Lasers (album)
Encyclopedia
Lasers is the third studio album
by American rapper Lupe Fiasco
, released on 8 March 2011 by Atlantic Records
in the United States. Production for the album took place between 2008 and 2010. Lasers features production by The Audibles, The Neptunes
, Needlz
, Alex da Kid
, Syience
, and long-time collaborator Soundtrakk, among others. Trey Songz
, John Legend
, Skylar Grey, Sway
, Matt Mahaffey
, MDMA, Eric Turner and Sarah Green contribute vocals to the album.
Lasers was preceded by the lead single
"The Show Goes On
" and its follow-up "Words I Never Said
" featuring Skylar Grey. The former became Fiasco's highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100
and has been certified double Platinum
in the United States
. The latter, however, only achieved moderate success on the Hot 100.
The album has received mixed reviews from most major music critics, having a score of 57 out of 100 at the review aggregator Metacritic
. It fared better commercially however, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200
with first-week sales of over 200,000 copies sold, making the album Fiasco's second top ten album as well as his highest entry on the chart.
prevented him from doing so. He then postponed "LupE.N.D." indefinitely and intended on releasing an album tentatively called "The Great American Rap Album" in June 2009. Instead, the album was also postponed and he announced that a new album was in the works, originally titled "We Are Lasers" and then changed to "Lasers". "Lasers" is a backronym
for "Love Always Shines Everytime, Remember 2 Smile". Referring to the title of the album, Fiasco has stated: "I've always had that word in my head, I'm a word guy. And I thought 'lasers' would be a dope name for an album, so when I came up with it I just put it in my 'think-tank' and let it evolve and came up with different meanings for it. That’s why I made it an anagram
[sic] to give it a new mould, a new understanding, but still playing off the idea that it's bringing light to different circumstances which is what I try and do - bringing understanding and light and awareness to different projects that are going on in the world, and 'L.A.S.E.R.S' is no different.
In 2010, to promote the message of the album, Fiasco released a viral video
onto the internet titled "The L.A.S.E.R.S. Manifesto", which can be found on both YouTube
and the official website. The manifesto
reads:
On 4 January 2011, Billboard
revealed two guest appearances on Fiasco's album Lasers. The guests confirmed were Trey Songz
and British
rapper Sway
. In the interview with Billboard, Fiasco expressed his thoughts on music piracy
and fighting track leaks on various blogs. Speaking about the problems with his record label
, Fiasco has stated: "I think I set the precedent for record labels — showed everyone that you can have rappers that don't fit the format and still have a presence [...] You look at a person like me, or Kanye
[West], and it was sort of a shock to the system. I definitely think I was part of changing that, and an influence to a lot dudes that are coming out today."
In a 2011 interview with MTV UK
, Fiasco said that the album "doesn’t have a storyline, whereas The Cool
was a concept album and this is more just a collection of songs that share some of the same tones, which is basically just positivity and consciousness. Some of the records are controversial, but it’s less cohesive than The Cool." Talking about the album with Details
, Fiasco has stated that he wanted to make "a popular record [...] but by my definition of popular [...] an uprising of the people". He has also stated that the creation of the album was "a very painful, dark, fucked-up process."
In a February 2011 interview with Complex, Fiasco has stated:
Speaking about the album with the Chicago Sun-Times
, Fiasco has stated: "Lasers is a great album. I'm actually happy with the record. I feel I got to say what I wanted even with -- It doesn't make up for what it took to get through it. It's still being argued and debated upon. ... The climate of this record was very weird, in some instances surreal. I became very abstract. I had to create this commercial art that appeases the corporate side. I had to acquiesce to certain forces. Hopefully within that I snuck in some things I actually wanted to say any way I can." In an interview with The Guardian
, Fiasco has expressed that during the recording process of the album he has dealt with depression
and suicidal thoughts
: "It was mentally destructive. I say it with a certain laissez-faire now because I'm past it [...]. I was super-depressed, lightly suicidal, at moments medium suicidal – and if not suicidal, willing to just walk away from it all completely."
that the album was complete and was waiting for Atlantic Records
to release it. Richard Barker, a fan awaiting the release of the album, put together an online petition
with the help of Rhymestyle from the "LupEND Blog" fan site
, demanding that Atlantic Records release Lasers, due to the fact that the album was announced for a 2010 release and at the time still did not have a release date. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites and attained over 5,000 signatures on its first day. It has since reached over 32,000 signatures.
In response to the petition, Lupe Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F. (Building Minds Faster)" (a remix of "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)
" by Rick Ross
) as a gift for his fans. The story was featured on many websites, including CNN
and MTV
. To further on stress the petition to Atlantic Records, another blogger from the "LupEND Blog" known as "SeanTheRobot", along with a number of other Lupe Fiasco fans from the fansite Kanyelive.com, set up a protest called "Fiasco Friday". On October 7, 2010, Lupe Fiasco tweeted "Victory!" along with posting a picture of himself with Atlantic president, Julie Greenwald. On October 8, Atlantic Records revealed that the release date for Lasers would be March 8, 2011. Even though the release date of the album had been confirmed prior, a number of fans protested outside Atlantic Records' offices in New York City
on October 15, 2010. Protest co-organizer Matthew La Corte has told The Village Voice
that it should be considered as a "celebration of the release and everyone's hard work". Lupe Fiasco announced on Twitter
that he would also be attending, where he gave a speech.
Speaking in a March 2011 interview with New York
about the support that his fans have given him to release the album, Fiasco has said: "It was amazing, humbling, and inspiring, to the point where I went back in the studio and did more records … it made everything real, that your music is actually something that people want. And it's something that is successful, not in selling records, but the way it moves people and inspires them to do better for themselves." Talking with MTV
about the protest, Fiasco has stated that he was touched by the support of his devoted fanbase: "Getting a chance to introduce my message and my movement to a wider audience is always a good thing, but at the same time, to have my fans support it in a major way feels really good."
, Fiasco played the chorus
of a song called "Shining Down
", which eventually led to a snippet being leaked
onto the internet. On 17 May 2009, a low quality version of the single leaked onto the internet, possibly stemming from a rip from the "FNF TV Stream". "Shining Down" was intended to be the first single off of Everywhere, the first of the three CDs that LupE.N.D. would have been composed of. But because its release was withheld, there was speculation circulating that it may be the first single from Lasers. Fiasco later confirmed that it is in fact the first single off of the album. The song was produced by Soundtrakk and featured Matthew Santos
, in the same collaborative manner that Fiasco featured Santos on his hit lead single, "Superstar
" from his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
. It was released on July 7, 2009. The song had received mixed reviews, with Pitchfork Media
giving it a 5/10 rating, calling it a "bland refix of The Cools first single". "Shining Down" did not do as well as Fiasco had hoped for, charting only at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100
during its initial run.
In a February 2010 interview with Australian radio station Triple J
, Fiasco revealed that although the album had been submitted to his label, they still had no solid release date for it. He stated: "It's one of the sadder parts of being on a major record label. At a certain point it's out of your hands. About a date for Lasers, it's truly on them. I have no idea what they're going to do." It has also been reported that Fiasco had initially recorded B.o.B
's "Nothin' on You
" as well as "Airplanes
" featuring Hayley Williams
, but both songs had been rejected by Fiasco's label. Another unreleased song from Lasers was "Who Are You Now" featuring B.o.B, which has leaked onto the internet in March 2011.
", premiered on Fiasco's official website. It was produced by Kane Beatz and samples Modest Mouse
's "Float On
" as part of the chorus. The music video for the single was directed by Hiro Murai and premiered on Fiasco's official website on Christmas day, December 25, 2010. As of June 2011, the song has been certified double Platinum
in the United States by the RIAA
for selling over two million copies, thus making it his second single to go Platinum and first to go double Platinum. "The Show Goes On" has peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100
, becoming his highest charting song on the Hot 100. On other Billboard charts, "The Show Goes On" has peaked at number 45 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, 14 on the Pop Songs
chart and five on the Hot Rap Songs
chart. In Australia, it peaked at number five on the Australian Singles Chart
and has since been certified Gold
for selling over 35,000 units. In Europe, the single has charted on the Irish Singles Chart
where it peaked at number 19, as well as on the UK Singles Chart
peaking at number 49.
On January 11, 2011, Fiasco revealed during an interview with Providence
's Hot 106
that the follow-up single to "The Show Goes On" is titled "Words I Never Said
", he said about the song that "It's gonna be really big. It's a big, controversial record". The song was produced by Alex da Kid
and features American singer-songwriter
Skylar Grey. "Words I Never Said" was released as a digital download
on February 8, 2011. It has since peaked at number 89 on the US Billboard Hot 100
. A teaser trailer
for the Sanaa Hamri
-directed music video was released in January 2011, while the full clip premiered on April 28, 2011.
"Out of My Head
" featuring American R&B
singer Trey Songz
was confirmed as the album's third single. The song was released on May 10, 2011 and has since peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, 11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart and four on the Hot Rap Songs
chart. The official single cover was revealed on May 23, 2011. Fiasco and Songz performed "Out of My Head" live for the first time at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards
on June 5, 2011. The music video for the single, directed by Gil Green, was released on June 29, 2011.
chart, with first-week sales of 204,000 copies. Lasers marks Fiasco's first number one album on the chart as well as his best selling first-week sales. The album is Fiasco's second top ten album on the chart with his first album, Food & Liquor, debuting at number eight in 2006, and The Cool
debuting at number 15 in 2007. In its second week on the chart, it fell to number three selling 47,000 units, while in its third week, it fell to number ten selling an additional 29,000 copies. As of August 10, 2011, Lasers has sold approximately 452,000 copies in the United States. Internationally, Lasers has debuted within the top ten on the Australian and Canadian album charts, while also peaking at number 11 in New Zealand and number 25 in the United Kingdom.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 57, based on 26 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews" reviews. Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it three out of five stars and criticized its "lumbering, overwrought choruses", writing that "If there is one MC whose rhymes should not be dulled for the sake of chasing pop trends, it’s Lupe Fiasco". Jeff Leven of Paste
gave Lasers a six out of 10 rating and found its musical arrangements polished and "radio-friendly". The Guardian
s Alex Macpherson viewed its content as a concession to pop music
trends, panning its "synthy choruses" and "trite empowerment anthems". Andy Gill of The Independent
gave the album two out of five stars and criticized Fiasco's lyrics, stating "while his flow has a nice bounce and monotonal glide, too many tracks end with one wondering what exactly he's said, if anything at all". David Amidon of PopMatters
panned the album as "a disgustingly awkward effort from everyone involved [...] Listenability? Credibility? These, Lasers is lacking in seismic qualities". Brandon Soderberg of Spin
found it to be affected by crossover tendencies and wrote that "Lasers works best, however, when the grabby hooks, electro beats, and conscious rap rants are all turned down a notch". Los Angeles Times
writer Todd Martens shared a similar sentiment and commented that the album "feels more like a compromise than a cohesive album". Pitchfork Media
's Ian Cohen criticized the album for "surveying the current pop-rap landscape and retaining nothing worthwhile", commenting that "Lasers simply sounds bad, playing against every single one of Lupe Fiasco's strengths and creating new weaknesses".
However, Entertainment Weekly
s Brad Wete complimented its themes and stated "Simply put, Lasers beams". Rolling Stone
writer Jon Dolan noted Fiasco's "athletic, whiplash flow and rich imagination" and found the album "shorter, brighter and — most admirably — more optimistic" than his previous album The Cool. Despite writing that "RnB
syrup starts to swamp the lyrical invention", BBC Music
's Johnny Sharp noted "several inspired moments" and commented that "Lupe remains a singular hip hop voice, and Lasers is still worth a listen". Carrie Battan of The Boston Globe
viewed that "the album’s real sweet spots lie somewhere in the brief, breezy middle ground" between "angsty rap-metal
crossover tracks" and "clubby, bass-thumping radio-rap jams". The A.V. Club
s Kyle Ryan gave the album a B- and commented that its synthesizer
s "[give] it an au courant hip-hop sound", but criticized its lyrics and called it "schizophrenic". Steve Jones of USA Today
gave the album three out of four stars and wrote that it "has several shining moments but falls short of the overall excellence" of his previous albums. Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
gave the album two-and-half out of four stars and stated "Its best music shows what it might have been. The rest feels more like an obligation reluctantly met, a difficult bridge to the next phase of Lupe Fiasco’s career". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
expressed a mixed response towards its music and called Lasers "a chaotic album full of gummy rhymes that look better on the page than they sound to the ear, delivered with a tone of tragic bombast". Slant Magazine
's Matthew Cole perceived "no bridging the gap between Laserss radical message and its utterly conventional sound", commenting that "In moments of dazzling clarity, Lupe spits hip-hop prophecy, but too much of Lasers is given over to self-serious jeremiads on race, rap, and politics, or pop-rap pandering".
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American rapper Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...
, released on 8 March 2011 by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in the United States. Production for the album took place between 2008 and 2010. Lasers features production by The Audibles, The Neptunes
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
, Needlz
Needlz
Khari Cain, better known by his stage name Needlz, is an American record producer, Grammy Award Winning, engineer and composer.-Life and career:...
, Alex da Kid
Alex da Kid
Alexander Grant , better known as Alex da Kid, is a Grammy award winning English music songwriter and hip-hop producer.-Early life:...
, Syience
Syience
Reggie Syience Perry is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, record producer and musician. He has worked with a number of recognizable and respected artists, including Beyoncé, Cheryl Cole, Jay-Z, John Legend, Mary J Blige, Ne-Yo, and Nelly. Syience won two Grammys for his work on Mary J...
, and long-time collaborator Soundtrakk, among others. Trey Songz
Trey Songz
Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson , better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007...
, John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
, Skylar Grey, Sway
Sway DaSafo
Derek Andrew Safo is a Ghanaian British musician who uses the stage names Sway DaSafo or Sway. He is signed to Akon's Konvict Muzik record label and he is also a producer, establishing DCypha Productions.-Childhood:...
, Matt Mahaffey
Matt Mahaffey
Matt Mahaffey is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and recording engineer best known for his band Self.-Personal:Matt grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee and was involved with music from a young age...
, MDMA, Eric Turner and Sarah Green contribute vocals to the album.
Lasers was preceded by the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
"The Show Goes On
The Show Goes On (song)
"The Show Goes On" is a song by recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released on October 26, 2010 as the first single from his third studio album Lasers. Prominently built on the bassline of Pachelbel's Canon, the song was produced by Kane Beatz, and the melody of the song was taken from the 2004 song...
" and its follow-up "Words I Never Said
Words I Never Said
"Words I Never Said" is the second single from Hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco released from his third studio album Lasers. The single features vocals from singer-songwriter Skylar Grey and was released for digital download on February 8, 2011...
" featuring Skylar Grey. The former became Fiasco's highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and has been certified double Platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The latter, however, only achieved moderate success on the Hot 100.
The album has received mixed reviews from most major music critics, having a score of 57 out of 100 at the review aggregator Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. It fared better commercially however, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
with first-week sales of over 200,000 copies sold, making the album Fiasco's second top ten album as well as his highest entry on the chart.
Background
Lupe Fiasco was originally going to release the album as a triple album, titled "LupE.N.D." as his third and final record, but his contract with Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
prevented him from doing so. He then postponed "LupE.N.D." indefinitely and intended on releasing an album tentatively called "The Great American Rap Album" in June 2009. Instead, the album was also postponed and he announced that a new album was in the works, originally titled "We Are Lasers" and then changed to "Lasers". "Lasers" is a backronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
for "Love Always Shines Everytime, Remember 2 Smile". Referring to the title of the album, Fiasco has stated: "I've always had that word in my head, I'm a word guy. And I thought 'lasers' would be a dope name for an album, so when I came up with it I just put it in my 'think-tank' and let it evolve and came up with different meanings for it. That’s why I made it an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
[sic] to give it a new mould, a new understanding, but still playing off the idea that it's bringing light to different circumstances which is what I try and do - bringing understanding and light and awareness to different projects that are going on in the world, and 'L.A.S.E.R.S' is no different.
In 2010, to promote the message of the album, Fiasco released a viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
onto the internet titled "The L.A.S.E.R.S. Manifesto", which can be found on both YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and the official website. The manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
reads:
On 4 January 2011, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
revealed two guest appearances on Fiasco's album Lasers. The guests confirmed were Trey Songz
Trey Songz
Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson , better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007...
and British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
rapper Sway
Sway DaSafo
Derek Andrew Safo is a Ghanaian British musician who uses the stage names Sway DaSafo or Sway. He is signed to Akon's Konvict Muzik record label and he is also a producer, establishing DCypha Productions.-Childhood:...
. In the interview with Billboard, Fiasco expressed his thoughts on music piracy
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
and fighting track leaks on various blogs. Speaking about the problems with his record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Fiasco has stated: "I think I set the precedent for record labels — showed everyone that you can have rappers that don't fit the format and still have a presence [...] You look at a person like me, or Kanye
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
[West], and it was sort of a shock to the system. I definitely think I was part of changing that, and an influence to a lot dudes that are coming out today."
In a 2011 interview with MTV UK
MTV (UK and Ireland)
MTV is a 24-hour general entertainment channel operated by Viacom International Media Networks.The channel was launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localization strategy in 1997. MTV UK was launched on 1 July 1997. The channel was set up to provide audiences with local artists and more relevant...
, Fiasco said that the album "doesn’t have a storyline, whereas The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, commonly referred to as simply The Cool, is the second studio album by Chicago hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco, released on December 18, 2007 in the United States. The Cool is a loose concept album, based on a song and its titular character from his debut album Food & Liquor...
was a concept album and this is more just a collection of songs that share some of the same tones, which is basically just positivity and consciousness. Some of the records are controversial, but it’s less cohesive than The Cool." Talking about the album with Details
Details (magazine)
Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...
, Fiasco has stated that he wanted to make "a popular record [...] but by my definition of popular [...] an uprising of the people". He has also stated that the creation of the album was "a very painful, dark, fucked-up process."
In a February 2011 interview with Complex, Fiasco has stated:
Speaking about the album with the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, Fiasco has stated: "Lasers is a great album. I'm actually happy with the record. I feel I got to say what I wanted even with -- It doesn't make up for what it took to get through it. It's still being argued and debated upon. ... The climate of this record was very weird, in some instances surreal. I became very abstract. I had to create this commercial art that appeases the corporate side. I had to acquiesce to certain forces. Hopefully within that I snuck in some things I actually wanted to say any way I can." In an interview with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Fiasco has expressed that during the recording process of the album he has dealt with depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
and suicidal thoughts
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
: "It was mentally destructive. I say it with a certain laissez-faire now because I'm past it [...]. I was super-depressed, lightly suicidal, at moments medium suicidal – and if not suicidal, willing to just walk away from it all completely."
Release conflict and petition
Lupe Fiasco had announced on TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that the album was complete and was waiting for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
to release it. Richard Barker, a fan awaiting the release of the album, put together an online petition
Internet petition
An Internet petition is a form of petition posted on a website. Visitors to the website in question can add their email addresses or names, and after enough "signatures" have been collected, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail.-Pros and cons:The...
with the help of Rhymestyle from the "LupEND Blog" fan site
Fansite
A fansite, fan site, or fanpage is a website created and maintained by a fan or devotee interested in a celebrity, thing, or a particular cultural phenomenon...
, demanding that Atlantic Records release Lasers, due to the fact that the album was announced for a 2010 release and at the time still did not have a release date. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites and attained over 5,000 signatures on its first day. It has since reached over 32,000 signatures.
In response to the petition, Lupe Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F. (Building Minds Faster)" (a remix of "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)
B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)
"B.M.F. " is the second single from Rick Ross' fourth studio album Teflon Don. It features Styles P. It was produced by Lex Luger. The song was originally released as an unmastered version on Ross' promotional mixtape, the Albert Anastasia EP...
" by Rick Ross
Rick Ross (rapper)
William Leonard Roberts II , better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection...
) as a gift for his fans. The story was featured on many websites, including CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. To further on stress the petition to Atlantic Records, another blogger from the "LupEND Blog" known as "SeanTheRobot", along with a number of other Lupe Fiasco fans from the fansite Kanyelive.com, set up a protest called "Fiasco Friday". On October 7, 2010, Lupe Fiasco tweeted "Victory!" along with posting a picture of himself with Atlantic president, Julie Greenwald. On October 8, Atlantic Records revealed that the release date for Lasers would be March 8, 2011. Even though the release date of the album had been confirmed prior, a number of fans protested outside Atlantic Records' offices in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on October 15, 2010. Protest co-organizer Matthew La Corte has told The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
that it should be considered as a "celebration of the release and everyone's hard work". Lupe Fiasco announced on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that he would also be attending, where he gave a speech.
Speaking in a March 2011 interview with New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
about the support that his fans have given him to release the album, Fiasco has said: "It was amazing, humbling, and inspiring, to the point where I went back in the studio and did more records … it made everything real, that your music is actually something that people want. And it's something that is successful, not in selling records, but the way it moves people and inspires them to do better for themselves." Talking with MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
about the protest, Fiasco has stated that he was touched by the support of his devoted fanbase: "Getting a chance to introduce my message and my movement to a wider audience is always a good thing, but at the same time, to have my fans support it in a major way feels really good."
Singles and leaked material
During a concert at Boston CollegeBoston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
, Fiasco played the chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
of a song called "Shining Down
Shining Down
"Shining Down" is a song by Lupe Fiasco. It was intended to be the first single of Everywhere, the first of three CDs of Lupe Fiasco's triple album, Lupe Fiasco's LupE.N.D., but because of its release being withheld, there was speculation circulating that it may be the first single of his third...
", which eventually led to a snippet being leaked
Internet leak
An Internet leak occurs when a party's confidential information is released to the public on the Internet. Various types of information and data can be, and have been, "leaked" to the Internet, the most common being personal information, computer software and source code, and artistic works such...
onto the internet. On 17 May 2009, a low quality version of the single leaked onto the internet, possibly stemming from a rip from the "FNF TV Stream". "Shining Down" was intended to be the first single off of Everywhere, the first of the three CDs that LupE.N.D. would have been composed of. But because its release was withheld, there was speculation circulating that it may be the first single from Lasers. Fiasco later confirmed that it is in fact the first single off of the album. The song was produced by Soundtrakk and featured Matthew Santos
Matthew Santos
Matthew Santos is an American rock and folk singer-songwriter, musician and painter. He is best known for his collaboration with Chicago native Lupe Fiasco on the single "Superstar." He was signed to Lupe Fiasco's 1st & 15th Entertainment record label, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records.-Early...
, in the same collaborative manner that Fiasco featured Santos on his hit lead single, "Superstar
Superstar (Lupe Fiasco song)
"Superstar" is a song performed by rapper Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos. It is the first single off his 2007 album Lupe Fiasco's The Cool. iTunes released "Superstar" on September 25, 2007 along with a radio version of "Dumb It Down."...
" from his second album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, commonly referred to as simply The Cool, is the second studio album by Chicago hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco, released on December 18, 2007 in the United States. The Cool is a loose concept album, based on a song and its titular character from his debut album Food & Liquor...
. It was released on July 7, 2009. The song had received mixed reviews, with Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
giving it a 5/10 rating, calling it a "bland refix of The Cools first single". "Shining Down" did not do as well as Fiasco had hoped for, charting only at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
during its initial run.
In a February 2010 interview with Australian radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, Fiasco revealed that although the album had been submitted to his label, they still had no solid release date for it. He stated: "It's one of the sadder parts of being on a major record label. At a certain point it's out of your hands. About a date for Lasers, it's truly on them. I have no idea what they're going to do." It has also been reported that Fiasco had initially recorded B.o.B
B.o.B
Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. , better known by his stage name B.o.B, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is currently signed under the labels of Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock Entertainment, and Atlantic Records. His debut single "Nothin' on You" reached number one in both...
's "Nothin' on You
Nothin' on You
"Nothin' on You" is the debut single by American rapper B.o.B. The song features vocals from Bruno Mars. The song is included in B.o.B's debut studio album B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. An official remix version of this song, which was featured by Big Boi, debuted on March 21, 2010...
" as well as "Airplanes
Airplanes (song)
"Airplanes" is the second official and third overall single from B.o.B's debut studio album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. The track features Hayley Williams and was produced by Alex da Kid with DJ Frank E receiving a co-production credit on the song. The music and chorus were...
" featuring Hayley Williams
Hayley Williams
Hayley Nichole Williams is an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist of the band Paramore.- Life and career :...
, but both songs had been rejected by Fiasco's label. Another unreleased song from Lasers was "Who Are You Now" featuring B.o.B, which has leaked onto the internet in March 2011.
Singles
On October 26, 2010, the official first single from Lasers, "The Show Goes OnThe Show Goes On (song)
"The Show Goes On" is a song by recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released on October 26, 2010 as the first single from his third studio album Lasers. Prominently built on the bassline of Pachelbel's Canon, the song was produced by Kane Beatz, and the melody of the song was taken from the 2004 song...
", premiered on Fiasco's official website. It was produced by Kane Beatz and samples Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
's "Float On
Float On (Modest Mouse song)
"Float On" is a single released by indie rock band Modest Mouse. It also appears on their album Good News for People Who Love Bad News. The track is generally considered to be the band's signature song.The song was nominated for a Grammy in 2005....
" as part of the chorus. The music video for the single was directed by Hiro Murai and premiered on Fiasco's official website on Christmas day, December 25, 2010. As of June 2011, the song has been certified double Platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in the United States by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
for selling over two million copies, thus making it his second single to go Platinum and first to go double Platinum. "The Show Goes On" has peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, becoming his highest charting song on the Hot 100. On other Billboard charts, "The Show Goes On" has peaked at number 45 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart, 14 on the Pop Songs
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
chart and five on the Hot Rap Songs
Hot Rap Songs
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
chart. In Australia, it peaked at number five on the Australian Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
and has since been certified Gold
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
for selling over 35,000 units. In Europe, the single has charted on the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...
where it peaked at number 19, as well as on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
peaking at number 49.
On January 11, 2011, Fiasco revealed during an interview with Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
's Hot 106
WWKX
WWKX is a Rhythmic Contemporary station serving the Providence area. The Cumulus Media outlet operates with an ERP of 1.15 kW and is licensed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island.-History:...
that the follow-up single to "The Show Goes On" is titled "Words I Never Said
Words I Never Said
"Words I Never Said" is the second single from Hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco released from his third studio album Lasers. The single features vocals from singer-songwriter Skylar Grey and was released for digital download on February 8, 2011...
", he said about the song that "It's gonna be really big. It's a big, controversial record". The song was produced by Alex da Kid
Alex da Kid
Alexander Grant , better known as Alex da Kid, is a Grammy award winning English music songwriter and hip-hop producer.-Early life:...
and features American singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Skylar Grey. "Words I Never Said" was released as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on February 8, 2011. It has since peaked at number 89 on the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. A teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
for the Sanaa Hamri
Sanaa Hamri
Sanaa Hamri is a Moroccan American music video and film director. She is one of the few prominent female film and music video directors of color.-Early life and breakthrough:...
-directed music video was released in January 2011, while the full clip premiered on April 28, 2011.
"Out of My Head
Out of My Head (Lupe Fiasco song)
"Out of My Head" is a song by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released as the third single from his third studio album, Lasers. The single features vocals from American R&B singer Trey Songz, and features production from record producer Miykal Snoddy, with co-production from fellow producers Jerry...
" featuring American R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer Trey Songz
Trey Songz
Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson , better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007...
was confirmed as the album's third single. The song was released on May 10, 2011 and has since peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, 11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart and four on the Hot Rap Songs
Hot Rap Songs
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
chart. The official single cover was revealed on May 23, 2011. Fiasco and Songz performed "Out of My Head" live for the first time at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards
2011 MTV Movie Awards
The 2011 MTV Movie Awards were held on June 5, 2011 at the Gibson Amphitheatre and were hosted by Jason Sudeikis.On May 3, the nominees were announced...
on June 5, 2011. The music video for the single, directed by Gil Green, was released on June 29, 2011.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, with first-week sales of 204,000 copies. Lasers marks Fiasco's first number one album on the chart as well as his best selling first-week sales. The album is Fiasco's second top ten album on the chart with his first album, Food & Liquor, debuting at number eight in 2006, and The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, commonly referred to as simply The Cool, is the second studio album by Chicago hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco, released on December 18, 2007 in the United States. The Cool is a loose concept album, based on a song and its titular character from his debut album Food & Liquor...
debuting at number 15 in 2007. In its second week on the chart, it fell to number three selling 47,000 units, while in its third week, it fell to number ten selling an additional 29,000 copies. As of August 10, 2011, Lasers has sold approximately 452,000 copies in the United States. Internationally, Lasers has debuted within the top ten on the Australian and Canadian album charts, while also peaking at number 11 in New Zealand and number 25 in the United Kingdom.
Critical response
Lasers received mixed reviews from most music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 57, based on 26 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews" reviews. Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it three out of five stars and criticized its "lumbering, overwrought choruses", writing that "If there is one MC whose rhymes should not be dulled for the sake of chasing pop trends, it’s Lupe Fiasco". Jeff Leven of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
gave Lasers a six out of 10 rating and found its musical arrangements polished and "radio-friendly". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s Alex Macpherson viewed its content as a concession to pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
trends, panning its "synthy choruses" and "trite empowerment anthems". Andy Gill of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
gave the album two out of five stars and criticized Fiasco's lyrics, stating "while his flow has a nice bounce and monotonal glide, too many tracks end with one wondering what exactly he's said, if anything at all". David Amidon of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
panned the album as "a disgustingly awkward effort from everyone involved [...] Listenability? Credibility? These, Lasers is lacking in seismic qualities". Brandon Soderberg of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
found it to be affected by crossover tendencies and wrote that "Lasers works best, however, when the grabby hooks, electro beats, and conscious rap rants are all turned down a notch". Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Todd Martens shared a similar sentiment and commented that the album "feels more like a compromise than a cohesive album". Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's Ian Cohen criticized the album for "surveying the current pop-rap landscape and retaining nothing worthwhile", commenting that "Lasers simply sounds bad, playing against every single one of Lupe Fiasco's strengths and creating new weaknesses".
However, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Brad Wete complimented its themes and stated "Simply put, Lasers beams". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer Jon Dolan noted Fiasco's "athletic, whiplash flow and rich imagination" and found the album "shorter, brighter and — most admirably — more optimistic" than his previous album The Cool. Despite writing that "RnB
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
syrup starts to swamp the lyrical invention", BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
's Johnny Sharp noted "several inspired moments" and commented that "Lupe remains a singular hip hop voice, and Lasers is still worth a listen". Carrie Battan of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
viewed that "the album’s real sweet spots lie somewhere in the brief, breezy middle ground" between "angsty rap-metal
Rap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
crossover tracks" and "clubby, bass-thumping radio-rap jams". The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Kyle Ryan gave the album a B- and commented that its synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s "[give] it an au courant hip-hop sound", but criticized its lyrics and called it "schizophrenic". Steve Jones of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the album three out of four stars and wrote that it "has several shining moments but falls short of the overall excellence" of his previous albums. Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
gave the album two-and-half out of four stars and stated "Its best music shows what it might have been. The rest feels more like an obligation reluctantly met, a difficult bridge to the next phase of Lupe Fiasco’s career". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
expressed a mixed response towards its music and called Lasers "a chaotic album full of gummy rhymes that look better on the page than they sound to the ear, delivered with a tone of tragic bombast". Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's Matthew Cole perceived "no bridging the gap between Laserss radical message and its utterly conventional sound", commenting that "In moments of dazzling clarity, Lupe spits hip-hop prophecy, but too much of Lasers is given over to self-serious jeremiads on race, rap, and politics, or pop-rap pandering".
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for Lasers adapted from Allmusic.- Charles "Chilly" Patton – Executive producer, management
- Arden Altino – Composer, producer
- Audibles – Producer
- Jason "Pooh Bear" Boyd – Composer
- Isaac Brock – Composer
- Holly Brook – Composer
- Dustin William Brower – Composer
- Jonathon Keith Brown – Composer
- Cory Buchanan – Producer
- Wizzo Buchanan – Composer, producer
- Khari Cain – Composer
- Cara Donatto – Publicity
- Jerry Duplessis – Composer
- Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis – Producer
- Sammy Fain – Composer
- Lupe Fiasco – Executive producer
- Dann Gallucci – Composer
- Jimmy Gannos – Composer
- Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – Mastering
- Rob Gold – Art Manager
- Alexander Grant – Composer
- Skylar Grey – Vocal engineer, vocal producer
- Ishi – Producer
- Ronnie Jackson – Composer
- Wasalu Jaco – Composer
- Daniel Johnson – Composer
- Darrale Jones – Executive producer
- Dominic Jordan – Composer
- Eric Judy – Composer
- Irving Kahal – Composer
- Kane Beatz – Producer
- Alex Da Kid – Producer
- King David – Producer
- Janice Kinjo – Grooming
- John Legend – Composer
- Deborah Mannis-Gardner – Sample clearance
- David Manzoor – Composer
- Matt Mahaffey – Vocal engineer, vocal producer
- Needlz – Producer
- OAK – Art direction, design
- Joe Peluso – Engineer, recording manager
- Reginald Perry – Composer
- Brian Ranney – Package production
- Ricky Rutland – Composer
- Miykal Snoddy – Composer, producer
- Marsha St. Hubert – Marketing
- Syience – Producer
- Khalil Walton – Composer
- Andrew Zaeh – Photography
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
4 |
| Australian Urban Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
2 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
4 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
52 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
145 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
27 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
11 |
| Scottish Albums Chart Scottish Singles and Albums Chart The Scottish Singles Chart and Scottish Albums Chart are charts compiled by The Official Charts Company, based on physical and digital sales in the STV North, STV Central and ITV Border regions.... |
39 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
25 |
| UK R&B Albums Chart UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... |
4 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
| US Billboard Rap Albums Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks Rap and hip-hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart began publication for the week of November 13, 2004.... |
1 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label Record label In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,... |
Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 4 March 2011 | Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| United Kingdom | 7 March 2011 | Atlantic Records Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... |
|
| France | |||
| United States | 8 March 2011 | ||
| Canada | Warner Music Group | ||
| Japan | 23 March 2011 | ||
| Germany | 29 April 2011 | Atlantic Records | |
| Austria | |||
| Switzerland |
External links
- Lasers at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
- WeAreNotLosers.com — Official album website
- LupeFiasco.com — Lupe Fiasco official website
- Lupe Fiasco Goes Mainstream — His Way — Lupe Fiasco interview with DetailsDetails (magazine)Details is an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, founded in 1982. Though primarily a magazine devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also features reports on relevant social and political issues.-History:...
- Interview: Lupe Fiasco Hates His Own Album — Lupe Fiasco interview with Complex
- Lupe Fiasco discusses the making of 'L.A.S.E.R.S.': 'It was destroying me' — Lupe Fiasco interview with the Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
- Lupe Fiasco: 'I am a hostage' – struggles through difficult creative process for new 'Lasers' album — Lupe Fiasco interview with the Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
- Lupe Fiasco: 'I have the right to speak out' — Lupe Fiasco interview with The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Lupe Fiasco on Lasers, Lame Rap, and His Battles With the Music Industry — Lupe Fiasco interview with New YorkNew York (magazine)New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...