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Entertainment

By Victor Espinoza

The Chicago raised rapper Wasalu Mahammad Jaco, also known as Lupe Fiasco, finally released his junior album Lasers.

The title of Fiasco’s new album, Lasers, is an acronym which stands for Love Always Shines, Everytime Remember 2 Smile.

The following songs are on the original version of Lasers:

1. Letting Go (Feat. Sarah Green)

2. Words I Never Said (Feat. Skylar Grey)

3. Till I Get There

4. I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now (Feat. MDMA)

5. Out Of My Head (Feat. Trey Songz)

6. The Show Goes On

7. Beautiful Lasers, (Two Ways) (Feat. MDMA)

8. Coming up (Feat. MDMA)

9. State Run Radio (Feat. Matt Mahaffey)

10. Break The Chain (Feat. Eric Turner & Sway)

11. All Black Everything

12. Never Forget You (Feat. John Legend)

The deluxe version of the album includes the above songs, in addition to the songs “I’m Beamin” and “Shining Down.” The deluxe album also has the music videos for” I’m Beaming” and “The Show Goes On.”

I really enjoy listening to Lasers because the songs have substance instead of meaningless verses. Part of the reason why I enjoy Fiasco’s new album so much is the fact that all of the tracks on Lasers have some sort of meaning hidden in the verses.

Many of Fiasco’s songs such as “Words I Never Said (Feat. Skyler Grey),” “State Run Radio (Feat. Matt Mahaffey),” “All Black Everything,” are deep songs that take some time to digest. Listening to these songs only once will not be sufficient enough to unearth the meaning of each verse.

As for a favorite song on the album, I do not think that I will be able to choose one; all of the songs on the album are masterfully crafted in a way that each song contributes to the album as a whole.

This album officially hit the market on March 8.

A considerable amount of controversy arose over this album. Lasers was announced to be finished as of two years ago, during the summer of 2009.

Fiasco fans even created an online petition in hopes of finally getting Atlantic Records to release Fiasco’s new album.

In response to the petition, Fiasco created the “Lasers Manifesto” to inspire his fans.

According to the LupE.N.D. Blog, the lasers manifesto goes like this:

To Every Man, Woman & Child...

1. We Want An End To The Glamorization Of Negativity In The Media.

2. We Want An End To Status Symbols Dictating Our Worth As Individuals.

3. We Want A Meaningful And Universal Education System.

4. We Want Substance In The Place Of Popularity.

5. We Will Not Compromise Who We Are To Be Accepted By The Crowd.

6. We Want The Invisible Walls That Separate By Wealth, Race & Class To Be Torn Down.

7. We Want To Think Our Own Thoughts.

8. We Will Be Responsible For Our Environment.

9. We Want Clarity & Truth From Our Elected Officials Or They Should Move Aside.

10. We Want Love Not Lies.

11. We Want An End To All Wars. Foreign & Domestic (Violence).

12. We Want An End To The Processed Culture Of Exploitation, Over-Consumption & Waste.

13. We Want Knowledge, Understanding & Peace.

14. WE WILL NOT LOSE BECAUSE WE ARE NOT LOSERS, WE ARE LASERS!!!

These are some very deep words that complement a very deep album.

Since I bought Lasers on March 8, I have been replaying the album considerably. Lasers is a really great album because all of the songs are great and they have some sort of meaning to them instead of being nonsensical tracks.

I easily give this album a 10/10.

Photo credits to Shelby Scott. Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records.

To Learn More:

Lupe Fiasco's Official Website

“Lasers Manifesto”