>> good evening, from los angeles. tonight, a conversation with one of the most popular artists, lupe fiasco. he is out with his long awaited a cd called "lasers." we are glad you have joined us. tonight, a conversation with this genius lupe fiasco coming up. >> online knows that he needs extra help with his reading. >> you help us all this better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley.

we remove obstacles to economic empowerment one obstacle at a time. >> and by contributions by your pbs station. thank you. tavis: we are pleased to welcome lupe fiasco back to this program. he is out this week with his long-awaited third cd. the new project is called "lasers." here is the video for the song "the show goes on." ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ tavis: you heard me put emphasis on the word, long awaited. what took so long? >> apart from the natural creative process, the time that we were on tour. then there was a lot of label conflict and chicanery. this is a mix that led to three years. tavis: we have been counting the days. i don't want to terry here too

long but it is worth asking, you said chicanery with the record level. how do record label politics get in the way? how do you get through that? >> i think that i have handled myself but very poorly. i have allowed myself to get depressed. it is a funny line when you walk in the creativity verses objectivity. you are in the music business. there are certain things you have to acquiesce to on the business side and certain decisions that you have to make for the purposes of serving the business side and being a

business owner myself from this -- you really have to embrace the reality. i think in this situation, a level of it, level of the involvement of the record label and some of the things that were said and some of the moves that were taken were unprecedented for me. it really took me -- and let me conference with my business partners to see what the best pass is for me. -- path is for me. tavis: use said a couple of things that i want you to go back and talk about. -- you said a couple of things. in retrospect, you concede that you handled it poorly, your own judgment of yourself. what do you mean by that? >> i contemplated suicide.

i contemplated some things that i should not have. it was a part of the process. this was the part of the process of maturing. it became less about completing this record and this project and more about completing your self as a human being. this was a very dark time. this was not all music business stuff, there was personal tragedy. the depression carrying over from the loss of my father. looking at the world, this place can be a very dark place. if you confront it in a corporate situation and you see it firsthand and you know that this is not a conspiracy theory. you know this is how people do this. for me, this is too much to

bear. life in general, this is a small example of it. i did not see any light. it really took me step in back. i did a song which documented it. and i was told, you like to perform music. i said, yes, i do. you cannot do that if you are dead. i became very human, very aware of my mortality. very aware of the responsibility i have to the people i am connected to. tavis: i love the conclusion that you are arrived at. i celebrate your community. your lyrical content is off the chain. i am glad for a lot of reasons that you did not follow through when you were tempted to take

your own life. i was just reading about the suicide rates in this country in young people. i was in china, there suicide rates are far too high. the pressure of the chinese kids and the pressure in their country. there are only seven spots for a billion people. you know what i'm talking about. people are feeling more pressure than ever before some respects you and because you are authentic and correct -- people are feeling more pressure than ever before. so many people respect you because you are authentic. how can you help someone manage this? >> i went through it very academically. i was reading a lot of hunter s. thompson at that time and i was trying to rationalize. i was trying to rationalize it

and make it makes sense. suicide makes sense. if i cannot deal with this world, i can go to the next one. part of it was a leap of faith. part if it was that you need to stay here and in your this --and endure this. "lasers," stands for -- love always shines every time remember to smile. this is not for the public, the intention was not for it to be publicized, it was for me. every time i looked up, i looked at the of uncover -- i look back to the album cover. when i would get in those times

when i was depressed or really sad, i would smile. i would last. but laughter is the best medicine. i would enjoy myself in a moment. another time for those emotions to pass. this is something that you never get over, you always wrestled with depression and those things. those experiences are still there. the things that take place are still happening. you turn on the news and the darkness is still there. it is the battle, the struggle. you have to recognize happiness, love as well. tavis: you mentioned "lasers," put the cover back on the screen. this is in fact called "lasers."

you are far too creative for me. you have to explain this because i don't get this. >> it makes the anarchy symbol. this is the pop culture icon of the rubble, what have you. -- rebel, what have you. the start to something - and changing it into something positive. you look at the world and it is dark and overbearing. what it took was to change my perspective a little bit, not to change the world, but my perspective. tavis: your perspective about yourself or about the world? >> the world. also myself. just changing a little bit. you don't have to change the world. you can just alter a little bit and redefine it into something beautiful.

tavis: how does the process like the one you went through creatively impact you? how does it affect the music, the end product? >> for this album in particular, it was about celebration. it was about doing songs. there are the songs on the record which speak in particular. this is a great sign -- song that will be good life. 30,000 people jumped up and down. you can just go up there and have fun. the other part of it was that i embraced that. you get songs, you go back to "a beautiful lasers," and another song called "until i get to theire." this is the concept about fame and success.

who defines success? you define what success is to yourself. there is so much an official -- unless you achieve this number or this status, you are not worth anything. i am wrestling with things like that. then i go into other things like my favorite song on the album. this is having fun in the sense -- when i have fun, i think about what if slaves were paid. not reparations, what if they were paid. there is a ship that went to africa and said, hey, do you want to go for us? how would that have unfolded? the cover covers a lot of bases. i did not need a lot of getting

over the issues. >tavis: we were talking about the wrestling that you were doing. the marinating that you had to do on what the record company was pushing you to do and trying to figure out what this project was going to be. in retrospect, do you feel like you acquiesced to what they were demanding or asking of you? do you feel that you acquiesced beyond the point of understanding that this is a business, how does that make you feel personally? >> i caved in a little. tavis: you admit that? >> yes. the greater good was to get the album out. i think that we all should some time. you submit to the greater good as opposed to fighting those battles. for me, the main part was out of pride. tavis: my grandfather said all

of the time, there are some flights -- fights that are not worth fighting even if you win but there are some that you have to fight even if you lose. does that make sense? >> yes, it makes perfect sense. the other part of this project was that we actually gave up. we threw in the towel. we said, whenever we come up with. we will move on to another record company, move on to another album. we could move to morocco and make punk rock music. we gave up. it was really the brilliance of this whole thing, beyond me, beyond music, are the fans that came out. >> they actually -- tavis: they actually press

tested. >> they put together a protest, they got to the ordinances, the permits to pay for plane tickets, organize carpels, and put this together. it was called fiasco friday. we call them the october 14th liberation front. tavis: how does this make you feel when you have fans? ohio, wisconsin, indiana, it could have been in egypt, tunisia, or libya. you have fans here who are leading protests for the record label to give your project and release date. how does that make you feel? >> the sans the -- fans were getting interviews. why don't you protest a child under or poverty or street violence?

why don't you protest something meaningful? their response was that if you listen to the music, that is it right there. in this particular case, we want lupe fiasco in the mixed. this is humbling, liberating. tavis: the fans understand that you will speak truth to power. our friend at cornell west always reminds me that it is be telling the truth that allows suffering to speak. you are courageous in all of your projects in speaking the truth to power. i am wondering if there is a price to pay for that as an artist these days? >> i don't know. maybe for some. for me, a walk a line of fame and infamy.

i walk the line of celebrity and not celebrity. there are things i can get away with that the artist above me might not be able to. some can speak more intelligently and a more direct. people will not even know that they are even saying it in a sense. this will never cracked over into me talking to tavis smiley. i don't fear the backlash, especially what i went through. my greatest enemy at one point was myself. once i got over the fear of myself, i don't fear any man and i never have. tavis: you mentioned words i never said. there is a critique on this project of president obama and i raise that because there are a couple of things that come to

mind. on another track, you have john legend out here. no one campaign more for barack obama and john legend. i was on line and i came across a wonderful conversation you had on the bbc when you were in europe. you were talking about president obama. i have always known you to be a true talent but i am leaning back in my seat. i cannot believe what i was hearing. i was taken aback at how honest you work -- you were about what you think of this country, our politicians, specifically president obama. you have a critique of him even on this project. where does this come from, the boldest to critique a man who is in fact the first african- american of this -- first

african-american president of this country? >> i look to robert mugabe and i see the extreme of where it can go wrong. even when the whole thing started to culminates at the stars to go, you judge a man on his action. for me, i always look at it like the system is flawed. the men can have the confidence that is unshakeable, they can have the ethics that run to their core but if you are representing the system that is in the majority unfair and corrupt and very biased and bipartisan is a bad thing to me. for you to be representative of that system, i don't see you.

i see past you. i am still looking at the system. my mother and my father taught me to look at the actual problem, not the face of it, not the veneer. i was impressed that -- racially, i was impressed. it has been about economics. honestly, everything has been about economics -- i don't want to say since the beginning of time but for a long while. tavis: america was a corp. before it was a country. >> when i see the focus on not being on a revolution of the economy, a change of the economic system, not to me it is the same old same old. this was so poignant.

i was in chicago and i had the opportunity to be with his staff whether it is playing basketball before he became the president- elect. i could not shake his hand. i did not want to go to the park to hear the speech. i was sitting there and i watched the speech on television. i could agree with the setting of the justice and equality even if they own slaves. when he said, we need to get out of iraq, i was done. from that moment, i was done. i respect him and i love him as a brother but there are some serious issues. tavis: how do your fans handle

this? your fan base is young and energized. i've not seen any research on the lupe fiasco fan club beside myself. a good number of the people who are fans of yours for those out there campaigning for obama. they were campaigning for the first time in their lives. there were powerful truth about the administration, the system. can your fans and a list? >> definitely. -- it can your fans handle this? >> definitely. i don't vote but i pay taxes. if you understand that your tax

dollars pay for those tear gas canisters being fired into the crowd. your dna is a part of that bomb. although the gunman drones that are blowing up the weddings. to know that you pay for that. -- all of those on manned -- unmanned drones that are blowing up the bodies. the comforts that you have are causing discomfort to many people around the world. we need to start thinking about that very seriously. the nuts and bolts and what it really holds this thing together is the economy. the biggest budget is the military budget. for what? we are fighting two wars in very

small countries that have no capabilities to destroy anything and probably cannot even get to america but we are over there fighting vehemently and we are paying for it. some of the fans disagree with me. i have a lot of fans in the two- party. -- in the tea party. we meet and connect. tavis: i adored his brother. i think you see why. it is hard to find anyone in the music game who is willing to tell the kind of truths that lupe tells. the new project from this geniuu here. >> i appreciate it. tavis: that is our show for tonight. until next time, keep the face

-- faith. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley. tavis: join me next time for conversation with aaron eckhart. >> all i know is that his name is james any need help with his reading. >> i and james. >> yes. >> you help us all lives better. >> nationwide insurance

supports tavis smiley. nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis been to remove obstacles to economic empowerment. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. thank you.