Album of the Year 2018 #5: Lupe Fiasco - DROGAS WAVE - HipHop

Album of the Year 2018 #5: Lupe Fiasco - DROGAS WAVE
Daily Discussion Thread 12/05/2018
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Album of the Year 2018 #5: Lupe Fiasco - DROGAS WAVE

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 11:49 AM PST

Artist: Lupe Fiasco

Album: Drogas Waves

Listen:

YouTube

Spotify

Apple Music

Background

Lupe Fiasco is a rapper from Chicago who signed to Atlantic after dropping his Farenheit 1/15 mixtapes and grabbing the attention of rappers like Jay-Z. Jay-Z told him to sign to Atlantic because he was supposed to become the head of the label but it didn't work out.

After dropping two critically acclaimed albums with Food & Liquor and The Cool, Lupe went into a lot of struggle with Atlantic. The label scrapped his next album "LupEND" and butchered his next two albums, Lasers and Food & Liquor 2 Pt.1 by rejecting his songs/ ideas.

After fighting off Atlantic, they let him release his 3rd critically acclaimed album in 2015, Tetsuo & Youth, where he has pretty much free range of motion with his songs/features and didn't contain himself from sending shots at his own label.

Before Tetsuo & Youth got released, Lupe had a project in mind : Drogas Waves and Skulls. He wanted to have free range and felt like Atlantic shouldn't earn anything on those albums so he dropped Drogas Light, a throaway album to end his contract while announcing the Drogas project. The album was kinda considered detox status since it was post-poned like 10 times in King Push's fashion and a lot of Lupe fans weren't expecting this to drop anymore.

On September 21st 2018, Drogas Wave was finally released, we can note that the album leaked beforehand, which kinda killed the release hype and the sales.

I wrote a complete guide on Lupe's career if you guys wants to know more or get into his discography.

Review

Drogas Waves is a 24 track, 1 hour and 38 minute long concept album. Taking that into consideration, it's not an easy project to get into, and following the narrative in only one or two listens can be difficult. Lupe grew up to be a lyricist who enjoys seeing people check his lyrics 10 times before they understand something. He'll even let some theories go unexplained, which is something that I appreciate about him, but I understand that some people can get lost or would rather listen to more straightforward music.

Before giving my personal review of the album, I feel like I have a duty to accomplish towards a lot of the community that asked me a bunch of questions about the albums, my personal opinion goes way after that.

Through my activity on this subreddit, I noticed that a lot of people where disappointed by the album because "the concept was abandoned halfway through the project". I always told people that I will do my best to explain it in the write-up, and today is the day.

The concept of this album is NOT about Slaves jumping a ship and being resurrected to save other slaves by sinking slaveships.

This had to be said loud and clear because that's the biggest misconception about this album. This album is using a less than a fourth of its length to use its narrative to serve a purpose, it's not a concept album that is abandonned halfway through. This project is a concept album that is using 3 different narratives to convey the same main idea through several narratives and points of view.

The "Slaveship arc" starts from Gold vs The Right Thing To Do and then ends with Down. This arc starts off with Drogas, a whole song written in Spanish, supposed to represent the spanish boats sending slaves to Africa. The next song, Manilla, gives background to the whole album by talking about the place of money in today's society and how it affects black people and it ends by announcing the next story arc :

Tell you tales of illegal sales by fetid boats

Swallowed by waves, the hollow graves, they'll never float

Sunken ships carried slaves, tokens to western coasts

Manillas

The Manilla, explained in the outro of the song, was the currency used by some countries to trade slaves.

Gold vs The Right Thing To Do starts the story arc, after Drogas, this song is now rapped in Patois, the common language used in Jamaica, impersonating a Jamaican man talking about his ancestors, slaves, which seas ended up "swallowed by waves" until they heard a voice that told him they could breathe underwater.

Wav Files is the second longest track on the whole album and it's the biggest part of the arc, talking about the story of the "LongChains" (explained here by Lupe himself) after realizing they were still alive underwater after their boat crashed. Some of them went back to their homeland while the rest of them decided to stay to sink slaves ships in order to save other slaves before the ships hits the land to sell them.

Down is mostly a filler track but I don't mind it that much, the hook is kind of a ratchet version of "Under the Sea" and the verses are mostly a cloud rap/trap parody by using a double entendre with being "down with the crew" and down underwater, and being "from the bottom" and throwing a bunch of adlibs throughout the song. I feel like it should've been like a 2min interlude and I agree that the hook drags on for way too long, the beat switch is at the end is really cinematic and it marks a clear end of the LongChains arc so this song isn't too filler to me, just long drawn more than anything.

This album is about the plight of (black) people throughout history and their ability to "save themselves" and overcome struggle and evil. Manilla itself, while being at the start of the album, ties the past and present of black history and it's been done all throughout the album.

We are a people who have historically been on the verge of extinction

We have been at many times, under much stress

Since being brought into this country

On many, many slave ships

Manilla

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted

The indifference of those who should have known better

The silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most

This, has made it possible for evil to triumph."

-Selassie

Haile Selassie. is one of the turning points of the project to me and the start of the second point of view.

After the end of the LongChains arc, we travel in time all the way to current events. While slavery has been abolished. Haile Selassie is quoting the last King of Ethiopia, who fought against the Italian occupation. This quote is a major highlight of the concept.

Some other examples of the concept being talked about :

You should really feel good that you gave your help

Might get you into heaven, might raise your health

Might get a lot of blessings, might raise your wealth

Bet you ain't even know that you saved yourself

Alan Forever

And that's where you heard the shots and quickly ran outside

And saw a man and a van and a bleeding baby in his hands

Fading fast, but you knew she could survive

Did everything you could to keep this girl alive

Stabilized until the ambulance arrived

And in that moment, where you gave your help

I bet you didn't know that you saved yourself

Jonylah Forever

The Forever tracks are both talking about event that happened in real life and tying them to the overall concept.

Jonylah Watkins, a 6-months-old girl that got shot 6 times in 2013 lives on through Lupe's song to become a doctor and actually save a baby girl that ended up being herself.

Alan Kurdi made headlines with his picture of this dead syrian refugee that washed up on the shore. In this song, Alan lives on to be a swimmer and saves himself too by helping a kid from drowning on the beach. Alan Forever embodied the Waves concept the best : "Those who wouldn't become slaves…instead became WAVES", by fleeing Syria, he refused to become a slave to his country's regime and found peace in the sea shore.

Both songs are a beautiful homage to those kids, and while I don't know if that was on purpose or not, Lupe made those songs polar opposites, Alan Forever is probably the most upbeat and innocent sound on the whole album if you don't know the backstory, while Jonylah is probably one of the saddest sounding songs Lupe has ever made in his whole career and peak storytelling.

The middle part of the album is mostly talking through the perspective of current events, the Forever tracks. Stronger, Sun God Sam and XO are pretty abstract meaning-wise but they mostly talk about the effects of drugs in current society, with XO talking about "depressed runaway hooked on molly who gets abducted by aliens". It probably alludes to the Ronald Reagan era called the "Crack epidemic" in the 80s where crack was heavily used in the ghetto which had an impact of crime and violence in the inner cities and mostly on black people.

The "Don't Mess Up The Children" interlude defines the Drogas concept a little bit more, Drogas is the spanish for D.R.U.G.S., which is an acronym for "Don't Ruin Us, God Said", it was used as a hook at the start of the album on Manilla. This theme probably refers to the fact that, while slavery wasn't a choice (hi Kanye), it's in the people's hands to overcome struggle in this day and age. This phrase was allegedly said by the sole survivor of the LongChains before their ship sank as explained in this IG post by Lupe.

Well every rose has its thorn, and if I could be reborn

I mean to be the king, even Jesus puts 'em on

So, Atlantic ocean motion might make you sell/sail funny

[...]

By third album I was done, you shoulda seen my face

Fuck Craig, fuck rap, fuck this, fuck that

Fuck your 360 deal, nigga, that shit's wack

Imagine

Imagine is another turning point in the album and we are entering into the final portion of this project. After talking through the perspective of the LongChains and current events with gang violence, crime and the effect of drugs in society, Lupe talks through his own perspective. On the hook, Lupe asks himself if he would take the same decisions while knowing what would happen to his career after the whole drama involving him and his label. He also talks about how the Food & Liquor leak hurted him, which is ironic since this album leaked a week prior to its release too.

Stack that cheese after Imagine makes a lot of sense to me, Stack that chesse was supposed to be called "Hip-Hop Saved My Life Pt.2" at first and Lupe been talking about this tracks for year, it was probably supposed to be released when Lupe was under Atlantic. That's just assumptions but to me, this last part could be Lupe's going back in time and giving us a sneak peek of what his music would've sounded like if Atlantic gave him free range of motion.

There isn't much to say about the rest of the tracks, Lupe is just rapping his ass off, King Nas is talking about his nephews so it might be regarding about. Happy Timbuck2 Day is paying homage to Chicago DJ Timbuck2 Day which died at only 34 years old. Quotations of Chairman Fred is a pretty important track to me, quoting Fred Hampton, who said that we shouldn't fight fire with fire but instead with water, tying once more to the overall Waves concept.

Like the Forever tracks or the LongChains, Lupe tried to overcome his issues with Atlantic. Like I said in my guide, Lupe said countless times how frustrated he was working with the label, which cancelled pretty much 3 albums of his and botched Lasers / F&L2 which weren't supposed to sound like this by scrapping his songs and blocking his artistic vision. The whole Atlantic / Sea theme tie those events together too.

And I think, while it might be reaching, that is also why Lupe is switching styles so much into this album, XO is clearly a Lasers song, Sun God Sam / Mural Jr are Tetsuo & Youth, Happy Timbuck 2Day is mixtape/current Lupe...A bunch of songs have references to older Lupe tracks too, Sun God Sam quotes Gold Watch and Body of work, Stack That Cheese...The last part of this album feels like a journey in Lupe's career.

This album was made with soundtrakk, Lupe's friend which made most of the beats from Food & Liquor and The Cool, and it was an independant 24 tracks long albums. I don't know if you realize how much money that is, this album flopped hard, 5k physical on first week and the leak didn't help at all, it's pretty safe to say that Lupe lost a few teeths because sample clearance and mix/mastering ain't cheap at all.

In conclusion, this album shouldn't be seen as a failed concept album about slaves sinking down the sea. It's moreso a timeline about overcoming struggle and resurrecting as a better you, whether it is for real with the LongChains under the sea or Alan/Jonylah, or symbolically with Lupe's career after contemplating suicide while on Atlantic, and overcoming it by making an album out of his own pocket.

Now for my personal review...This is my album of the year by a long shot, the only album that only comes close is Care For Me by Saba which I recommend wholeheartedly. Throughout the year, my AOTY picks have always been really specific, i'm not looking for the best sounding album per say (even if I think it is), but i'm moreso looking at an album that is so much in its own world that I can only rank it at #1 or not rank it period. For example, Atrocity Exhibition was my AOTY of 2016 even though The Suns Tirade was probably my favorite sounding album of that year, because ranking AE #2 or #3 doesn't make sense to me, this album can't be compared with anything else that came out this year.

I've seen a lot of people saying that this album is filled with filler and I disagree completely. I think a lot of them have PTSD with albums like Culture 2 and will be extra harsh with a 24 tracks long album and call everything that they don't find purpose-serving to automatically be filler.

This album is almost 6 years in the making, Haile Selassie and Jonylah Forever came out BEFORE Tetsuo & Youth and were removed from Lupe's Youtube channel prior to the album release to not spoil them. Lupe is self-aware enough to know that this wouldn't sell a lot so he's not making 24 tracks to boost his stream numbers like a Migos would do, he wouldn't have left his label if he cared about the bag in the first place.

People get this confused with filler tracks; a filler track isn't a track you disliked.. The album could've stopped with Imagine, but since those last tracks are great people don't want to call them filler, even though they probably are the least important track regarding the overall concept.

This album is cut into three parts and they are made of contextual interludes and 6/7 tracks relevant to the context, I understand that it could've been cut down but it was Lupe's point to make a long drawn, cinematic album with a lot of content to decipher for his fans, it might lose some people there but to me some songs that misses on there should be seen more as missed attempts than money-grabbing joke. a 23 min album was enough to talk about the Longchains but I hope that y'all understood after this long ass post that there was a much bigger picture. Down being the only track I think could've been done better with a shorter hook or as an interlude, but I wouldn't take that song out because the outro marks the end of the Slaves arc perfectly.

People seem to have problems with songs like XO too, saying that it's "commercial", and I disagree wholeheartedly. A song that "sounds" commercial doesn't make it a commercial song, Lupe didn't push it as a single or try to push the album with a music video, he made one for the most intricate track which was Mural Jr and accapela too, he doesn't care about this album selling or not. Having a dubstep-y instrumental doesn't mean that this song is hollow and I feel like this song is being written off way too easily, Lupe rapped his ASS off on this track :

The killing contrived the inner vibe, tried to fill her in size

But didn't survive the attack of other feelings

Cracking at the seals, life-hacking it, backing it

Something real as the key to the ease of the bees in the ceilings

Fauceting all the things down from the dark clouds

The valve house, canals, the foul, the undependents 'til it breaks

The surge, tsunamis down advantages

Knocking down establishments, washing out the catalyst of fate

Weight filling the room, moon, the moon

And the wanderlust stuck in downtown Los Angeles

Quotations from Chairman Fred is another underrated track to me, this track reminds me a lot of Kendrick's Mortal Man but I hardly see this song being mentionned, his wordplay is pretty nuts on there.

What I appreciate about this album outside of the concept is that it didn't take away from Lupe's rapping at all, his flow is probably the best he has sounded in his career and the production, which was somewhat of a weak spot on Atlantic, is pretty much impeccable, even songs like XO which aren't my cup of tea are too overproduced and obnoxious like Lasers would be.

To me, pretty much every song on there have at least one interesting part, whether it is a verse, a bar, a beat switch, an intro, a quote..I'm not gonna make a lot of friends there but to me this album barely has filler. My Favorites tracks are Kings Nas, Sun God Sam, Happy Timbuck2 Day, Manilla, Haile Selassie, Jonylah Forever, WAV Files...There is barely a track I dislike on this.

Favorite Lyrics by /u/dadouks

Got 'em, ship gets pulled to the bottom

By a group of men and women holdin' ropes

With large hooks on the ends specifically designed for catchin' boats

Crew in disbelief as they choke

The weight of the chains on the slaves

Pullin' down to what they think are they graves

Afraid as they sink from the surface of the sea

'Til a soft voice in the water tells them, "Breathe"

Gold vs. The Right Thing To Do

Wade with us

Baptize and convert to the waves with us

I tuned in to what the future holds

I could never be a slave, niggas

They gon' have to pay me, Navy

Downloaded by the tidals like Jay-Z

WAV Files

Beauty is the Largest, Obstacle to Obsess, Decorate the Sergeant

Community Resistance In Progress

People Lovingly Exclaim

Cripple

Life's work, overseeing the Five Classics

You can accomplish anything if you survive blackness

Manilla

Uhh, Drunken Fist versus Praying Mantis

Was it God's plan or man mismanaged to turn New Orleans to Atlantis?

Quotations From Chairman Fred

Talking Points

Favorite songs/lyrics from that album?
Do you think that having an intricate concept that not everyone will get is a good or a bad thing for an artist like Lupe Fiasco that likes to be abstract?
Do you think underground rappers shouldn't rap over EDM/Dubstep or even "commercial sounding music" even if it isn't for the purpose of selling more? Isn't that way of thinking gatekeeping in a way?
Where do this rank up in Lupe's discography in your opinion?
This album leaked and only sold 5k physical. How much do you think the leak and the lack of promotion by Lupe affected the sales? In your opinion, does it say something about the album being bad or was it just simply not talked about/listened enough?
For those who didn't get the concept as first, are you willing to give the album another listen with what I explained in mind or are you set on it? Do you believe that you can change your mind about an album if you didn't get what it was about at first after it was explained to you?
What is filler really? Does a concept album really has to be short and concise ? Does having too many track automatically takes away from the overall concept even though they all relate to it in some way, shape or form?

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Daily Discussion Thread 12/05/2018

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 05:27 PM PST

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