By shelz.
Folks in the music industry should reconsider their disdain for major labels. If all you have to do is gather some of your good friends and do a bit of public fussing to get the mean people in suits to release a project they stuffed into the rear of the never-to-be-released vault with not even a whimper of protest, then they can’t be all bad. Just ask Lupe.
His silver lining is in effect right now. Lasers has finally been given a release date. His public spat with his former friend/producer Prolyfic seems to be over and he has stepped up his musical presence both on the Hip-Hop and Rock fronts. It’s obvious he was chaffed by the cold shoulder he received from BET and MTV with these best ummm hot.. umm… top emcees played on our station lists, but hell, no one was happy with those so I guess they don’t count.
Yesterday we gave you a breakdown of “We Can Do It Now” and today Lupe is back with “The Show Goes On” an emotionally crafted anthem about not giving up and persevering through the storm with your nearest and dearest close by. It’s a brand of positivity we don’t get to hear much in music these days so the song comes off sappy. That could actually be a good thing if the believe-in-yourself anthem didn’t sound so contrived. Or maybe I’m just way too skeptical. Who knows?
The track starts with an echoing guitar lick that’s quickly joined by a downward spiral of bass that disappears as quickly as it appeared. The horns add a feeling of optimism and the hook is layered over top.
Lupe’s delivery is pretty basic as he goes in on the same label that just dug his album out of the morgue. There’s mention of slavery, whips and chains, but they didn’t throw him off his path. He just put the Converse on their desks and told them to kiss them or something like that. It’s a lovely story, but the whole Prince Victorious shtick is a bit much.
It’s not a bad song, but it is generic for Lupe. You have to respect the theme and the lyrics though. Hard work pays if you have the talent to back it up and I’m glad someone had the balls to go a little melodramatic and say it like it should be said, even if it does sound a bit corny.
Lupe Fiasco – “The Show Goes On”
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I have to say one of the very few Breakdowns I cant seem to agree with. How about a second opinion from Odeisel!
you know, the more i listen to this, the less i like it. maybe i was too nice.
It sounds like one of those songs on the soundtrack of one of those movies where the white teacher shows the unruly black students that they can win by dancing their way out of the ghetto. The first verse is throw away. This doesn’t sound like Lupe.