Lupe Fiasco - The Show Goes On
i was annoyed at lupe for doing a blatant rehash of Modest Mouse’s ‘Float On,’ but then i re-listened to the opening lyrics and retracted my stance. also, found two articles where Lupe explains a bit about what went down with the record company:
I was literally told for “The Show Goes On” that I shouldn’t rap too deep. I shouldn’t be too lyrical. It just needs to be something easy on the eyes…It’s why in the first line of “The Show Goes On” I paraphrase Johnny Rotten at the Sex pistols’ final show: “Have you ever had the feeling that you were being cheated?” [from the Chicago Tribune]
-and-
There’s nothing really to tell about that record, to be honest. I didn’t have nothing to do with that record. That was the label’s record. That wasn’t like I knew the producer or knew the writer or anything like that. That was one of those records the record company gave me, [they even gave me] stuff they wanted me to rap about. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey I did this and I went to a mountain and found inspiration and it was this.’ […] I had to do ‘Show Goes On,’ that was like the big chip on the table. I had to do it and it had to be the first single if the record was going to come out.
[from Complex Magazine]
