Lupe Fiasco and Atlantic Records Reach Agreement, Announce Release Date For ‘Lasers’
A potential publicity fiasco (no pun intended) for Atlantic Records seems to be averted. The label has managed to save face with fans of MC Lupe Fiasco by reaching a deal with him, and announcing a release date for his highly-anticipated third studio album, Lasers, in the first quarter of 2011.
“Victory!” Lupe Fiasco tweeted on October 7, with an attached photo of the Chicago MC, giving a thumbs-up, sitting alongside an Atlantic Records executive, reported by HipHopDX to be Julie Greenwald.
After of a year of delays on the third album from Lupe, and with next week’s scheduled protest of the record label looming in the background, it seems that the push from fans and the Chi-town native were enough to persuade Atlantic to strike a deal. Shortly following Lupe’s original tweet, the same image was re-tweeted by the Atlantic Records account, along with the message, “#LASERS – MARCH 8, 2011,” presumably indicating the now-official release date for the upcoming album.
The entire uprising of fan support and tussling between Lupe and Atlantic reportedly stems from the two parties disagreeing on the content and sound of the upcoming record. In a recent keynote speech in Ohio, the MC enumerated some of the differences of opinion between the two. Lupe claimed that Atlantic thought his music was “whack” and explained how they had asked and required many changes in the album from its original form.
Atlantic was also, reportedly, attempting to rope Lupe into a “360 deal”, which is a non-conventional record contract in which the label received a portion of all money earned by the artist in almost all music-related capacities — even from live shows and merchandise sales.
It’s unclear what the full terms of Lupe’s agreement with Atlantic entail, although it seems unlikely that the MC would back down and accept these conditions after fighting so vehemently against them and successfully gaining such massive fan support.
Fiasco Friday, the massive fan-organized protest against Atlantic Records, is still planned to take place on October 15 as scheduled, according to an announcement from Matthew La Corte, one of the event’s primary organizers, on the event’s official Facebook page.
“This event is bigger than just Lupe, it’s for music and society as a whole,” wrote the 17-year-old, “We will celebrate the announcement of the release but still protest the injustice of Atlantic.”
Although originally slated to attend the event, it seems unlikely that Lupe himself will actually make an appearance at the rally, given the current circumstances.
Other details on Lupe’s agreement with Atlantic will be covered as they become available.
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