Mixtape Review: Lupe Fiasco – Enemy Of The State: A Love Story

Lupe Fiasco helped us celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday by dropping the Enemy of the State: A Love Story, which he had announced a few days prior via Twitter.

The mixtape has Lupe going in over borrowed beats from the usual list of hip hop artists; Lil Wayne, Jay-z, Diddy, etc.  He also mixes it up by rapping over Radiohead’s “The National Anthem,” and Travis Porter’s smash single, “Turnt Up.”

Despite having only twelve tracks, three of which are skits, the well thought out lyrics reveal more with each listen.

Originally released in cassette style (one large MP3), Lupe’s camp quickly re-released the mixtape with separated tracks, making for a more comfortable listen.

Here is Lupe going in over the bass guitar riff on “The National Anthem.”

He equates hip hop to school with:

“School of hard knocks,
I dean it, I done it,
As well as a celebrated alumnus,
I donate to the campus,
And my name’s on the arenas,
But you can’t bring it to my court, not even with subpoenas,
Cause you can’t play my sport, but you can still cheerlead us,
And you can’t sit there, that section’s for the seniors and the sexy senioritas,
So just move up to the bleachers,
How you gonna school me when I grew up with your teachers?”

Lupe goes on to spit, “I don’t feel I’m best, I just feel I’m better than everyone.”  That’s a sick way to draw attention to his place in hip hop without causing a lot of controversy by claiming to be the best!

Lupe Fiasco - ”Say Something.”

“Say Something” is a good example of how Enemy of the State: A Love Story’s tracks are full of  continuous wordplay, as none of the songs have hooks.  Lupe spits:

“I (eye) up in the sky, like helicopter cams,
And you down there in a traffic jam,
From here, I’ve seen a bunch of fake shit, like avid wrestling fans,
Came up from the bottom of the eye exam, zoom,
Now I’m like the biggest G up in the room,
Still hard to see me like the truth on TV,
Or the roof from the sidewalk,
I don’t flow (floor) I ceiling.”

I love that line about “avid wrestling fans.”

Lupe Fiasco – “Popular Demand.”

Before the closing skit, Lupe goes in on The Clipse’s “Popular Demand.”

“Made man, you can call this cleaning up,
I’m OCD, I never think it’s clean enough,
That’s what defines me, I never think it’s mean enough,
Lines deeper than those waitin on a sneaker,
Cause, you gonna need two heads, like the king of clubs,
Just to figure out the meaning of, “I’m just achieving buzz.”
So stay outta son (sun) way, like you’re drinkin blood.”

He also spits some of the tape’s most quoted lines with:

“Jay gave me a co-sign like I was rock-a-wear,
But be clear, I’m not the heir (air),
I’m the water, fire, and the Earth,
That means I’m doing dirt, spitting flames, and quenching thirst.”

Check out the whole Enemy of the State: A Love Story mixtape here:

I’m not sure why DatPiff.com has the wrong track-listing for the mixtape, but here are the real titles:

1. Intro (Keri Hilson)
2. The National Anthem (Radiohead)
3. Turnt Up (Travis Porter)
4. Yoga Flame (Lil Wayne)
5. Lazers
6. Angels (Remix) (Dirty Money)
7. So Ghetto (Jay-z)
8. Say Somethin’ (Timbaland )
9. Thank You (Jay-z)
10. The One (Slaughterhouse)
11. Popular Demand (Clipse)
12. Summit On The Summit (HP Commercial Spoof)

After hearing Enemy of the State: A Love Story, I can’t wait to hear what Lupe gives us for Christmas, as his next mixtape, Friend of the People, is set to be released on December 25th.  Hopefully the release of Lasers will quickly follow in 2010.

Until the upcoming mixtape and album drop, check out “The L.A.S.E.R.S. Manifesto,” which serves as a great trailer for Lasers.