Release Conflict and Petition
Lupe Fiasco had announced on Twitter that the album was complete and was waiting for Atlantic Records to release it. Richard Barker, a fan awaiting the release of the album, put together an online petition with the help of Rhymestyle from the "LupEND Blog" fan site, demanding that Atlantic Records release Lasers, due to the fact that the album was announced for a 2010 release and at the time still did not have a release date. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites and attained over 5,000 signatures on its first day. It has since reached over 32,000 signatures. In response to the petition, Lupe Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F. (Building Minds Faster)" (a remix of "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)" by Rick Ross) as a gift for his fans. The story was featured on many websites, including CNN and MTV. To further on stress the petition to Atlantic Records, another blogger from the "LupEND Blog" known as "SeanTheRobot", along with a number of other Lupe Fiasco fans from the fansite formerly known as Kanyelive.com (now KanyeToThe.com), set up a protest called "Fiasco Friday". On October 7, 2010, Lupe Fiasco tweeted "Victory!" along with posting a picture of himself with Atlantic president, Julie Greenwald. On October 8, Atlantic Records revealed that the release date for Lasers would be March 8, 2011. Even though the release date of the album had been confirmed prior, a number of fans protested outside Atlantic Records' offices in New York City on October 15, 2010. Protest co-organizer Matthew La Corte has told The Village Voice that it should be considered as a "celebration of the release and everyone's hard work". Lupe Fiasco announced on Twitter that he would also be attending, where he gave a speech.
Speaking in a March 2011 interview with New York about the support that his fans have given him to release the album, Fiasco has said: "It was amazing, humbling, and inspiring, to the point where I went back in the studio and did more records … it made everything real, that your music is actually something that people want. And it's something that is successful, not in selling records, but the way it moves people and inspires them to do better for themselves." Talking with MTV about the protest, Fiasco has stated that he was touched by the support of his devoted fanbase: "Getting a chance to introduce my message and my movement to a wider audience is always a good thing, but at the same time, to have my fans support it in a major way feels really good."
Read more about this topic: Lasers (album)
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