Monday, May 21, 2012

"Cause Freedom Ain't Free, Especially 'round My Way"

I know it's going to come as a complete shock, but @LUPEFIASCO's lead single off Food and Liquor: The Great American Rap Album is filled with politically charged lyrics! (GASP!) Ok, so what if it's not a surprise at all that Around My Way has lines like:
"Straight hair, high heels and a handbag
Crucifixes, racism and a land grab
Katrina FEMA trailers human body sandbags"
Politics and propaganda aside, the sample is just as politically charged as the lyrics. I say the because the beat put together by Simonsayz and B-Side has drawn some serious criticism from the @therealpeterock who originally put the beat together on the original classic Hip Hop track T.R.O.Y.
I understand the soul of Hip Hop is wreckless sampling on anything and everything. It's been written into the DNA of Hip Hop since it's inception. But in my mind, there is such a thing as respecting a classic. In other words, I think it would have been a classy common courtesy to ask permission to borrow the beat since it's widely regarded as a timeless Hip Hop track. Especially since it's going to be the lead single off your album that you self titled The Great American Rap Album.

I get that it's easy for me to judge, but the last thing I'd want if I were Lupe is for critics to focus on the sampling of the beat rather than the message I'm trying to convey with my controversial lyrics. Who knows though, sometimes no publicity is bad publicity and it could help in the long run. Either way, it's an interesting start to a widely looked forward to album that I've got circled on my 2012 notable Hip Hop releases calendar. Word has it the album is set to drop on September 25th, stay tuned for much more to drop between now and then...#FNL2

Lupe Fiasco - Around My Way (Freedom Aint Free)
|iTunes

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