Universal Allure

hiphopfightsback:

Lupe Fiasco - Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free)

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty reveled when I first heard this.  I assumed Lupe would take a more organic rout, similar to what he did with his first Food & Liquor album, and fortunately I was right.  I still don’t understand though his continued need to sample a classic instrumental for his initial single.  For Lasers he sampled Modest Mouse’s Float On for his hit single The Show Goes On, which I’m actually ok with, even though Modest Mouse is my favorite music group of all time…including hip-hop artists, which is obviously saying something.  However, I do feel The Show Goes On could have been better if it was slightly more original, and the same goes for Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free).  I can’t disagree with Pete Rock when he tweeted “No disrespect to Lupe Fiasco and I like him a lot but TROY should be left alone. Feel so violated, the beat is next to my heart and was made outta anguish and pain. When it’s like that it should not be touched by no one”.  Even though Lupe probably should have fucked with a different instrumental, I can’t incorporate his poor decision into the rating process.  Music is music and personal shit is personal shit…unless the music was influenced by the personal shit, which this song was not.  The lyrics represent a completely different direction, and I’m not going to lie, Lupe’s lyrics for this are pretty damn tight.

Lupe’s Food & Liquor is easily in my top 3 hip-hop albums off all time, so (like most people) I have extremely high expectations for Lupe and his future works.  I know for a fact he will never outdo his debut album, but all I can hope for is something at least close.  I presume Food & Liquor 2 will be better than Lasers, but it will most likely only be his 3rd best album…out of 4.  Don’t get me wrong though, it’ll be one of the better albums of the year, but when personal expectations grow beyond realistic expectations, it’s easy to loose sight of the reality that music such as this song is amazing, even though it’s definitely not Lupe’s best work.

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My Song Rating: 9.6 out of 10