Good morning fellow Fiasco fans. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
While I continue to work on this WAVE essay, I thought I would treat everyone to some mini-analysis on the other albums that didn't win the poll. The next few threads will take a deep dive into the Pharoah Height 2/30 mixtape, my second favorite Lupe project after Tetsuo & Youth.
Pharoah Height 2/30 is a dense project that is largely inaccessible from a lyrical standpoint. Each song is coded in typical Lupe fashion, but even I must admit that the amount of decoding necessary for this project is on another level. From the structure of the song titles, to the multiple overlapping metanarratives throughout the project, Lupe takes the concept of "pyramid schemes" very seriously. Decoding this album is the equivalent of traversing a Dan Brown novel. You feel like you are solving deep mysteries that uncover the darker elements of modern society.
No other track on the album exemplifies this feeling more than Kings, the fourth track on the project and the most lyrically dense offering that Lupe gives us. Kings is a song that samples The Weeknd's song 'King of the Fall", and the beat is very haunting and melodic, perfect for the atmosophere that Lupe is trying to create.
From a surface level standpoint, the song is a critique of power, particularly exploring the question of what it looks like to be a King within a structure that consistently destroys powerful people. A future thread will take a deeper dive into this, but for now as yourself whether the desire to gain power is itself part of the pyramid scheme? That is a central question in this song, and one that tells us a lot about Lupe's feelings regarding power, whether in general society, or on a more micro level, hip-hop culture.
That said, I wanted to take a look at a particular set of bars in the song.
The lyrics in question:
"Myth be told, 60 souls perished in the parish bill
Wrote a pair of wills on 50 scrolls with a pair of quills
Answered the question 'Americause?' Amerikills
Been living inside in envelopes with a pair of sills
Tall man like terror bills downfall from a pair of stilts wearin heels, that's high
As I proceed to find silver line in a stalagmite"
I've been listening to this song for years, but only recently did I beging to meditate on that last line. Lupe is making a very direct reference to the natural world, and that series of bars preceeding it tells a very haunting story that needs to be treated with caution.
First, what is a stalagmite?
Stalagmites are upward growing mounds made of calcite that are deposited from dripping water. You tend to see these natural structures in caves, looking like large pointy structures attempting to reach out of the ground towards their stalactite cousins on the ceiling. The process is pretty elegant, with the water percolating through the limestone rock on the ceiling of a cave, which dissolves calcium carbonate along the way. The water, now with the minerals, drips to the floor, some water will evaporate, and some water will outgas carbon dioxide. Both of these processes reduce the water's ability to hold dissolved minerals, so the calcium carbonate will precipitate out, and deposit a thin ring shaped layer where the drop landed. Over thousands of years this process creates stalagmites.
This is such an elegant natural process, because the processes that create stalactites eventually contribute to the processes that create stalagmites. Add a little gravity and you get a whole new meaning behind "as above, so below".
What Lupe is doing with this process is different, and a bit darker, and the story is hidden in the lyrics leading up to that line. This is a very dense set of bars, so we will take it line by line.
"Myth be told, 60 souls perished in the parish bill"
First off, Genius has this section completely wrong, and it's a bit frustrating to see how often this happens. A Parish Bill can refer to a local law specifically dealing with church properties or assets, so the immediate impulse may be to find a church incident where 60 people were killed. Genius refers to a 2013 incident in a Pakistan church where 60 people were killed by a suicide bomber. While tragic, that does not seem to be what Lupe is referencing.
While the church reference makes sense on the surface, a Parish also refers to the primary local governmental subdivision of the state. Think of it like a district, but specifically for Louisiana. They are the only state in the country that has "parishes" instead of districts. Given this new context, we can now look at the "Parish Bill" as something related to Louisiana, and there was a massacre in 1887 that better fits the theme being presented.
The Thibodaux massacre came about due to racist legislation passed by white Democrats against black plantation workers in 4 parishes. A three week strike resulted in white supremacists committing acts of violence against these workers, killing as many as 60 black people. Racial violence is a large part of America's past, but many of these stories have unfortunately been relegated to "myth" hence the "myth be told" at the beginning of the line. It's a dark twist on the common "truth be told" saying in modern English parlance.
"Wrote a pair of wills on 50 scrolls with a pair of quills"
This line is a bit easier to digest, but we should still treat it with care. Wills are both foundational legal documents as well as "last will and testaments". In this case, the pair of wills refers to the declaration of independence and the constitution, two documents that the founders of America wrote as a declaration of intent and posthumous document, something that would ultimately outlive them.
50 scrolls are the founding documents of the 50 states, signed with a pair of quills. I should also note that there is dialectic tension between the pair of wills, with the Declaration of Independence carrying a message of universal equality and the Constitution explicitly defending slavery. This is a direct connection to the Thibodaux massacre decoding in the previous line.
"Answered the question 'Americause?' Amerikills"
This is such clever phonetic manipulation to make a subtle, yet strong political statement about history. The previous two lines are basically telling the story of America, which began in contradictory tension, without a clear rendering of principles protecting the equality of all people, and because (or Americause) of which, leads to death.
What is the cause of America? America killing. Manifest destiny left a trail of tears and blood, and much destruction.
"Been living inside in envelopes with a pair of sills
Tall man like terror bills downfall from a pair of stilts wearin heels, that's high"
These lines need to be taken together, because they are all telling the same narrative. First, let's talk about the "pair of sills". A sill has a double meaning, one in architecture, and another in geology. An architectural sill is a horizontal component at the base of a window, door, or wall that protects against water infiltration. In this sense, a sill can also be a phonetic disguise for the word seal, which makes sense given the envelope reference in the bar, but more on that in a bit.
A geological sill is a horizontal sheet of igneous rock formed between older rock layers. Given the stalagmite reference at the end of this sequence, this connection is needed. Now with the table set, let's fully decode these bars.
How can one live inside envelopes? This would be so confusing for anyone, but if you work in any building related fields, you will recognize this bar immediately. The physical separation between the outside (or unconditioned) environment and the inside (or conditioned) environment is called the "building envelope". I work in facilities management, so this bar was an immediate lightbulb, but it took me a moment to get the rest.
Who is this tall man? Well, this tall man is described as wearing a "pair" or stilts while "wearin heels". Stilts on heels is pretty high.
This tall man fell, and the downfall led to "terror bills". If the terror bills are anything like the parish bills, then we should expect much violence. In this case, these terror bills are the Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, where two really tall towers representing the centerpiece of US financial power, faced their "downfall". Two building envelopes, with a pair of "seals", looking like a tall man wearing a pair of stilts with heels, came down, and in the wake, terror bills were passed.
"As I proceed to find silver line in a stalagmite"
Given what we know, I almost want to leave this line as an open question, to see who can parse the meaning from it. That said, I can't help myself but to completely give up the game. If Lupe is finding silver line (or a "silver lining") in a stalagmite, he is choosing to see what is built in the face of destructuon. America has led to a lot of destruction, but things have been built from the components of that destruction, similar to the components of falling cave minerals creating naturally occurring structures over long periods of time. Chaos leads to order which leads to chaos.
There are even deeper layers to these bars, and I may explore them in a future installment, but for today we will go that deep. I hope this leaves you with many things to think about. For me, this line makes an incredibly profound statement, that bridges social and ecological philosophy. To find it in rap lyrics is just another example of hip-hop's full potential being realized and yet another reason why it is wonderful to be a Lupe stan.
Enjoy!
So from what I’ve seen lasers is probably the least liked lupe fiasco album because he apparently didn’t like the album as he was forced to make it more accessible to mainstream music? Am I right? Do most people just not like it because it doesn’t have the word play as his other albums like tetsuo and youth? Personally I enjoy listening to pop music/pop rap and that’s why I don’t hate lasers that much, I especially like the show goes on but what do you guys think? It probably is because I don’t really delve deep into the lyrics as much as most of the sub does
I shared this little gem as a comment in a couple of other threads recently, and some have suggested that I make it into a dedicated post.
I bought Food & Liquor the day it dropped in 2006, when I was 17 years old. I've basically had it on repeat the last 20 years. Sunshine has long been my favorite track on the album. In the last year or so, I've come to an interesting realization about the third verse of the song- it's a cryptic way of Lupe announcing the release of The Cool, his second album.
The song seems like it's about a girl, but it's actually about his love for hip-hop and this first album. Any Lupe stan knows that he uses this metaphor often. The third verse is addressing the listener's relationship to Food & Liquor on their first listen-through, but in the theme of a romantic relationship. Third verse and the breakdown of each line:
"Relationship is just thirty minutes long"- said at the 30 minute mark of the album, the listener's relationship to this album has only been for 30 minutes.
"It's kinda heavy, maybe a little strong" -the contents of Food & Liquor are heavy, difficult to grasp.
"Gonna take much more than once" -you gotta listen to it more than once.
"Can't trust what each of us say, at least for a month or two" Gotta keep listening, digesting over months.
"Before I bid you adieu, do this one thing for me"-before you leave the album, Lupe is requesting something
"Out of the trillions of numbers that's in the world, just leave me a few that lead to you" -out of all the information and deep concepts on this album, just try to grasp even a little bit of it, so that you'll be intrigued enough to stick with Lupe as a fan for the next project.
"Won't be long and, I'll see you in the morning, COOL." -won't be too long, and the next album will be coming out....THE COOL. And this makes sense, because he released The Cool only one year after F&L.
This is now part 3 in my series exploring the MYH Saga through the lens of mythology and esoteric traditions, largely focused on Hermeticism. If this is a topic that interests you then I encourage you to check out my earlier posts if you haven't already (linked at the end). This post will delve into the world of alchemy and attempt to explain how the MYH saga can be viewed as an alchemical allegory.
Alchemy is an ancient practice that blends elements of chemistry, philosophy, mysticism, and spirituality. It originated in the Hellenistic period and was practiced in various cultures, including Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Indian, and Islamic traditions. Alchemists sought to discover the philosopher's stone, a mythical substance believed to have the power to grant immortality and turn metals into gold.
Alchemy also had a deeper philosophical and spiritual dimension often seen as a process of personal transformation and enlightenment. The alchemical "Great Work", or Magnum Opus, was thought to represent the journey toward self-realization and inner perfection, often symbolized by the transformation of lead into gold. This process was directly mentioned in Dots & Lines:
>To make gold from garbage is not the alchemical point of this map/math
But truth be told its the pursuit of gold
That turns the goal of men into trash
The souls gold and they turning gold into cash
Lupe is talking directly to musicians/entertainers here but the same message can be applied to anyone in today's society, especially the working class. We are being urged to learn the process of alchemical transmutation for spiritual enlightenment and personal growth, not to use this knowledge for acquiring material wealth.
When people hear the word magnum opus they likely think of it in its modern use meaning an artist's best work or their greatest achievement. This can be a rather subjective discussion with Lupe fans showing an affinity towards The Cool and Tetsuo & Youth. The aim of this post is to explore Lupe's work through the lens of alchemy and make the argument that his mangum opus is actually four albums: starting with The Cool, Drogas Waves, Drill Music in Zion and ending with Tetsuo & Youth.
Our alchemical journey will begin in the album The Cool but traces of alchemical philosophy and symbolism can be found in earlier works like Food & Liquor and the Fahrenheit mixtapes. Ya dig? I may circle back to these in the future.
As mentioned in my earlier post, Deep Diving The Cool Trinity, the concept for The Cool was inspired from a talk by Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. They discussed making the cool things (drugs, sex, violence, materialism) uncool and the uncool things (health, knowledge, love, righteousness) cool as a way to influence positive change in the world. The concept uses "three evil angels", or a triad, to represent different aspects of the negative influences found in urban communities and society at large. This album came after Food & Liquor which opened with Lupe mentioning his dualistic philosophy for the world where everything is made from a mix of two things, good and bad, food and liquor.
Interestingly, alchemy also has a dualistic philosophy for the world (shared by hermeticism) and then in the 16th century a triad concept was developed called the Three Primes, or Tria Prima, which are Salt (body), Mercury (spirit) and Sulphur (soul). These three principles were believed to be the fundamental components of all matter and needed to be separated, purified and then reunited in a specific sequence to create the philosopher's stone and complete the magnum opus. This is represented by the triangle inside the symbol for the philosopher's stone with the left point representing Salt, the right point representing Mercury and the apex representing Sulphur. I think you can map this directly to The Cool album cover but arguments can be made that Lupe's characters represent a mixture of these principles. Another interesting correlation can be found by looking at the inner circle inside of the triangle which is said to represent the primordial first matter, the unconscious self, or the unrefined state of the alchemist's soul which must be refined and perfected into gold. Notice how the inner circle has Lupe's name written in gold. If there is interest, I could expand on these ideas in further detail as this is a simple overview. For now let's move on to the four stages of the magnum opus.
Alchemical symbol for the Philosopher's Stone (left) compared with The Cool album cover (right)
It is important to preface this section by saying Lupe's work, especially his later work, is intentionally abstract, and ambiguously scrambled. In Cake he seems to be inviting us to dissect it and rearrange the pieces to understand his chemistry. Depending on which lens, or frame of reference, we are using I believe his albums and songs can be rearranged to paint many different pictures/narratives. I will be using the album covers as my main frame of reference to articulate the four stages of the magnum opus. I think each album is exploring more than just one stage of alchemy but an emphasis is given to a particular stage represented by the colors and themes.
The Cool (Nigredo / Blackening)
The initial stage of the great work is Nigredo, or the blackening. This stage represents the process of confronting the chaos, or Jungian shadow, within oneself. It is the breakdown of the ego, the destruction of false identities, and the purging of negative qualities resulting in a painful spiritual death for the alchemist. This stage is often symbolically represented with symbols of death like a raven/crow or skull.
The Cool explores themes of personal and societal decay with our main character MYH engaging with these negative influences like lust, materialism and pride. The album ends with MYH experiencing death which is a key symbol for this stage of alchemy. In Jungian terms our character MYH confronted his own shadow, the repressed or unacknowledged parts of his psyche, and begins letting go of old, limiting beliefs so a new, truer self can be reborn.
Drogas Wave (Albedo / Whitening)
The second stage of the great work is Albedo, or the whitening. This stage symbolizes internal reflection, washing away of impurities, and the awakening of a softer, lunar consciousness and self-awareness. After the chaos of facing your shadow in Nigredo, Albedo is a time of insight, integration, and the releasing of past traumas. This stage is often symbolically represented with the moon, water and cleansing rituals like baptism.
Drogas Wave has a heavy use of water and themes of baptism, cleansing one's body/spirit/soul. A key aspect of this album is about attempting to reconcile the misunderstandings in the myths we have been told and to release past traumas/sins to arrive at a new, more enlightened understanding. Lupe discusses some of this in an IG live where he shows his most prized possessions, gold manillas, and how they represent the future and a refined perspective.
Drill Music In Zion (Citrinitas / Yellowing)
The third stage of the great work is Citrinitas, or the yellowing. This stage symbolizes the dawning of an active, solar consciousness and wisdom. After the softer reflection and cleansing of Albedo, the alchemist shifts from knowing oneself to becoming oneself. This stage involves a refining, creative fire that turns the purified matter (alchemist's soul) into gold often symbolized with the sun and the burning of the phoenix.
Drill Music In Zion can be tied to this stage of alchemy by its release date of 6/24/22 which is 3 days after the summer solstice - the height of the Sun's power. This date is also associated with John the Baptist who is a wild, less refined prophet with a bold, direct message that served as a precursor to Jesus (Tetsuo & Youth). This album's center piece (quite literally) is MS. MURAL which ends with a burning death (phoenix) which represents the artist freeing themselves from previous limitations like a record label or fan expectations. A similar image closes out SEATTLE as Lupe absorbs negativity and then burns out. He has said he wants to die in a blaze of glory and be in pieces (Osiris myth?).
Tetsuo & Youth (Rubedo / Reddening)
The fourth and final stage of the great work is Rubedo, or the reddening. This stage symbolizes the perfect union of opposites (the alchemical wedding) and the resolution of inner conflicts. The alchemist's soul has transcended duality and is fully aligned with the divine, achieving a state of perfection and harmony. Carl Jung explains this stage as a completion of individuation and the attainment of the Self - a state of wholeness. Rubedo is often symbolically represented with blood, red flowers and the rising of a phoenix from its ashes - a symbol of resurrection, regeneration, and the attainment of immortality.
Tetsuo & Youth is a masterpiece and contains the entire alchemical process within it but the cover suggests a focus on the final stage of rubedo. A key aspect of this stage is the perfect union of opposites and Natureaspraxis did a fantastic write up which explores the dialectic tension found throughout this album with Mural serving as the climatic resolution - the philosopher's stone. When listening to the album in reverse (rising up towards the sun/summer), Mural is preceded by Blur My Hands which contains a clever reference to the different stages of alchemy within the chorus.
>From the floating death
To the fire of death
To a flower outside my grave
From an alchemical lens the "floating death" represents the process of dissolution, or a drowning, like MYH in his casket of liquor or the Long Chains in the ocean. The "fire of death" would represent the process of calcination, or a phoenix burning, like Joan of Arc or the Wicker Man referenced in the second verse of Blur My Hands. Finally the "flower outside my grave" represents the process of coagulation, or a rebirth, like in The Cool where he uses flowers outside his grave to clean himself. Finally the instrumental outro of Blur My Hands gives me images of rising from the ashes into the heaven's sphere right before we enter into Mural - a song that has all but guaranteed Lupe's immortality.
Lupe Fiasco's Mangum Opus - blackening, whitening, yellowing, and reddening
I know, that was a lot... but there is more for those who are interested in continuing to dig deeper. This was an overview of alchemy but each step, each album and each symbol deserves continued exploration. Now that we have established a framework of alchemy, I want to explore Tetsuo & Youth further and see if we can extract even more gold by looking at the seasonal interludes and the structure of the album. I'll catch you on the next one. Peace!
Index of related posts:
With the new street fighter movie coming out I day dreamed of how cool it would be for Lupe to be in the background somewhere as a cameo. Missed opportunity if it doesn’t happen.
What other movies would Lupe be a good cameo for?
Hey y’all, is anyone going tonight?
https://gplb.com/news/lupe-fiasco-to-headline-friday-concert-presented-by-acura
I have one extra ticket I’m trying to unload.
I’ve always felt like since I first heard the song a stop motion video would be incredible to bring the story Lupe tells on this record to life (pun intended lol) like on the Robot Chicken kind of animation. Anyone else ever think this? Such a good story with vivid writing, Lupe is the best hands down.
Hey has anyone heard this song? "Words I never said" is quoted in it and I fan boied out. Does anyone know anything about it? Influence, collab? Is Lupe aware 😂 just kinda looking for more info. Sorry for going about it in a dumb kinda way.
Listening to Drogas Light, I remember why I have neck problems🌋
