29 Days of Lupe Fiasco: Nepotism

Lupe’s FNF crew is a talented bunch that seem to produce only quality music. The one knock I’ve had with Lupe is what if the FNF production team wasn’t better than average? That what if—that possibility—of leaving his music in someone else’s hands is endless.

Pro-Lupe Producers
Kanye West
Should I go on? Ye’s sound just got bigger on Graduation. Add that Ye would look out for Lupe too and you have the feeling that these two are treating themselves unfairly. Why haven’t they hooked up more and why are they depriving us? CRS cannot materialize fast enough.

Three Six Mafia
Maybe anyone could murder a 36 beat, I don’t know. From hearing “Stack that cheese”, Lupe could easily pen a hit amongst 36’s oddly lovable formulaic beats called “I Know Where My Hood Be” (just repeat it to yourself 3 times and you’ll realize it’s Top 40). He’d have to be stern though to let Juciy J know that J needs to ride the bench for this one. Hell, why doesn’t Lupe do that—he’d be #1 in the South for years, win an Oscar…

Cool & Dre
It would work more than your thinking. Cool & Dre mix organs with a heavy bass that equals speaker knocking jams. Cool & Dre could turn Lupe into Christina Milan of all things, shit! Tell Dre to take over for FNF’s Sarah Green and you’ve got a hit. Dre crooning about a ghetto kid lost while Lupe sings The Cool… 100 million dollars.

Blackmilk
Blackmilk can go hard on a track. Given his no frills approach, there’d be no difficulty on finding chemistry here. I can never get enough of Blackmilk’s basslines. Just imagine Lupe a bit up tempo, not in poetry mode, and setting his sights on making a “street” anthem with Black’s help?

The Bomb Squad
P.E.’s beat team would give Lupe a perfect balance of a crazy beat that allows enough room for the artist to stand out. Ice Cube was mad at the world with them, so why couldn’t Lupe be?

Moderate
Just Blaze
The Bleezy is too unpredictable today to rely on. He could make a plopper or a wonderful jam, we just don’t know. Given that he works well with better artists, and usually produces good under pressure, there’d be a glimmer with this collabo.

Anti-Lupe Producers
Dr. Dre
As much as I could see Lupe killing a straight West Coast beat, I think it be overhyped. Dre wouldn’t fit right at all with Lupe and the G-Funk would push Lupe to the curb fast. Lupe’s lyricism would try to crawl out of all that funk and be squashed by the 64 Impala’s tires.

Timbaland
Damn, Timbo is too loud. The club infused tracks can become wish-washy, further muddling its Pop initiative to an unrecognizable form of sound.

DJ Premier
Premier’s breaks and scratches work well with anyone. Yet it cut into Lupe’s lyrical abilities. Lupe would want to continue to push forth but the DJ would intervene and ruin the moment at hand.

Heatmakerz
I love their beats too but the duo only works with Dipset. Let me rephrase: the duo only works with unskilled song writers who depend on sped up soul and 80’s records. He’d be turned into a bleached blonde too. Again Lupe would be confined to two verses and three hooks in 3:30 mintues.

RZA
RZA’s just too dark sometimes. I get the sense that I could might as well be listening to rain drops falling from a leaky pipe. His beats are better used by Wu-Tang members anyways as Lupe would end up getting lost in the beat.