"...Brought to you by genocide, sponsored by crack" - Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco is a nerd. That's not a bad thing - so am I and a few others too - but it's not necessarily a good thing in hip-hop -hell, music in general - today. Today's music is often dumbed down to appeal to the broadest audience.

Look at Disney's success. High School Musical and Hannah Montana are dominating the charts, because they appeal to the group with the largest expendable income - pre-teens and teenagers. Music today is a business.

It's nice to see that Lupe Fiasco won't conform. Lupe recently premiered the song "Dumb it Down" on his MySpace page. The song speaks to the conflicts he faces as an artist - compromise and sell or make his music. It's nice to see that music can still be an art form.

Look for Lupe Fiasco's The Cool around November 20, and the first single, "Superstardom," should be out as soon as this 50/Kanye stuff is over with.