Lupe Fiasco should have earned a place alongside Kendrick and Kanye, but unfortunately, now at his seventh studio album, he’s been unable to reach the same heights as he did in Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor or Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.
Drogas Wave is the second part of a planned trilogy, following last year’s rather mediocre Drogas Light – perhaps another reason for the lack of anticipation prior to release. Thankfully, this is a slight return to form. The fairly bizarre concept behind this is about a group of slaves who are thrown off a boat and instead of dying, learn to live under the sea and then dedicate their lives to sinking other slave ships.
Opening track ‘Drogas’ (the Spanish for drugs) has clear Latin roots, with Flamenco guitar, slap drums and horns playing over a simple whistle, and Fiasco rapping entirely in Spanish.
‘Manila’ puts us right back in the urban setting with patchy synth work, vocal effects and siren sounds. It’s a confusing change of pace considering the very next track ‘Gold Vs The Right Things To Do’ reverts back to soft gospel vocals.
The album is broken into two parts, stretching it out to a massive 24 tracks including interludes, but thankfully the second half is more consistent in terms of quality. Highlights include ‘Cripple’, ‘XO’ and ‘Jonylah Forever’, about an infant who was fatally shot over a stolen video game console in Chicago.
