"So dont be scared to take the Super Lu route" Lupe Fiasco

Here I was minding my own business, giddy as can be about the release of new material from Lupe Fiasco only to find out that there was a smidgen of drama around it. This was not typical Lupe release drama, but the MC reacting to a few comments from a couple of rappers (differentiation between the two terms intended). Apparently, in an interview with XXL magazine rapper Soulja Boy offered up that he planned to step up his lyrical output so as not to be taken as a "joke." Shortly thereafter he qualified his comments by adding, “I don’t want to be super-Lupe-Fiasco-lyrical and nikkas don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about.”

I am unsure if Soulja meant it as a diss, or if Lupe even  interpreted it that way. I certainly can understand Souljah's overall point though. Lupe, at times, can be a bit too cerebral, although I don't necessarily see that as bad thing. What is important here is that Wasalu heard the comments and used it as a teaching moment for young Soulja via "SLR (Super Lupe Rap)" of his mixtape Friend of the People.

"And that’s how you do it
Everything flow, everything fluid
Stupid with the raps, but the raps never stupid"

This kind of "diss" record is, in some ways, more effective than the viscous, personal ones. Rather than eviscerate him, Lupe comes across measured and thoughtful, while still making sufficient references to get his point across. Also, he purposefully made it a fun, braggadocio type of rhyme, staying away from his more dense, nerdy, heady type of flow. Showing that he can get down like that as well. Souljah boy gets a bad rap, and has become the punching bag for older heads who either don't like or have grown out of pop/party rap. Sometimes as adults or those that are wiser, teaching can be much more effective than ridiculing. When we ridicule it makes it easy for them to chalk it up to us being "old" or  "haters".

That being said, I laughed out loud when I heard this line..

"Bein’ dope is all in the muscle
It’s more than just a pause and a chuckle"

He also sneakily addresses the recent dust up over the "supa dupa flow" Lu makes it a point to end the last two verses using said flow.

"These aint bars, this is barbarity
S.L.R… Clarity"

"Game over – body parts"

[Intro: Pharrell Williams]

I said think about your future
You can’t do that tomorrow
But you don’t hear a word, you see that SLR

[Lupe Fiasco]
O’ ye tormented souls
My goal is to sit on the globe like North Poles
And that’s the top mane; goin’ hammer like a glock can
All flow and grammar; no shots strayin’
I’m so sober when I speak
I call it catchin’ bullets with my teeth
You can feel it in your chest
Like Bruce Lee jumpin’ on your vest
But I can’t feel yours through my Superman “S”
Yes, I’m Superman’d-out
Red Cartier look like Superman’s house
Inshallah to my plan hope it super pans out
My life is like Italians doin’ 100 miles
And the top open like the roofer ran outta tiles
Walk right into Felipe’s when I ran outta Chow’s
Next up is crustaceans and fast food halals
The beef is all the same, it’s just how they kill the cows
Somebody tell Malcom X that I’m tryna steal his style
And tell Cornell West that I’m tryna steal his fro
Go back in time, take the slaves plows, shovels, and they hoes
The masters get It was written intro
SLR 10-4
SLR 10-4
Soundtrakk let the beat go
Soundtrakk let the beat roll

[Hook]
In this World I’m so alone
In a category all on my own
Cause I tell the World what I want to
Yeah I tell the World what I want to

Man I feel so alone
They treat me like an outcast
Cause I tell the world what I want to
But you can’t tell me what you gon’ do

[Verse 2]
‘Cause n-gga I don’t believe that
Like 9/11 came from Iraq
Mayweather on the speed bag
Automatic weapons keep the same rhythm he has
That’s how the hood sound
Grew up in the hood town
West side ghetto, Windy City Cook Count’
Black skies lookin’ up, crack pipes lookin’ down
Accused of not lookin’ back, blind n-gga look around
City on my back, so the CHI go everywhere I’m at
Presence so shiny, Mercedes so matte
Cop that from Platinum, the color of my plaque
I memorize colors off of Yo! MTV Raps
A nightmare walkin’ in a psychopath’s nap
Defeat your purpose like a weed stash in the rehab
Guess who’s sneakin’ in the weed bags
They be me with my mean ass
Not tryna be anything but free as
Flow is so nuts, the track is getting’ teabagged
Just wanna rap nice, that ain’t me tagged
If you wanna be mean, then you wanna be me bad
Call it bein’ Pretty Lyrically Swag
Soulja call it Super Lupe Lyrical
You can’t understand me nor mimic my miracles
All I see is me and Im a mother lovin’ mirror full
Bein’ dope is all in the muscle
It’s more than just a pause and a chuckle
I bench press elephants, and bowlin’ ball juggle
So dont be scared to take the Super Lu route
Top 5 alive and I only got 2 out!
School ya on your history, I tell ya what you ’bout
Fight for all the right things and let the Huey New out
Pharrell what these n-ggas talkin’ bout?
Two man Big Pun, a one man Slaughterhouse
A two album Jay-Z, a one n-gga Wu-Tang
Young and hungry Mos Def, a conscious rappin’ Lil Wayne
I don’t care for similarities
Cause I’m a pioneer, not a parody
These aint bars, this is barbarity
SLR… Clarity

[Hook]
In this world I’m so alone
In a category all on my own
‘Cause I tell the world what I want to
Yeah I tell the world what I want to

Man I feel so alone
They treat me like an outcast
Cause I tell the world what I want to
But you can’t tell me what you gon’ do

[Verse 3]
Holy shock and awe and cattle prods
All up in the action with a fraction of the catalog
of my peers, I ain’t doin’ numbers like Anbesol
but I’m here, and I’m revered
Lyric boy, Based King, Master Chef, All City Chess moves makin’ Donnie Diggy CRS fool
Carrera Era, pan Amera, F-Tool, Emperor, Free Chilly n-gga, FNF Rules
‘Ye, what these n-ggas talkin’ bout?
A Jesus in the desert walkin’, Dundee walkabout
A self imposed exile, learn to let the awesome out
Even if I was homeless I would still have an awesome house
Cause the world is mine, Lupe to the rescue, the world is fine
Words and lines of mine, I feel are better than every rap in the world combined!
And that’s how you do it
Everything flow, everything fluid
Stupid with the raps, but the raps never stupid
Trakk on the music, SLR ruthless
And the next whip is that Ferrari cart
Game over – body parts

[Hook]
In this world I’m so alone
In a category all on my own
Cause I tell the world what I want to
Yeah I tell the world what I want to

Man I feel so alone
They treat me like an outcast
Cause I tell the world what I want to
But you can’t tell me what you gon’ do