Lupe Fiasco | C-

After dealing with album delays and creative control issues, Lupe Fiasco's third studio album Lasers has finally been released to the public. Fiasco has proven time again that he is a versatile rapper with a lot of promise, but Lasers falls short of fans' expectations.

The album as a whole doesn't feel like a typical Lupe Fiasco album — it lacks the unconventional, distinct sound that Lupe is often credited for. Listeners can practically feel the lack of creative control. There are a lot of tracks that sound more like songs off of a pop record rather than songs from a hip-hop record. "I Don't Wanna Care Right Now," as well as "Break the Chain," are both exemplifications of tracks with electro-pop feels to them. They seem more suited for the tastes of avid partygoers instead of serious hip-hop fans that are usually drawn to Lupe. Songs such as "Out of My Head" and "Coming Up," may get a lot of radio plays, but they lack depth, making the album seem forced and contrived.

But amid all of the colorless tracks, there are a few standouts that demonstrate Lupe's ability as a lyricist. In "All Black Everything," Lupe paints an interesting picture of what life would be like if African-Americans were never discriminated against, and in "Words I Never Said," he takes not-so-subtle shots at the government, the media and society in general. These songs, along with a few others, emit traces of his old style and save the album from being a complete miss.

While Lasers is not completely horrible, it's hardly up to par with Lupe's first two albums. It's lacking in the cleverness that was present with previous works. So while Lasers may bring a lot of commercial success, fans of Lupe's originality and brilliance may want to wait for the next release and hope that Lupe Fiasco gets his record label issues sorted out sooner than later.