"Dear Lupe Fiasco..." A Letter From A Former Fan

Dear Lupe Fiasco,

My name is Sebastian Force, and I was a huge fan. I don’t know whether or not I was your biggest, but there was a long time where only Lupe Fiasco played in my stereo. Look, you know how open letters go, you know this is a criticism. However, I feel I still have to explain and justify my words first.

Like most people, I heard Food & Liquor and became an instant fan. When you started, there was nobody like you, and especially nobody like you getting airtime. Anywhere. Where Kanye West rapped more eloquently, you took rap and brought it to a level that all the kids that felt under-appreciated by their own music, their own pastime, and brought it onto to their (our) level. Verses with Sonic the Hedgehog, Lupin the Third, and Dragonball Z references? This is what every semi-smart kid who listened to rap music was pining for back when the Cash Money Millionaires were talking about needing a “Project Chick.” That doesn’t even count the new fans you brought in. Tons of people said, “I don’t like rap, but I love Lupe.”

That’s why you were called “Hip-Hop’s next Vanguard.”