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Lupe Fiasco is best known for his concept albums and densely-packed lyrics. In a new interview with Vulture, the Chicago rapper spoke about his approach to songwriting and explained why he doesn’t worry about fans understanding all of his lyrics at first.
While claiming that he helped build interest in Genius' lyrics annotations, Lupe pointed out that many people are lacking knowledge of a variety of topics:
You’re talking to a person who’s somewhat personally responsible for building an industry of annotating lyrics. When Rap Genius came out, I met with the owners. That sh-t for the sole purpose of ‘Because n-ggas like Lupe say sh-t that I don’t understand. And I need to figure that sh-t out.’ It’s not just rap for Genius—it’s speeches, all kinds of sh-t. I think it speaks to how much people don’t really know the basics of any f-cking thing, let alone Lupe Fiasco rap. You can either look at that as being a negative, or you can look at it as being a great occasion or opportunity to explore, to discover new things.
He continued by contrasting his style with rappers who are popular for the beats and melodies of their songs. “I deal with words, and I deal with reference points. That’s like my job. That’s what I’m good at, and that’s what I choose to do,” Lupe explained. “I’m not trying to belittle you if you don’t understand it. I’m not trying to set up this category of elite people who only believe you have to be of a certain level of intelligence to ‘get it.’”
Instead, Lupe hopes that fans will connect with each other to gain a full understanding of his music. “You have some really smart people that listen to really dumb sh-t, and you got really dumb people who listen to really sophisticated sh-t,” he said. “I try to split the difference. You may not get half of it, but there’s somebody else who’s going to get the other half that you’re not getting. Hopefully, you will connect with that other person and then they’ll give you the other half.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Lupe spoke about having enough variety in his music to satisfy different parts of his fanbase:
There’s people in my audience who like chasing lyrics, figuring out what things are, unpacking things, being able to sit and theorize about different concepts. There are certain songs that cater to that, so they can have their ‘Mural’ and just sit there for years breaking this sh-t down. And there’s other fans who just want you to do ‘The Show Goes On,’ ‘Superstar,’ ‘Battle Scars,’ and they’re good. I’m cool with that—that’s why I made those songs. But once you do that, you’re able to identify that everybody isn’t the same. You will lose people because they’re like, ‘I f-cking hate Lasers.’ Because you didn’t listen to the sh-t. You heard ‘The Show Goes On,’ and you was like, ‘F-ck that album.’ But if you would have listened to the album, that’s the same album that has ‘Words I Never Said’ and ‘All Black Everything’—very powerful joints.
Lupe’s most recent release was July’s HOUSE, a joint EP with producer Kaelin Ellis that spawned from a freestyle spit over a beat that was posted by Ellis on Twitter. Falling in line with Lupe’s comments about understanding his music, it features a song titled “Dinosaurs” that can be interpreted in multiple ways. On the surface, it’s an educational song about dinosaurs inspired by a trip to the Museum of Natural History with his godson, but the track has a deeper meaning about appreciating older rappers who are no longer mainstream.
Read the full Vulture interview here, and catch up on all the lyrics to Lupe Fiasco & Kaelin Ellis' HOUSE on Genius now.
