Last Friday, I spoke with hip-hop superstar Lupe Fiasco on the phone. The Chicago-based rapper — who will be playing the Orpheum Theater this Wednesday — had intriguing things to say about his upcoming album, Tetsuo & Youth, his album preview tour, his approach to live shows and his career in the hip-hop game.
The Chicago native reached superstardom with his first LP Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, which boasted production from the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lupe himself. To date, Lupe has been nominated for 12 Grammy awards and won in 2008 for Best Urban/Alternative Performance with his hit song “Daydreamin’” featuring Jill Scott.
Lupe Fiasco is set to hit Madison this Wednesday. No matter the atmosphere, Lupe brings his all to his live performances.
“I try not to have expectations when I go into a city, or another area or whatever. Whether it be a place I’ve been to multiple times, or a place I’ve been to never, or a place I’ve been to maybe once, I try to tone down my expectations so I don’t get overexcited,” Fiasco said. “I just come in and say, ‘hey, I’m going to give a good performance no matter if it’s one person or ten thousand people, or if they’re kind of laid back and chilling and everybody’s high, or you know if everyone’s just super turned up and ready to tear the place apart.’ I just try to maintain the same level of performance that I do anywhere else.”
Fiasco will be performing songs off his upcoming album Tetsuo & Youth, set for release in early 2014, along with some of his mega hits and underground classics for the more invested fans.
“Well, the album is Tetsuo & Youth and this is the Tetsuo & Youth Preview Tour, and it’s just that we’re previewing brand new records off of the new album,” Fiasco said, “but still mixing that with the records that I’m kind of known for, then also blending that with the kind of in between, internet-sensation kind of records that are more for the cult fan base. Then some stuff that didn’t play on the radio, stuff that wasn’t front-page news. But definitely you’ll have the legion of core Lupe Fiasco fans who’ll be happy about it. So it’s just a mix of that. The push of it is to get the itch, get people introduced to the new album.”
The new album’s interesting title is sure to spark the curiosity of fans, but according to Fiasco, there’s no hidden meaning or greater power behind the title.
“It doesn’t mean anything. It’s called Tetsuo & Youth because I pulled it out of a hat. You know, it was kind of just, like, two words I liked. So it doesn’t really mean anything, you know?” Fiasco said.
Maybach Music Group’s Stalley, RCA’s Dee 1 and unsigned artist The Boy Illinois will be joining Fiasco on tour.
“I just kind of put people in the position to promote themselves and promote what they do,” Fiasco said.
“Old School Love,” featuring Ed Sheeran, is the first single released off of Tetsuo & Youth. The track is reminiscent of many other Lupe classics that feature folk artists, such as “The Instrumental” featuring Jonah Matranga or “Superstar” featuring Matthew Santos.
“Me and Ed are on the same record company, and it kind of came through the channel of the record company trying to get us on a joint, so that’s how it happened. He did a record, sent it to me, I put my piece into it, sent it back and now we have this — hopefully a big smash on our hands,” he said.
The Tetsuo & Youth Preview Tour will stop in Madison Wednesday at the Orpheum Theater. If you’re looking for one last hurrah the day before you pretend to like your extended family on Thanksgiving, give Fiasco and his posse a peep. Keeping appearances at Thanksgiving dinner is a lot easier when you can’t hear due to the previous night’s concert-related activities.
Read Louis Johnson’s full interview with Lupe Fiasco here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu7hYbw0x3Y
