“I love hip-hop,” drawls Lupe Fiasco from Tripod’s stage. “Do y’all wanna know why I love hip-hop? Because hip-hop saved my life.” It’s a dogma that the majority of the enraptured audience appear to understand, if not empathise with; heck, even the gathering of sceptics in attendance, waiting impatiently for the Chicagoan MC’s recent smash hit ‘Superstar’, can grudgingly appreciate that this is one Fiasco that’s more lucid than loopy.
If he’s exhausted from his recent bout of festival activity, it’s not apparent tonight; bouncing, stomping and working the stage incessantly, it’s an unequivocal joy to watch the 26-year-old’s slick energy radiate from the stage. Perhaps it’s due in part to his accompanying live band, which gives both the songs and the rapper a fresh, dynamism – most notably on tracks like the sample-heavy ‘Daydreamin’’, which could easily have sounded drab and lifeless.
There’s nary a dip in Fiasco’s entire set, comprised of material from his two albums: particular highlights include a wonderful ‘Kick, Push’, a slick, audience participation-heavy ‘The Coolest’, and a venerable display of the MC’s lyrical and vocal dexterity on the brilliant ‘Go Go Gadget Flow’.
Having made his Irish debut in the same venue just three months previously, it was questionable whether Lupe Fiasco would draw a substantial crowd for second helpings so soon. Still, even when you know he’s being flippant when he calls Dublin his ‘favourite city in the whole world’, you still hope that it won’t be too long before the charming bugger makes a return.