Lupe Fiasco releases video for new single “Around My Way”

Enter, Chi town’s Lupe Fiasco with his latest release from “Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1“. What a mouthful! & quite a lofty goal, considering the title. Yes, ladies & gentlemen, I bring to you the track that had remixed/heavily sampled Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s, circa ’92, classic, “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” for it’s instrumental, “Around My Way“. The ensuing issues between Pete Rock & Lupe were unfortunate, a fiasco if I do say so (no pun intended).

An overly political song, typical of Lupe’s style, this track educates & informs the listeners. He bigs up teachers & political activists, raps about religion, drug abuse & so much more, if i were to mention everything, it would be a really long article! It is just a minority of major rap artists & an even smaller amount of Muslim rap artists that have broken through the looking glass & try to raise awareness & educate, bringing “Concsious Hip Hop” to the forefront of the music industry. In the underground scene though, this is a staple idealogy. In short, this track is dope, Lupe brings his A+ game.

The video, directed by Alex Nazari, is, well, cool! Animated wolves, a sarcastic visual of the bling bling culture Hip Hop is infamous for, a rented out Lamborghini, city landscapes, it’s easy on the eyes, a great Hip Hop video. There are three things that really has me thinking though:

1. Lupe Fiasco’s illuminated eyes; is he trying to communicate an illuminati, or rather, anti-illuminati message with this? Is there a deep meaning to this or are these just the ramblings of a dude that’s been on infowars way too much?

2. & 3. Animated wolves & Lupe Fiasco drinking malt liquor (a 40, if you will). Staunch, or devout, Muslims will never deny the fact that anything to do with alcohol is a big no-no. Did Lupe do that with the purpose of being sarcastic (I think so), like he did with the bling scenes, or otherwise? I remember banging his old mixtapes when he started buzzing, & upon realization of the fact that he was a Muslim, it was very easy to assume that he wasn’t the brew-drinking type. His idea of Islam is much unlike the one many other so-called Muslim rappers have! This question has been around the internet for while, with many saying he doesn’t, many saying he does. Which one is it? What do you think? Makes for a good conversation, doesn’t it?

Oh Mr. Fiasco, whatever would we do without your wily ways.

Check the video out: