IFLTS: 'Hurt Me Soul,' Lupe Fiasco

'Hurt Me Soul,' Lupe Fiasco
From 2006's 'Food & Liquor'

Lupe Fiasco's 'Food & Liquor' hit me hard when I first heard it. Fiasco fills his songs with lyrics that feel as tight as trip wires but he never explodes them in your face; he knows that the power is in the tension -- in wondering when things are gonna go off. The songs on this record are all fantastic, but 'Hurt Me Soul' is the one that lives in my head like a movie.

Anyone can tell you that Fiasco and I are from pretty different places, but I know what he's talking about when he talks about discovering music and discovering the voice inside that turns a human scene into a word pill. What happens next is what floors me and shows how genius Lupe Fiasco is. From discovering that you can "tap the world and listen," words take over and come back at you as the full-blown media torrent visionary rampage of life in this country right now -- where the economics of third world grain subsidies meets a burned out Nicaraguan village, poisoned Ukrainian presidents, spyware, terror cells, extraordinary rendition, chrome-plated wheels...

So through the grim reaper sickle sharpenin'
Macintosh marketin', all you feel augerin'
Brazilian adolescent disarmerment
Israeli occupation, Islamic martyrdom
precise, yeah laser targettin'
Oil for food barterin'
Terrorist organization harborin'
Sand camouflaged army men
CCF sponsorin, world conquerin', telephone monitorin'
Louie Vuiton modelin', pornographic actress honorin'
String theory ponderin', bulimic vomittin'
Catholic priest fondlin', preemptive bombin'
And Osama and Obama an' them

It feels like the palace is crumbling down around your ears. Anyone that misses out on this guy misses out on something pretty incredible.

Josh Ritter is a folk singer-songwriter from Moscow, Idaho. His new album, 'The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter,' is in stores now, with a full North American tour set to kick off on Oct. 2 in Portland, Maine.

Download Josh Ritter's 'To the Dogs or Whoever'

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