Det er i sandhed ikke nemt at være Lupe Fiasco! Hans sidste udgivelse, Lasers, var nok en kommerciel succes, men en skandale i Lupe's trofaste fans øjne, og nok egentlig også i hans egne. Meget tyder på at han udmærket var klar over, at han skulle have fat i den gamle Lupe efter hans radiovenlige og ærgeligt dumped down tredje udspil. - Men hvad gør man så for at overbevise sine gamle fans om, at man er kommet tilbage på rette hiphop-spor? Men tyer til en af alle tiders mest ikoniserede hiphop-numre; Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)", og låner det klassiske beat for at vise, at han igen er hiphop og at han igen holder det ægte. Og hvad er så resultatet? Et oprigtigt surt twitter tweet fra Pete Rock selv, der hvæsede:"TROY should be left alone. Feel so violated, the beat is next to my heart and was made outta anguish and pain. When it's like that it should not be touched by no one". Men der er noget her, der lugter sjovt.
- Først og fremmest burde man måske lige minde Pete Rock om, at han selv lånte beatet i tidernes morgen. Han samplede saxofon og basgang fra et Jefferson Airplane cover af Tom Scott. Mon Jefferson Airplane følte sig "violated" da Tom Scott indspillede et cover af deres "Today"? Garanteret ikke. Mon Tom Scott følte sig "violated" da Pete Rock samplede hans saxophon? Sikkert ikke. Men jeg skal da lige love for, at Pete Rock følte sig "violated" over B-Sides & Simonsayz remake af "T.R.O.Y." på Lupe Fiasco's nye "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" fra hans kommende Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album.
- "I'm not flattered @ all. Dat shit is wack, and the producer should be ashamed of his fucking self" fortsatte Pete Rock på twitter. Det jeg ikke helt forstår er, hvorfor Pete Rock overhovedet føler sig berettiget - som tredje "led" i beatets oprinden - til at fare i flint over "lånet" af saxofon-samplet, som i øvrigt ikke er direkte samplet på "Around My Way" men genindspillet af studiemusikere. Hans argument for at ingen andre burde røre dét sample er, at beatet står ham så nær og at der er så mange følelser involveret. Men hvor har han så været alle de andre gange der er lavet remakes? Hvor var han da Mann udgav det straight-up-and-down-wack-ass'e "Reminisce"? Hvor var han da Madlib samplede introen til Percee P's "Last of the Greats"? Selv Lupe Fiasco har rappet over et "T.R.O.Y."-remake før, da DJ Greg Street udgav "Dope Boyz Remixet", men dengang følte Pete Rock sjovt nok ikke behov for at blande sig. Lupe Fiasco er i det mindste en fantastisk kunstner og uden tvivl en af de mest begavede lyrikere på denne side af årtusindeskiftet. Måske er det bare nemt at score lidt opmærksomhed ved at ride med på "kom, lad os hade Lupe Fiasco, det er sjovt" -bølgen?
Endvidere. - Hvis lyrikken (som handler om tabet af Heavy D & The Boyz's Troy "Trouble T" Dixon) er så dyb, personlig og emotionel, hvorfor har CL Smooth så ikke reageret de utallige gange der er lånt fra- eller refereret til sangen, af bl.a. Gang Starr, Kanye West, Mos Def, Common, De La Soul og Nas? To ord: "homage" og "respekt". - Hvad er der overhovedet at blive sur over? Ens kronværk bliver hyldet gang på gang af dem, der skal føre arven videre. Man burde være stolt over at se ens musik påvirke generation efter generation. Dét synes jeg måske at den gode Pete Rock burde tage til overvejelse. Hvilket han måske allerede har gjort. Han udsendte for nyligt en pressemeddelelse hvor han afsluttende skriver: "I had no intentions of hurting Lupe's career. That's not me. I'm known for building up not breaking down careers". - Siger manden der lige har kaldt "dat shit wack" og sagt, at producerne skulle "fucking skamme sig". En kiks og et glas mælk kan gøre underværker.
Som sidebemærkning vil jeg da lige sige, at synes jeg at Lupe's remake holder. Beatet er stadig stramt med saxofonen i fokus og så viser Lupe igen-igen hvor forunderligt dygtig en rapper han kan være. Det er unægteligt rimelig vanvittigt så meget han får sagt imellem linjerne. Han kan som ingen anden få ti ord til at fremstå som tusinde.
Men hvad synes I om det hele? Er "Around My Way" respektløs for at sample "T.R.O.Y." eller overdriver Pete Rock? Skal man lade de gamle klassikere være i respekt? Jeg gad godt at høre hvad I synes om det hele.
Jefferson Airplane - "Today" (1967)
Tom Scott - "Today" cover (1967)
sample @ 01:38
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" (1992)
Lupe Fiasco - "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" (2012)
"First off say peace to Pine Ridge /
Shame at all the damage that the white man wine did /
Ghost Dance, Trail of Tears, 5 million beer a year /
And all that other crime did /
More peace to the teachers of blind kids /
To rebels in small cells keeping their mind big /
Say everything's hostile /
Suicide bombers and prosperity gospels, emaciated models /
With cocaine and blood pouring out their nostrils, they got to /
Just to stay awake on the catwalk of life where everybody watch you /
Straight hair, high heels and a handbag /
Crucifixes, racism and a land grab /
Katrina, FEMA trailers, human body sandbags /
A peace sign and a pants sag /
A money toss cause a 9 stripper mad dash /
A Friend request following a hash tag /
Now everybody want it like a last laugh /
A Michael Jackson jacket or a Daft mask /
Purple Jordans or the mixed girl in your math class /
Stable is when the Ba'ath had Baghdad /
But corporate jets really had to have that gas bad /
War and they hope they all fall from the ratatat /
'Cause that's just more dinosaur for the Cadillac"
Live from the other side what you see
A bunch of nonsense on my TV
Heaven on earth is what I need
But I feel I'm in hell every time I breathe
Reporting live from the other side what you hear
A bunch of nonsense all in my ear
Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay
'Cause freedom ain't free, especially 'round my way
"And we marvel at the state of Ottoman /
Then turn around and treat Ghana like a garbage can /
America's a big motherfucking garbageman /
If you ain't know, you're part and parcel of the problem /
You say no you ain't and I say yes you is /
Soon as you find out what planned obsolescence is /
You say no you didn't and I say yes they did /
The definition of unneceessary-ness /
Manifested /
Say that we should protest just to get arrested /
That goes against all my hustling ethics /
A bunch of jail niggas say it's highly ineffective /
Depart from Martin, connect on Malcolm X tip /
Insert Baldwin to similar the seperate /
To me, the truth is more fulfilling than a meth hit /
Or finding really fast internet to have some sex with /
It's all one song short of a set list /
Couple croissants shy of a continental breakfast /
Or blowing out your birthday candles just to make a death wish /
So absurd, word to Chief Bone Necklace /
Down at the Lakota Sioux Casino /
A whole culture boiled down to giving you pokeno /
I go as left as a heart in the chest /
Cause the Horn of Africa is now starving to death"
Live from the other side what you see
A bunch of nonsense on my TV
Heaven on earth is what I need
But I feel I'm in hell every time I breathe
Reporting live from the other side what you hear
A bunch of nonsense all in my ear
Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay
'Cause freedom ain't free, especially 'round my way
"An all white Los Angeles, the dream of Mr. Chandler /
Hope and pray they take Columbus day up off the calendar /
South Central an example of God's gifts /
So shout to all the mothers raising babies in SPA 6 /
The projects of Oakland city, Detroit ghost towns /
Monopolies on poverty where D-boy coke bound /
It's parts of Manila like the video for "Thriller" /
But the US embassy is reminiscent of a villa /
If poverty is chocolate and privilege vanilla /
Then what's the flavor of the Sunday preacher's pedophilia? /
Cash rules everything around these niggas /
As classrooms everywhere around me wither /
Hither you can be Mr. Burns or Mr. Smithers /
The tyrant or the slave but nowhere in the middle /
Of the extremes of America's dream /
Freud fighting Neo, Freddy Krueger refereeing, now..."
Live from the other side what you see
A bunch of nonsense on my TV
Heaven on earth is what I need
But I feel I'm in hell every time I breathe
Reporting live from the other side what you hear
A bunch of nonsense all in my ear
Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay
'Cause freedom ain't free, especially 'round my way
- Jeppe Barslund
