A Review of Lupe at Bumbershoot

BumberShoot Report: Day Three

Lupe Fiasco rolled around, and I was none too excited; I love his recorded work, but a few other photographers and I had been droning on about the typically trite nature of Top 40 hip-hop shows. Then Lupe came around and smacked us across the face with a cold, heavy dose of "shut your mouth." Despite commandeering an annoying number of pump-up maneuvers ("Seattle where you at," "I didn't come all the way out here from Chicago for you to not make any muhfuckin' noise," "when I say A, you say B"), the show was bomb. The DJ spun a great selection of jams, and Lupe tore through them nimbly; live he may have been slightly off key, but he was also infinitely less breathy. Gone was the nerdy Lupe Fiasco I expected to see bounding about on stage; instead a ridiculously cool lad pounced about killing rhymes. I can't wait for The Cool.