If you had access to the internet last night there’s a good chance you witnessed some unnecessary fuckery. The intro to Lupe Fiasco’s upcoming album (that myself and the rest of the NMC has had for about a month but never leaked out of respect to Lu and his camp) hit the web by some prop-hungry website looking for their 15 minutes 2 seconds of fame. What a lot of people don’t realize… when running a popular website like 2dbz or NahRight or OnSMASH is that there are a lot of politics that go into it. We get our hands on a LOT of material early. Some we leak, some we don’t. There’s a line of trust certain people have. Artist A will give us a song that they want to put out next week and they let us have an early listen, knowing we won’t fuck them over by putting it out without their permission. Of course there are times we leak something that might piss someone off, but for the most part we try to play ball fairly. It’s that type of sea-saw battle we have that makes the NMC so prominent in this internet age. Fact.
I admit, when I saw that I’m Beaming was out I immediately got my link together and made a post. With the thought that once a song leaked on the internet there’s no coming back. Which in a sense is true. But after some debate, I decided to take down the download link and keep a stream up. Which then led to another decision. Taking down the post in it’s entirety and deleting any reference to the song I saw in comments, etc. With that said I apologize to Lu for having any part in the spreading of the song. There were no negative intentions and we look forward to Lasers.
After the jump you can read a personal letter from Lupe himself regarding the issue…
For The Record:
The track “I’m Beaming” that was leaked last night was NOT authorized or intentionally leaked by myself or my company.
Plain and simple its STOLEN property. And this goes for ANY record or track that leaks or is made available for illegal download from this day forward.
Actions are being taken and the authorities have been notified.
As a personal plea to all my fans PLEASE DO NOT share, stream, or download any unauthorized or stolen Lupe Fiasco music.
A lot of time and energy goes into the creation of this music, not to mention large sums of money, money provided by my record company as well as from my own personal finances. My music is the product of my life. It means so much to me. I take pride in it and i also take pride in how it changes peoples lives and gives them hope. So to see it treated in this manner really numbs the soul. So many of my family and friends rely on me for their well-being and I rely on my music to give me the opportunities that allow me to provide for them.
So this one i’m taking personal. And I will do ALL that is in my power and my circle of influence to make sure that the persons directly or even remotely responsible for this and any future events involving the piracy and illegal distribution and solicitation of my music will be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Both criminally as well as civilly.
With the history that surrounds the devastating and massive piracy of my first album i’m sure some of you can understand why this very harsh stance that is being taken up. And for those of you unsympathetic enough not to understand i can only compare it to someone breaking into your house and stealing everything not tied down or someone kidnapping you sister or brother and ransoming them back to you. A deep sense of helplessness. I hope you never have to feel this and i wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.
Happy Holidays…
EVEN AT THIS TIME WE ARE NOT LOSERS…
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