Drogas Wave (stylized in all caps) is the seventh studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 21, 2018; the sequel to his 2017 album Drogas Light. It debuted at number 60 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 11,099 copies in the United States.[1] The album features guest appearances from Nikki Jean, Crystal Torres, Troi Irons, Damian Marley, Simon Sayz, Elena Pinderhughes, and Bishop Edgar Jackson. Production was handled by a variety of record producers, including Soundtrakk, Freeway TJay, ChristopherKillumbus, Floss & Fame, Symbolyc One, and Vohn Beatz, among others.
Divided into two parts ("meant to be listened to as separate bodies of work"), Drogas Wave is based around the manilla, and narrates the story of the LongChains, a fictional group of former slaves who escaped the ships and "spent the rest of their underwater existence sinking slave ships."[2] This concept is being adapted into a graphic novel called Wave, where Fiasco shared an excerpt in September 2020, accompanied with artwork.[3] He also announced of a screenplay in the works.[4]
Description[]
On his seventh album, Lupe Fiasco seeks to enlighten, constructing a fable about a group of African slaves who are thrown off a ship and perish. Some spirits return to Africa while others form an armada to patrol the sea against future slave ships. With this weighty backdrop, Lupe examines how the past affects the present and future. DROGAS WAVE is both a creative peak for the Chicago MC and a novel of an album, its first five songs some of Lupe's most diverse and ambitious yet. They are, in order: an opening lament, a Spanish-language rap, a consciousness-raising banger, a grime track, and a tender string movement. "Alan Forever," "Mural Jr.," and "Imagine" are prime Lupe—revelatory bars over inspired beats, sparked by a desire to connect. He also includes the acclaimed 2013 track "Jonylah Forever," which memorializes a six-month-old girl struck down by bullets. It's a sobering moment during a time when senseless violence can feel so normal. – Apple Music
Background[]
With the release of Drogas Light, meant to be his first as an independent artist, Fiasco rejected this and said he was contractually obligated to release one more record for Atlantic.[5] Light served as the prequel, leaning into a trap sound that compiled older songs meant for other projects. Drogas Wave has no singles, though "Jonylah Forever" and "Haile Selassie" were previously released to his SoundCloud in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
On September 22, 2018, he gave acknowledgment to Charley "Max B" Wingate—the coiner of the term "wavy"—where "Wave is first & foremost all yours." He added that his concept wasn't inspired by Wingate's work, but deemed it "only right" to give his respect and assure the fans and the movement that he held pure intentions. He wanted to "add another layer to what it means to be Wave for our community."[6]
In 2019, Fiasco made note of how the album could connect to the action video game Death Stranding: "I always wanted to make an album how Kojima makes games…and that kinda happened really mysteriously…"[7]
Release and promotion[]
Number 7… I remember holding number 1. Such a wild ride since way back then. And the saga continues. As I look back through all my work I think I've deciphered my purpose. The main idea of my art…It is to resurrect! When I'm doing the work of the "resurrective" is when I'm in my flow state. It is the best thing I know how to do. Walking between worlds and being the medium. Bringing things back to life. On "Don't Ruin Us God Said, Wave" I resurrect many things, one being my autonomy and freedom from the clutches of an industry that tried to and did destroy me. It destroyed my joy and my innocence. It made me mean and inconsiderate. With this that joy of creation returns from the netherworld. I return to myself. No pressures & no expectations. Independence earned, the hardest way. "From the depths of the sea…back on the block…"
Lupe Fiasco on Instagram[8]
Originally the record was scheduled to be released on September 28, 2018, though Fiasco dropped it a week earlier supposedly because of a leak.[9] Lyrics were also posted to the Genius website beforehand, and Fiasco requested for their removal.[10] He considered Wave to be more for the "core fans" due to its conceptual material, and not for charts, radio, or new, casual listeners.[11] Some of the tracks had to be rearranged due to sample clearance issues, where he addressed, "Some of the terms that people want to clear their samples can be a little too overboard […] we made the decision to pull the samples out and begin reworking the records cuz the upfront costs plus the rights they want on the back end are just unacceptable." He elaborated that three uncleared tracks were integral to the second half of the album, though he was unable to recreate them and had to start over again. Despite this delayal, the album was released earlier than expected, where he remarked, "I don't know how the album got out, but it did. It's my label and I can do what I want with the music so I'm making it available to my fans now."[12]
He made exclusive updates about the album on Reddit. He explained this decision, "To the chagrin of Twitter, and Instagram, and all the publicity folks, I kind of save it for the fans. You know, I think that one of the reactions, outside of music, has just been: focus on the fans. Let them be the first to crack things, or get the exclusive or the insight. And I've made a deal with them that I wouldn't talk about the album except on Reddit."[13]
He launched the promotional concert tour, the Drogas Wave Tour, that ran from September-October 2018. It included special guests Nikki Jean, Billy Blue, Lil Chris, MVSTERMIND, and Yung Fly at certain shows.
Concept and themes[]
He told Billboard that it was "about a group of slaves on a slave ship on their way to Africa to the West Indies and they are thrown off the boat." Rather than dying, they lived in the ocean and "dedicated their lives to sinking slave ships," becoming a supernatural force against slavery. He continued that it was a "super-deep story" he was building, but that was the central idea for creating the record.[14] He added on the television station h Live!, "My ancestors in America were slaves, who came from Africa. This album is kind of speaking to that, talking about that experience. But in a mythological way. I don't want to give it up now… but it's talking about it with a supernatural spin."[15] Along with this, Fiasco memorializes several lives, including Alan Kurdi, Ronald "Baba Kwesi" Harris, Jonylah Watkins, and Timothy "Timbuck2" Jones, who either died by drowning, cancer, or gun violence.
Over Reddit, he expanded on the storyline:
When they were submerged in the water their earthly lives expired and they began a new life under and on the water. Some walked back to Africa while others stayed in the sea to help fight slavery by attacking and sinking slaveships. The LongChains disbanded after the end of the transatlantic slave trade however a few were chosen to stay behind to keep watch and as guides for decedents of slaves that found freedom and wanted to return home.[16]
On September 30, 2018, he tweeted: "The lyrics on the album are not that difficult 2 understand. What may confuse some listeners is the overall setting in which I frame certain lyrics. I unapologetically consider myself an Expressionist as opposed 2 a hyperrealist. I dont necessarily aim 2 achieve concrete settings."[17]
Mail & Guardian editor Kwanele Sosibo observed, "the entire album can be seen as thematically interrelated, unfolding as a document of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and its contemporary setting."[18] Writing for African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS), Tyler Parry analyzed, "he unveils how the historic legacies of transatlantic slavery connect with contemporary Black American culture, specifically highlighting the role of the Middle Passage as a critical point in the Black diasporan's bodily destruction. Fiasco even reimagines how the enslaved resisted their bondage […] Multiple tracks on Drogas Wave revisit slavery as a defining component of Black identity in the western hemisphere, connecting aspects of contemporary African American culture to the horrors of an enslaved past."[19] The Witness commented upon the themes of "past and present" and "justice and a re-imagined reality."[20]
Fiasco supplied of its narration, "The first 3 songs of part 2 deal explicitly with drugs. From the political & social impacts to addiction & the psychological, emotional and physical effects etc."[21] He went on, "Tracks 14-22 speak to the Drugs as "Dont Ruin Us God Said" thesis within the album. Stories of personal ruin, resilience & redemption and the philosophies & methodologies one might use to achieve those goals. The album [ends thematically] on track 22. Tracks 23-24 are credits."[22]
Title and artwork[]
The Spanish word 'drogas' means drugs, which in turn is used as a backronym for 'Don't Ruin Us God Said.'[23]
The album packaging and design was done by Bonnie Chan Woo, directed by Fiasco, with additional album photography and logo design by Tonia Calderon. The cover artwork features a manilla, which was the currency used by slave traders in West Africa during the Atlantic slave trade. The track "Manilla" brings attention to this object and its historical use. The item was presented during his keynote speech for Source at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Fiasco told Vibe of its significance:
The manilla became for me this talisman for how I kind of view my life and how I approach things, and I always keep it with me and tell a story to people as much as I can. I've done it at MIT, and I've done it now at CES, and I've done it on stage. We need to be careful about the things that we invest in, and the cost and consequences of the things that we do. The manilla is kind of an example of that: the complicity, and endurance, and commandeering something negative and pulling it into something positive, etc. I want to be a part of things that make the world a better place, and here is physical motivation and a physical reminder of what the world's expectations were of my ancestors. And then how that reverberates through time because we don't understand our place in the world.
We constantly let people tell us where our place in the world is. Whether it be this mythical history of Africa that informs us or this very racist segregational third class citizen mentality that exists in the U.S. We as the diaspora, when do we decide to map out our own futures and write our own destinations? That is what the manilla represents to me, this past, and then when you see the talk you see that I have a new one, a flashy new one that's remolded off of the old one. You take this old one and we buy back our past, and with this new one, we buy back our future. We buy our future, we define who we are.[24]
Drogas Wave album artwork included on physical formats
Meanwhile, the album artwork in the physical copies has an image of Fiasco standing in front of a collage, which depicts historical events. He explained in a series of tweets their meaning, where each "deal[s] with either drugs, slavery or the water in some way."[25] The newspaper article covers the 1919 Chicago riots, with "the death of a black boy who wandered into whites only waters from a black south side beach." He concluded, "Reports are he was stoned to death from the shore and drowned."[26] In a similar message, the silhouette of the dog, "Strand en See Net blanke," and the permissible water sign symbolizes Black people being segregated from white spaces. This was a sign used during the South African apartheid. He explained, "the allusion of Black people being slyly referred to as dogs very striking. At a point in time I was going to make a distilled version of the signage the cover of the album. The meditation that blacks could be sold from beaches but not play on them was profound to me."[27] Another image to his right is JMW Turner's famous painting entitled "Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhoon coming on," which was "created as a protest to the atrocities of the slave trade." This also aligns with the first track from the album, "In the Event of Typhoon," where Turner's poem is narrated by Leila Z. Braimah-Mahamah.[28] In the top left-hand corner displays a cartoon, where "a British naval person [pours] opium down the throat of a Chinese person. The opium trade into imperial China by the British during the 1800's is a fascinating subject. The British waged a war FOR drugs into China on a massive scale."[29] On the opposite to the top right-hand corner shows "the drawing of slave pearl divers." He stated that this was "fascinating while also tragic," like the fact that "the slave masters kept the slave pearl divers from having sex because it was believed that sex would make them too floaty to deep dive."[30] Finally, Lupe details himself to "the bust of a black man" he saw at the Getty in Los Angeles.[31] The jacket he wears is a Hikeshibanten, worn by Japanese fireman, which in turn references to "a Quotation from Chairman Fred Hampton who says '…you best put out the fire with water.'" Fiasco's astrological sign is Aquarius, the water bearer.[32]
Critical reception[]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Album of the Year | 68/100 |
| Metacritic | 73/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| HipHopDX | 3.8/5 |
| HotNewHipHop | 8.5/10 |
| Pitchfork | 6.2/10 |
| PopMatters | 7/10 |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | A− |
| Vice (Expert Witness) | A− |
| XXL | 3/5 |
Drogas Wave received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics, deemed to be one of Fiasco's most complex and ambitious works. On Metacritic, the album was assigned an average score of 73 out of 100, based on five critic reviews.[33] Vibe named it to be his most "ambitious" work thus far, and praised, "well-crafted and laden with thought-provoking, research-worthy bars examining the scourges that plunder black and brown communities." While they found that the many producers let down the album in a few certain compositions, they conceded, "But even on those tracks, the invigoration and dedication that Lupe rhymes with make them worthwhile listens."[34] Pitchfork wrote in a more mixed review, "makes little effort to hide how superfluous so much of this material is […] What makes Drogas Wave especially frustrating is the way you can squint and see the shape of his possible masterpiece inside."[35]
Chris Holmes from XXL critiqued its lack of cohesiveness and added, "Lupe spends so much time telling the story of everything, he leaves little room for the listener's reflection on anything."[16] HipHopDX's Aaron McKrell wrote in similar sentiments, "Had Lupe channeled the bottomless depth of details into a cohesive listening effort, he very well may have crafted one of the most avant-garde rap albums this decade. Yet, DROGAS Wave is all over the place."[36] PopMatters described it as "disjointed" but "persists as a portrait of pain, evocatively painted by Fiasco in harmonious hues of hope and despair."[37] Matt Wilhite of DJBooth described it as "beautiful and complicated" and "conceptually ambitious," highlighting the three tracks "Alan Forever," "Stack That Cheese," and "Cripple".[38] The Needle Drop called it "a surprisingly solid addition" to the rapper's discography,[39] while RapReviews retrospectively wrote, "Fiasco remains untainted in his artistic vision, going down a lane he created just for himself to travel. Drogas Wave is by its very nature proof of that."[40]
Joe Budden gave a mention on his podcast, "I'm appreciative that there are two percent of artists out there willing to (be this complex). You've got to fear that mind."[24]
Track listing[]
| Part 1: WAVE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "In the Event of Typhoon" (Performed by Leila Z. Braimah-Mahamah) | Joseph Mallord William Turner |
| 0:18 |
| 2. | "Drogas" |
|
| 2:16 |
| 3. | "Manilla" |
| Freeway TJay | 5:27 |
| 4. | "Gold vs. the Right Things to Do" |
|
| 3:42 |
| 5. | "Slave Ship (Interlude)" | Rosy Timms | Timms | 3:31 |
| 6. | "WAV Files" |
|
| 6:38 |
| 7. | "Down" (featuring Nikki Jean) |
|
| 6:17 |
| 8. | "Haile Selassie" (featuring Nikki Jean) |
|
| 4:49 |
| 9. | "Alan Forever" (featuring Crystal "Røvél" Torres) |
|
| 4:44 |
| Total length: | 37:42 | |||
| Part 2: DROGAS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 10. | "Helter Skelter (Interlude)" (Performed by Brother Nate) | 0:16 | ||
| 11. | "Stronger" (featuring Nikki Jean) |
| 4:05 | |
| 12. | "Sun God Sam & the California Drug Deals" (featuring Nikki Jean) |
|
| 4:44 |
| 13. | "XO" (featuring Troi Irons) |
|
| 4:31 |
| 14. | "Don't Mess Up the Children (Interlude)" (Performed by Dr. Nolan Shaw) | 0:45 | ||
| 15. | "Jonylah Forever" |
|
| 3:45 |
| 16. | "Kingdom" (featuring Damian Marley) |
|
| 4:45 |
| 17. | "Baba Kwesi (Interlude)" | 0:35 | ||
| 18. | "Imagine" (featuring Simon Sayz and Crystal "Røvél" Torres) |
|
| 4:07 |
| 19. | "Stack That Cheese" (featuring Nikki Jean) |
|
| 4:13 |
| 20. | "Cripple" (featuring Elena Pinderhughes) |
|
| 4:51 |
| 21. | "King Nas" |
|
| 5:57 |
| 22. | "Quotations from Chairman Fred" (featuring Nikki Jean and Bishop Edgar Jackson) |
|
| 7:09 |
| 23. | "Happy Timbuck2 Day" |
|
| 5:48 |
| 24. | "Mural Jr." |
|
| 5:12 |
| Total length: | 60:43 | |||
Notes
- ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
- "In the Event of Typhoon" recites the unfinished and unpublished poem, "Fallacies of Hope," written by Joseph Mallord William Turner.
- "Drogas" features additional vocals by Letty Martinez.
- "Manilla" features additional vocals by Reginald "Lil Reggie" Strong.
- "Slave Ship (Interlude)" features violin played by Rosy Timms.
- "Haile Selassie" features additional vocals by Kwayland Smith.
- "Alan Forever" features additional vocals by Dylan James.
- "Stronger" features additional vocals by Dylan Jones.
Sample credits
- "Manilla" samples "Feelingbad" by Frank Dukes.
- "Jonylah Forever" samples "Goodbye" by Apparat.
- "Stack That Cheese" samples "Eruption (At the Rainbow)" by Focus.
- "King Nas" samples "Slow Dance" by Stanley Clarke.
Charts[]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Digital Albums (ARIA) | 43
|
| US Billboard 200 | 60
|
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 33
|
References[]
- ↑ Eustice, Kyle (October 1, 2018). "Hip Hop Album Sales: Brockhampton Nabs Billboard 200's Coveted Spot with "Iridescence"". HipHopDX.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. December 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 21, 2020.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. October 15, 2018.
- ↑ Zisook, Brian (May 5, 2017). "Lupe Fiasco Admits He Made a Crappy Album Because Atlantic Didn't "Deserve" His Best". DJBooth.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@lupefiasco)". Instagram. September 22, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. December 4, 2019.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Instagram. September 12, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 19, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 18, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 25, 2018.
- ↑ Mahadevan, Tara (September 23, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco Explains 'Drogas Wave' Easter Eggs on Reddit". Complex.
- ↑ Lynch, John (March 1, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco Explains Why He's Using Reddit as the Exclusive Forum for News of His Upcoming Album". Business Insider.
- ↑ Diep, Eric (April 18, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco Talks Guest-Starring on 'ELEAGUE The Challenger: Street Fighter V,' Nicki Minaj's 'Chun-Li' & His Upcoming Music". Billboard.
- ↑ "h Live! bersama Lupe Fiasco". YouTube. January 20, 2018.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Holmes, Charles (September 25, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Album Is a Vast Story in Need of a Good Editor". XXL.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ Sosibo, Kwanele (October 19, 2018). "Lupe Resurrects Slave Myth". Mail & Guardian.
- ↑ Parry, Tyler (May 2, 2019). "Lupe Fiasco's "Manillas" and the Material Culture of Anti-Black Violence". African American Intellectual History Society.
- ↑ Atcho, Claude (September 28, 2018). "Album Review: Drogas Wave by Lupe Fiasco". The Witness.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ Espinoza, Joshua (September 20, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco Delivers 'Drogas Wave' Album a Week Early". Complex.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Ketchum III, William (February 22, 2019). "Lupe Fiasco on New World Water, and Changing the World with His Bars Before Leaving Rap Behind". Vibe.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". Twitter. September 30, 2018.
- ↑ "Drogas Wave by Lupe Fiasco Critic Reviews". Metacritic.
- ↑ Gee, Andre (September 26, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco Eschews Label Drama and Controversy for Ambitious 'Drogas Wave'". Vibe.
- ↑ Josephs, Brian (September 29, 2018). "Drogas Wave by Lupe Fiasco". Pitchfork.
- ↑ McKrell, Aaron (September 24, 2018). "Review: Lupe Fiasco's Technically Superior "Drogas Wave" Still Lacks Focus". HipHopDX.
- ↑ Oliver, M. (October 1, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Could Have Been a Great Album with a Bit of Editing". PopMatters.
- ↑ Wilhite, Matt (September 21, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Is His Most Ambitious & Uncompromising Album Yet". DJBooth.
- ↑ "Lupe Fiasco - Drogas Wave Album Review". YouTube. October 1, 2018.
- ↑ Juon, Steve (June 22, 2021). "Lupe Fiasco :: Drogas Wave". RapReviews.
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