Chicago’s House of Blues hosted a release party for Lupe Fiasco on Saturday, celebrating the March 9th release of Lasers, his third album on Atlantic Records. The event sold out quickly after it was announced, and the House of Blues was packed to celebrate with one of Chicago’s favorite sons. It didn’t exactly go as planned… or did it? After several opening acts, and a DJ set from Broadway Streetz, the crowd got very restless while waiting for Lupe Fiasco to hit the stage. As happens from time to time, the difference between a release party and concert gets lost in translation, and fans assumed they were attending a more formal Lupe Fiasco concert. Such wasn’t the case, as Lupe had no plans to actually perform, as he wrote on Twitter.
“To be clear to everyone that attended the House Of Blues Laser release thing in Chicago. It was NEVER supposed to be a show… The promoters didn’t stress to the public the fact that it was supposed to just be a party… I had NO hand in organizing the event. Nor did my team. I don’t even know who the other performers were until the night before the event… As far as me being late I literally drove about 6 hours to get there and I ran out of gas around Springfield!!!! Shout to AAA 4 the save!!!… But anyways my name was on it so I’ll take the “L” and rest assured that it will NEVER EVER happen again… I love my fans. I’m sorry u guys had to go thru some BS. Again me and my crew had NOTHING to do w/ how the event was ran or organized… Also all the money for the event from my side is and always was going to be donated to charity so atleast for me it was a free event…”
It is the latest turn of events in what has been quite the ride for Lupe and his third LP. At first it was announced as a triple disc, then changed to The Great American Rap Album, then LASERS. Then it sat in limbo, Lupe made a rock album with his band Japanese Cartoon, his fans protested, the album got a release date, Lupe lamented the creative process, people thought he hated his own album, it sold over 200k copies, and now… It’s a great time for Lupe to take his own and advice and “always remember to smile.”
Mireya Acierto was on hand to cover the event for RubyHornet. Check out her exclusive pics after the jump.
