Trivia / Lupe Fiasco

• Content Leak: His debut album "Food and Liquor" was leaked before it was released. In between the leak and the official release, Lupe had recorded additional songs for the album.
• Creator Backlash: Lupe has mentioned in interviews that while he both loves and hates Lasers (because while he does like the songs, he despises it because of its torturous and troubled development), he has a considerably less complicated relationship with its lead single, The Show Goes On. He has repeatedly referred to it as 'the label's record'.
  • It's implied he wasn't a fan of DROGAS Light considering the meh reception it got, given he himself reviewed the album and gave it a 7/10 on Twitter.
• Executive Meddling: Originally, Lupe planned to release three albums- Food & Liquor, The Cool, and LupE.N.D., then retire. Unfortunately for him, his contract dictates at least six.
  • His album L.A.S.E.R.S. was delayed several times due to disputes with his record label. Despite The Cool being certified gold, gaining critical acclaim, and being nominated for four Grammys, his record label decided that the album wasn't "successful" because none of his singles made #1 on the charts. They subsequently took his creative control, not even allowing him to choose his own producers, instead they would provide him with the records they wanted him to make. The most recent delay came after he rejected some of the records they asked him to record. A petition from the fans was the only thing that allowed for the release of the record.
  • Because of this, he made sure that the first single, particularly its first verse, was a complete Take That! towards Atlantic Records.
  • Although Atlantic still had a lot of influence on the album itself. Listen to the State Run Radio and Beautiful Lasers samples released in 2009. The final album version of the songs have the beats more heavily produced and the chorus singer changed(State Run Radio was sung by Lupe Fiasco himself) or autotuned.
• Promoted Fanboy:
  • A long time fan of the Chicago Bulls, he was asked by the team to create a new version their theme song, which he happily did in collaboration with fellow Chicagoans Fall Out Boy. (Patrick Stump also helped produce a few songs for The Cool.)
  • As a long time Street Fighter fan, he was invited to battle Daigo on the eve of the launch of Street Fighter V…and he won.
    • Capcom then decided to use one of his songs from the new DROGAS Light album, "It's Not Design", as the background music for their reveal trailer of Kolin.
• Saved from Development Hell: If it hasn't been mentioned on this page enough, Lasers and the whole production of it is stuff of legend.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: "The Show Goes On" is admittedly a sped-up version of Modest Mouse's "Float On" with the lyrics changed.
• What Could Have Been: After numerous features on each other's songs, Lupe along with Pharrell from N.E.R.D./The Neptunes and Kanye West were going to form a supergroup called Child Rebel Soldiers or C.R.S. Unfortunately all that materialized were two songs and later Lupe announced that group was permanently on ice...or is it?
  • That song was recorded in 2008 according to Lupe.
  • Now Lupe and Pharrell could be doing a collaborative album, which some say could be CRS without Kanye.
  • He and B.o.B. formed a massive super group that many fans thought were going to put Young Money in its place...they've done absolutely nothing, besides a remix to "I'm Beaming".
  • "Airplanes" and "Nothin' on You" were originally his songs before Atlantic gave them to B.o.B. No wonder Lupe became suicidal.
  • Three albums were planned for 2017 known as DROGAS, DROGAS Light, and Skulls. After the backlash regarding the single "N.E.R.D.", Lupe cancelled the three albums and even announced he was going to retire due to the backlash being "a message from God". He later on Uncancelled DROGAS Light, and even later than that announced DROGAS under the new name DROGAS Wave. While DROGAS Wave did get released in 2018, Skulls remains in Development Hell.
  • Tetsuo & Youth originated as Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 2, a follow-up to Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 before it was reworked as a separate album.
  • Lasers originated as the triple album LupE.N.D., which would've been his last record as he planned to retire after that before realising that his contract was actually for six albums, not three. E.N.D. was short for the three discs for the album Everywhere, Nowhere and Down Here.
• Working Title: The Great American Rap Album for Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1.
  • We Are Lasers for Lasers.