At the beginning of the year, Lupe Fiasco announced that he would release three albums in 2016. In October, he revealed that he might not get to release any projects before the year's end, due to clearance issues. Now, he says he's done for good.
This isn't the first time Lupe has announced his retirement, of course, though he seems serious this time. Before making his account private, Lupe tweeted, "I get the hint God." He went on to thank his fans before writing, "I'm officially not releasing any more music." He finished the tweet by confirming, "Albums cancelled."
The first of Lupe's 2016 albums was supposed to be called Drogas, though in October, he explained that mixing and clearance issues were preventing him from setting a realistic deadline for the album. Last month, Lupe dropped a new single, "Made in the USA," off a project called Drogas Light, which he said should come out at the "top of 2017." It now seems neither Drogas nor Drogas Light will see the light of day, even though both projects are apparently fully recorded.
Lupe's sudden declaration of retirement comes a day after he released a new song, "N.E.R.D.," a freestyle over J. Cole's "Everybody Dies." The song was controversial due to one lyric that many perceived to be anti-Semitic: "Artist gettin' robbed for their publishing / By dirty Jewish execs that think his alms from the covenant."
Lupe got into a heated back-and-forth with the account of the website DJBooth, which published an article entitled "Lupe Fiasco's Anti-Semitic Lyrics in 'N.E.R.D.' Are Dangerous." Whence DJBooth shared the article on Twitter, Lupe responded, "Oh please. Fuck outta here."
