Most hip-hop songs are word-stuffed, but Lupe Fiasco takes syllable-cramming to new levels on “Mural” and other tracks from his most recent record 2015’s “Tetsuo & Youth.”
He references Alyssa Milano, Morrissey, Stacey Dash, O.J. Simpson and about a thousand other things in his dense, cascading flow; elsewhere Lupe loops from acrobatic verbal riffs on Freemasonry, the Egyptian pyramids, ornithology and nutrition.
Raised in Chicago, in part, by an activist and militant father, Lupe Fiasco, who plays at Foxwoods Thursday, April 14, has voiced criticisms of misogyny and drunkenness. His raps are didactic; he’s not making hip-hop expressly to be cranked at the club or reveling in material excess. If some artists fixate on beats or samples or textures, Lupe seems to be almost all about the lyrics — he wants you to listen and listen close.
Lupe Fiasco plays The Fox Theater at Foxwoods, 350 Trolley Line Blvd., Mashantucket, Thursday, April 14, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50. Information: foxwoods.com.
