‘The Show Goes On’: The album Lupe Fiasco admitted he “hates”
“I didn’t have nothing to do with that record. That was the label’s record.” This is what Chicago-born rapper, Lupe Fiasco, had to say about his 2011 album, Lasers. But his negative feelings toward the album aren’t necessarily about the music. They’re more about the frustrating process with the record company behind it.
Lupe Fiasco’s career is filled with record company troubles. In 2005, he signed with Atlantic Records to create his first studio albums. His debut project, Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor, reached number eight on the Billboard 200. And his sophomore album, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool, peaked at 15. A hot start for a newcomer to the scene. And with hit songs like ‘Superstar’ and ‘Kick, Push’ under his belt, his third album had every reason to continue the success.
Which it did. But that didn’t mean it was a smooth process. Here’s how Fiasco described it in a Complex interview: “That was one of those records the record company gave me, [they even gave me] stuff they wanted me to rap about. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey I did this and I went to a mountain and found inspiration and it was this.”
The source of the problems began in 2010 when Fiasco began announcing at shows that he had a new album ready to go. However, Atlantic got cold feet because they believed that the record would have no hit singles. So the following six months were a process of Atlantic suggesting songs for the album, and Fiasco denying them.
He even stated that Atlantic gave him entire songs, complete with beats and lyrics. All he needed to do was rap them. Though, with no creative input.
“I was backstage at a show at the House of Blues in L.A. and the president of [Atlantic Records] came to me and said, ‘Hey check this out, I got this song.’ He played ‘Show Goes On’ for me on the iPod. I was used to it because they presented me like ten other songs in the same fashion or via email. So for me, at that point, it was just another record like, ‘Is this a song you want me to do?’ There was nothing special about it for me at that point.”
In the end, Fiasco recorded Atlantic’s tracks, like ‘The Show Goes On’. Ironically, that song ended up becoming the highest charting track in his entire career, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. And the album itself debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 after selling 200,000 copies in its first week. But while the project was a commercial success, it marked a creative low point in Fiasco’s eyes. It’s an album where, upon revisiting it, he can’t separate the music from the process.
“One thing I try to stress about this project is, I love and hate this album. I listen to it and I’ll like some of the songs. But when I think about what it took to actually get the record together and everything that I went through on this record—which is something I can’t separate—I hate this album.”