For the most part, hype is a musician's worst enemy. To live up to people's high expectations is almost always impossible. Unless, of course, you are Lupe Fiasco, in which case you don't just live up to the hype, you exceed it by leaps and bounds.
While its no secret that Fiasco is known to put on one of the best live shows in the industry, there is no way of truly understanding what that means until you're dancing with the crowd, engulfed by the sounds of his band mingling with the voices of hundreds of people shouting his lyrics and witnessing with your own two eyes his infectious, unwavering energy as he dances across the stage, a silly grin plastered across his face.
"The Lupe Fiasco Show" - as he so affectionately dubbed it - came to Sonar this past Sunday night, and nearly half an hour before doors opened the line had already wrapped around the block. From stereotypical hipsters to self-proclaimed gangsters, countless fans waited faithfully in the cold, all eager to see the critically acclaimed hip-hop star in this intimate venue.
His show fused hip hop with soul, rock and poetry into one huge dance party. Through his music, Fiasco has worked to break down stereotypes and reclaim hip hop from what has dominated popular music today. If anything, his concert this past Sunday proved that he has succeeded. This genre started as a movement, and when you see Lupe Fiasco live, regardless of your race, ethnicity, culture or creed, you feel like you are a part of something bigger than yourself. You are a part of a community that is both concerned about their future and celebrating their present.
By the time Fiasco - flanked by his entourage of friends and fellow First and Fifteen artists - finally took the stage it was nearing 11 p.m. and the sold-out crowd, cramped shoulder to sweaty shoulder, boomed. With a full band supporting him, he took the stage in a storm of cheers and a sea of digital cameras and phones. As he fed off the crowd's energy and the crowd fed off of his, he launched seamlessly into "Real," his voice completely overpowered by the audience singing with him.
The first half of the show - dedicated entirely to his early work, including nearly all the tracks off of his debut release, Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor - was a rollercoaster ride. At the end of each fast-paced, high-energy song, the audience was lulled into an intimate repartee between themselves and Fiasco. The lights dimmed leaving a single spotlight on him as he swaggered across the stage, speaking in his smooth Chicago drawl, "and remember that time when..." He created a narrative, recollecting the start of a love affair that had grown between himself and his fans; a story that blurred the boundaries between his life, his music and the crowd full of strangers he was performing to. Though obviously a deliberate show, it felt so natural it was almost as though you yourself were walking through west side of Chicago with him, your memories commingling with his and culminating in each mammoth song.
Not only is Lupe Fiasco one of the most intelligent, engaging artists in hip hop today, he has a captivating and boyish charisma about him. This couldn't have been any more apparent than when he stopped mid-song, asked for the house lights to be turned on, pointed to a guy in the audience and proclaimed, "I caught you yawning!" To ensure that his audience was being "thoroughly entertained," he dug deep into his songbook and dedicated an impromptu minute of "Switch" to his sleepy fan before getting back into "Hurt Me Soul."
About half-way through his set, there was a brief intermission, after which Fiasco came back onto the dark stage, alone and flooded in a green spotlight. "Come, these are the tales of The Cool, guaranteed to go and make you fail from your school and seek unholy grails like a fool." The crowd chanted along with him in a sort of hushed reverence as he recited the main track off his latest release, The Cool. It wasn't long, though, before the energy once again escalated with the beats of songs like "Hi-Definition" and "Little Weapon."
Nearly two hours after its start, his set closed out with an extended jam session growing out of a sweeping rendition of "Superstar" that once again showcased Matt Santos's incredible vocals. As everyone came back onto the stage and joined him, it was nearly impossible to ignore what genuine, unbridled fun him and his friends were having on stage. His smiles and energy were contagious and even after standing for almost six hours straight, the crowd was dancing with him and thoroughly disappointed to see him go.
Lupe Fiasco is a breath of fresh air in a genre overwhelmingly dominated by unoriginal, repetitive odes to sex, drugs and money. He is living reminder of the power of hip hop; its ability to inspire and educate, to challenge the status quo and give young people a reason to care about their society. He is intelligent, charming and a musician in every respect. Believe the hype, people. Lupe Fiasco's for real.
