Album Review: Lupe Fiasco Gives The World “Drogas Light”
Drogas means drugs in Spanish, to which Lupe Fiasco’s newest album Drogas Light feels like a light hit from a rapper who dedicates his lyrics to his search for enlightenment. I have followed and even seen Lupe, or Fiasco as I call him for short, in concert for years. The Chicago native is truly one of the best and also the most vulnerable. Like Kanye, their genius could be shrouded by their personal challenges for virtue. Yet, Drogas Light soars, lyrically, because Fiasco’s power as a rapper comes from his ability to convey the inner battles between his ego and his spirit.
I am convinced that the soul can be divided between one’s ego and one’s spirit: to which seems to be the core struggle for Lupe Fiasco throughout Drogas Light. From “Made In The USA Feat. Bianca Sings” and “LAW Feat. Simon Sayz”, Fiasco paints the racial and economic landscapes that test him as a black man deciphering how he is a good man. His ability to capture personal and political turmoils will attract listeners who understand the difficulties of feeling/being spiritually good while also being socially rejected. Fiasco spits his verses like he has been outcast from society, and watches it from a hill to see what mistakes and glories it will repeat. In songs like “KILL Feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Victoria Monet” and “It’s Not Design Feat. Salim”, Fiasco laces his words with subtle threads of observance and pensiveness. You never lose the sense that he is a thinking man, even if you do not agree with or support what he is thinking. In songs like these or “Tranquillo Feat. Rick Ross & BIG K.R.I.T.” he does not fail to give commentary on how humanity divides itself between how it wants to look good versus being good; a trap even Fiasco can fall into, i.e. “City Of The Year Feat. Rondo”. Such a nuanced rapper is not easy to come by or even capture fully because Fiasco is not only known for poetic lyricism but also his experimental sounds.
There is not one song on Drogas Light that passes by with out some deep thought from Fiasco or an infectious rhythm. The man knows how to produce beats that make you dance or, at least, pump up your radio volume until it obnoxiously vibrates any car that stand next to yours. It is this capacity that makes you move to songs like “HIGH (Interlude) Feat. Simon Sayz” and “Wild Child Feat. Jake Torrey”, which also share deeper thoughts and lighter, different notes to Fiasco’s being. “Wild Child”, in particular, has to be one of my favorite songs for having the second best feature, next to Vitoria Monet, by Jake Torrey. Yet, it also shows the more romantic side of Lupe Fiasco, which is refreshing because it is an aspect less elaborated or known about him, lyrically. His battles to love himself seem to override how he loves others, especially the women in his life. Yet, “More Than My Heart Feat. RXMN And Salim” is a beautiful, heartfelt love letter to all mothers. It, too, is a refreshing track of no emotional/lyrical contemplation within Lupe Fiasco because he is confident in his thankfulness to good moms. This may sound humorous but when you are a rapper known for making songs that describe your tussles between your inner demons and angels, your songs where just your angels appear will always shine more for having a higher note.
Drogas Light, definitely, introduces a Lupe Fiasco that is settled in both his madness and genius. While his other albums felt more experimental or, as if, he wanted to push himself over creative edges to see where he landed, Drogas Light does not feel like a push for Lupe Fiasco: which makes it enjoyable in a new way. When you buy Drogas Light you will not find Lupe Fiasco as an innovator but as someone comfortable in being a creator. He has achieved so many milestones, he no longer wishes to set barriers to break for himself. Now he is the standard for others to reach. To buy Drogas Light on February 10 Click Here.
