Lupe Fiasco, ‘Life, Death & Love From San Francisco’ – Song Review

On Thanksgiving Day, Lupe Fiasco dropped a new mixtape called 'Friend of the People: I Fight Evil.' The collection, originally intended to be released in Christmas 2009, is teaser before he releases his fourth album tentatively titled 'Food & Liquor II.' The mixtape features the Chicago rapper laying down hardened life stories and political views over an eclectic mix of sounds and samples.

On 'Life, Death & Love From San Francisco,' Fiasco samples 'Acknowledgement' from John Coltrane’s 'A Love Supreme,' one of the greatest arrangements in jazz. What make this such an interesting song is Fiasco usage of metaphors and social consciousness themes in his lyrics.

The song is about a woman who is trying to find love behind the backdrop of the ongoing Occupy San Francisco protests in California. Despite going on boring dates and receiving unwarranted cat-calls from men, she remains optimistic. "She said love is a hard thing / Somewhere between golfing and gardening / Or parole board pardoning / But she was still down for a hard swing / Flowers she would pick like guitar strings," he raps.

If you are into rap music that goes beyond boasting and bragging about materialistic things, then Fiasco's mixtape is worthy of a listen. If you want to download his free mixtape 'Friend of the People,' click this.

Listen to Lupe Fiasco, 'Life, Death & Love From San Francisco'