuals created thus far for A Thousand Suns. It was my attempt to digitally crush us to the point that you feel the soul of the music through what has become the essence of us. We become the ghosts in the machine. Some may say that because of technology, we lose a sense of who we are. I counter that by illustrating that we can get closer to who we are if we sift through the noise. If this sounds like it’s too ‘out there,’ just ignore what I said and enjoy the pretty pictures."
First off, let me start by saying I personally don't have anything against Atlantic Records, what they stand for, or what they've done as a company, because I'm all for any organization that has a passion to distribute the gift of music across the world, and take it to levels that a man alone may not be able to by himself. Secondly, I genuinely believe Lupe Fiasco is one of the greatest writers of our generation if not in the history of our culture altogether, so this Lasers situation is something I am very passionate about. I understand very well the climate that the music industry is in, and although there are three sides to every story, and I'm only going off of one of the sides, and speculation, I can full and well understand some of the antics Atlantic has been accused of. They want to make money, that's what a company does, and it makes sense that they'd want Lupe to bring them a smash hit record that everybody can eat off of. With that said, I also give Lupe the benefit of the doubt (based off of the track record of his last two albums), that there's a hit record somewhere on Lasers, if not a few of them, but I guess my personal visionary expands beyond what the average (non musician, at that) person thinks could be successful. I understand why they favor the 360 model as far as their artists are concerned, but whether I agree with it or not is an entirely different subject.
I definitely am not somebody claiming to have the solution, because I don't have all the answers. Regardless, with the year-round packed shows all over the world, petitions, fan clubs, blogs, clothing lines, et cetera, that come along with Lupe Fiasco, I think we all know he has a passionate fanbase behind him that cares and will support his music upon its release. Furthermore, I think we all know the platforms he has the potential to reach with his talent (not to mention the ones he's already reached, climbed and gone beyond). When was the last time a protest was organized after a rapper's album got shelved? Lupe and his music mean a lot of things to a lot of people, and I know in my youth that his messages and the way he painted them were instrumental in making me the way that I am. Not that I tried to fit in his mold, but that they inspired me to create my own.
On October 15th, 2010, in midtown New York City, along the neighborhood of Atlantic Records, there will be a protest with the intention of furthering the fight against the limbo that the Lasers album has seemingly been hanging in. I'll be there. We may not immediately get what we want, the way we want, and I can't tell the future, so we may not get what we want at all. But I don't think we wanna sit back without an attempt or two.
