Lupe Fiasco Doesn’t Want To Be Relevant Anymore
Lupe Fiasco wants your attention, except he doesn't. The Chicago rapper has spent most of the last month jumping at every chance to court vitriol, engaging in wars of tweeted words with the likes of Freddie Gibbs, Azealia Banks, GrandeMarshall, Kid Cudi, and simply the world at large. (He later announced he was quitting the social media platform.) But now, Lupe has decided that his relevancy is on the decline--and he's fine with that.
In an interview with Billboard, Lupe expressed his contentment with sliding into the old guard. "There is a new generation speaking to a new generation," he said. "So you have a Kendrick Lamar and a J. Cole and the other people who are the new Lupes." The "Kick, Push" rapper went on to add: "I don't have the same lingo. I don't sip lean or smoke weed. I can't compete with a Wiz Khalifa for the attention of a 12-year old."
When asked if his new album, Tetsuo & Youth, would be a good entry point for fans just discovering his music, Lupe said that it wasn't and rather the record represents a transitional point in his life.
Elsewhere in the interview, Fiasco mentions his newfound love for painting and his refusal to make songs he deems explicitly political. He also reasserted that this album will be his last on Atlantic, his home for most of the last decade.
Tetsuo & Youth is due out Jan. 20.
Related: Freddie Gibbs To Lupe Fiasco “I Always Personally Thought You Were A B*tch A$$ N!gga”
Today In Hip-Hop: Lupe Fiasco Releases ‘The Cool’
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