‘Everybody thinks because you’re black and you’re from the ‘hood, you wanna be Jay-Z,’ Lu tells Mixtape Daily. By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by James Montgomery Lupe Fiasco Photo: Atlantic Celebrity Favorites Please respect our exclusive game. Just a couple of weeks ago, we told you how one of the underground’s favorites, Jay Electronica, said he wanted to make an album with Lupe Fiasco . He also said he wanted to go in on projects with Nas, Mos Def and a slew of others, but who’s counting? On Wednesday night in Manhattan, Lupe popped up on the red carpet for the MTV documentary “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. Not only did Lu say he was down with collaborating with Jay, he’s initiating things. “I reached out to him a couple of days ago with some real serious ideas,” Lupe said. ” ‘Let’s put a program together. Something that works out and makes sense for the both of us.’ He’s a very talented MC. One of the few MCs that I actually listen to what they’re saying. I don’t listen to 98 percent of the rappers out there. But he’s one of the MCs I listen to and I’m inspired to do so. A collaboration is in the works.” Lupe also clarified the comments he made to TheAge.com , when he said he did not want to be like Jay-Z. “There’s a misunderstanding with my fanbase,” The Age quoted him as saying. ”People [at Warner] feel they know my fans more than I do. They want me to step out of my comfort zone and step into theirs. I don’t have necessarily the celebrity success they want me to have, but it’s more social success and being able to speak at a college about world affairs. That’s a success to me. I don’t want to be Jay-Z and be worth $400 million and perform on every awards show. It’s getting in touch with somebody who needs to improve their self-esteem as opposed to driving a Bentley and putting some chains on.” Lupe told us he didn’t mean any malice toward Jigga but was speaking up for individuality. “Jay-Z’s a personal friend of mine. [He] executive-produced my first album,” Fiasco said. “[My comments were] just an example using him of how people rate success. There’s an idea of the status quo that every rapper wants to be Jay-Z. Nah. Every rapper does not want to be Jay-Z. Every rapper don’t wanna be Kanye West. Everybody don’t wanna be Lil Wayne. They wanna be who they are. … You’re a fool trying to chase that success down and manage it like that. I always look at my success as further than a dollar sign, further than record sales. … Everybody thinks because you’re black and you’re from the ‘hood, you wanna be Jay-Z. There’s kids who wanna be astrophysicists and don’t care about rap. That should be OK. You should be OK just being you, working your regular job and being happy. That’s why I made that statement. I felt it need to be said.” Don’t miss “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. And find out what you can do to help solve the global water crisis now at the “Summit on the Summit” Web site . For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines . Related Videos Mixtape Daily: T-Pain, Jay Electronica, Notorious
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Lupe Fiasco Reaches Out To Jay Electronica, Explains Jay-Z Comment
