It took seeing the video to make me realize the similarities between Lupe Fiasco’s new single “The Show Goes On” and the hit single from his last album, “Superstar”.
There’s a sameness to the two songs that’s not so obvious upon first listen. The videos are much more obviously similar. Makes me wonder how much of a video budget Atlantic gave Lupe, especially given the fact that the rapper has been openly at odds with the label over artistic direction (according to Lupe, his label is pulling the old “we don’t hear a single” trick.)
Well, you can’t get much more obvious when it comes to singles than “The Show Goes On”. It’s got an inspiring message, Lupe’s simplified his lyrics slightly (and successfully walked the tightrope between making his music pop-friendly and remaining true to himself), and the song’s got a very immediate hook, cribbed from not only a popular song but a recent popular song-in this case Modest Mouse’s breakthrough smash “Float On”. Shit, that came out seven years ago. Maybe not so recent anymore. Damn, does time fly.
Not particularly impressed with the video (Lupe has to have better ideas than this half-baked treatment) although I still think the song is quite good. Then again, I can’t say I’ve been impressed with any of Lupe’s videos over the past couple years. To sum up: video? Thumbs down. Song? Thumbs up. Still excited for Lasers, which comes out in March.
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