Lupe Fiasco: Enemy Of The State Mix-Tape

Out of all of the hundreds of rap names that currently grace (and equally pollute) the mainstream music scene, there's only really one that we've every fully appreciated and that is Lupe Fiasco.

Kanye West had a fantastic, game-changing début but with several disappointing follow-ups, Jay-Z is most certainly getting on a bit and it's becoming noticeable in his flow, Lil Wayne has had more than his far share of attention for his mediocre rhymes and don't even get us started on the joke that is 50 Cent.

None of the above rappers have released anything with as much intelligence, skill and craftsmanship as Lupe has shown over the course of his two long-players (2006's Food & Liquor and late-2007's The Cool) and whilst 2009 has remained relatively Fiasco-free, the man now has two mix-tapes lined up before the year is even out.

The first of those two mix-tapes is this very record here, Enemy Of The State, and though it by no means reaches the heights that his full-lengths so easily achieve, it's still a vastly superior rap-release filled with twisting metaphors, flawless couplets and Lupe's dexterous, intricate ever noticeable flow. Oh, and every one of the twelve songs have been ripped directly from somewhere else (but more on that later).

We begin with the brief and equally woeful forty-four second Intro. It's a terrible opening, no questions asked, and it does nothing but blast a ghastly synth-chord and simultaneous electro-thump in your face for it's short duration. There's absolutely no reason for the LP to start this way and it's a misdirecting introductory worry as to what direction Lupe has decided to take his new material.

Luckily and thankfully, track number two and first real song The National Anthem instantly crushes any doubts generated by the intro. The music consists solely of Radiohead's very own The National Anthem except instead of Yorke's eery vocalism, it's Lupe Fiasco on speed. He seems more volatile than the last time we heard him, spitting with a subtle fire hidden underneath his softer tone and stitching together words quicker than ever. It's still the same old Lupe lyrically though, filled with various pop-culture references, cleverly constructed bars regarding politics and deep metaphors that all circle round to a bigger, more important point. "See I don't disagree, this is just a grievance / This ain't dissing, this is civil disobedience / How you gonna make hip-hop without all the ingredients? / A lot of mouths to feed, plus a lot of greediness" he quips in the second verse, honing in on the current state of hip-hop. It's a vastly more entertaining introduction to the record than it's predecessor and stands as a solid Radiohead remix as well as a rap song on it's own merit.

The major downfall of Enemy Of The State has to be it's usage of other peoples beats in place of Fiascos own original melodies. There's bad choices strewn all over the CD taken directly from from the likes of Lil Wayne (Yoga Flame), Jay-Z (Thank You), Timbaland (Say Something) and others. The rhythms and poppy, club-like simplicity sound almost 'too accessible' for Fiasco's witty, clever bars and are missing the impact of his own, authentic musicality. That said, he tries his damn hardest, keeping the song durations to a minimum (the longest being just 3 minutes 25 seconds) and filling that short amount of time with as much lyrical prowess as possible.

So Ghetto (don't worry, it's really not that ghetto at all) is barely over a minute long but morphs an entertaining, simplistic Jay-Z melody around a quick-fire Lupe who's busy explaining just how good he is in comparison to everyone else around. It's not exactly exciting lyrical territory for a man that's usually shrouding every other sentence with euphemisms, analogies and cleverly constructed stories but it's actually its simplicity that prospers. Any longer and its holes would have begun to emerge more clearly but kept to such a minimum, it instead remains a surprisingly fresh slice of quick-fire alt-rap.

There's more ingenious one-liners on Enemy Of The State than you could count with your fingers and toes (Turnt Up's "I don't rap I hockey rink, 'cos my flow is so cold" being one of many that comes to mind) and though the beats ruin a large portion of the albums appeal and longevity, it's still great to have Lupe and his unique take on the hip-hop genre back once again. 

His next mix-tape is due on Christmas Day and his third full-length, Lasers is due in 2010 so let's hope Enemy Of The State is just the tip of very big iceberg.