XXL reviews Lupe Fiasco's "Friend of the People"

The homie Adam over at XXL reviewed Lupe's Friend of the People mixtape..read on below:

Lupe Fiasco is at his finest when he’s not artistically constrained, instead free to A&R his own project and entirely control its direction. For his most recent Atlantic Records release, this was tough. Many said his March 2011’s purgatory escaping Lasers fell short in this respect—pop beats and R&B hooks made for a major-label touch. With his Thanksgiving Day mixtape, Friend of the People, Lupe offers no such mainstream indulgence; this is Lupe at his uninhibited best.

The relatively constant thread woven throughout the release, a follow up to 2009’s Thanksgiving Day drop Enemy of the State, is purported in its title: Lupe is standing with the everyman, favoring Occupation over opulence. The tape opens with an excerpt from a speech by late progressive professor and author Howard Zinn, where he wonders, “Why do we have to be a military superpower? Why can’t we be a humanitarian superpower? Instead of sending planes for bombs Why don’t we send planes for food and medicine?” Lupe arrives on the next track, “Lupe Back,” and follows Zinn’s lead with a sharp critique of the state of the industry, where he encourages rappers to form a union and wags his lyrical finger at 360 record deals, radio, and fires at those who “Spit a lot of meh over jams of the year.”

Full review HERE