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Lupe Fiasco is calling out Atlantic Records and the Grammys after fans questioned why his album “Drogas Waves” wasn’t nominated.
On Monday, Fiasco took to social media after several fans acknowledged his lack of a Grammy nomination. “That’s like getting mad at McDonald’s for not having Whoppers,” he said in response to a fan’s disappointment over the snub.
The rapper continued by recalling his experience with Atlantic Records, which he referred to as “damn near a mob cartel.” He then claimed he asked former WMG head, Lyor Cohen, for the rights to his master recordings in exchange for a 360 deal. In the end, Fiasco said Cohen strongly suggested a lack of promotion for his new album if he failed to ink the paperwork. “I’m the most blackballed rapper in the history of rap,” Fiasco wrote in another tweet.
“LoI once asked Lyor for my masters in exchange for signing a 360 deal & he said ‘Do I want them like in a suitcase to carry around?’ A greatest hit from Among all the other wild shit some of these white record execs have said 2 me with a straight face in private,” the rapper continued. He then followed it up with ‘If you don’t sign it I can’t guarantee we are still gonna promote your albums.’ From that point forward I knew my career was over lol. This is all 100% true with witnesses. Hahaha…,” Fiasco explained before he opened up about the Grammys as an organization.
“It’s prestigious because of its actually quite authentic relationship to the music business. However that prestige isn’t natural it’s definitely curated and adjusts to fit the time. Remember there are literally 100’s of Grammys given out each year not just 10 on TV,” he said. “It runs deep.”
Back in 2011, the Chicago native opened up about similar frustrations, as he explained he loved and hated his album “Lasers” because it was tainted with the pain he was suffering from Cohen’s alleged neglect. “I know the sneaky business deal that went down behind this song, or the artist or singer or songwriter who wrote this hook and didn’t want to give me this song in the first place,” he said at the time. “So when I have that kind of knowledge behind it, I’m just kind of neutral to it like, ‘Another day, another dollar.’ As opposed something like The Cool, which is more of my own blood, sweat, and tears, and my own control. With this record, I’m a little bit more neutral as to the love for the record.” Eventually, Lasers dropped in March of that year through Atlantic, a division of WMG.
