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Lupe Fiasco Announces 'Food & Liquor' Tour
Lupe Fiasco Announces 'Food & Liquor' Tour
Photo by Jeff Schear/Getty Images for AT&T

This New Lupe Fiasco "Stan" Freestyle Was Inspired By A Neglected Fan

He took the time to dispel assumptions about what artists owe fans.

Lupe Fiasco is well-known for drawing inspiration from unlikely places. On Monday night, he dropped "Pat on the Back," a new freestyle for an impatient fan.

Instagram user Pat Rooney direct-messaged Lupe, asking for acknowledgment.

"Damn man," he wrote. "We the fans make u rich and u don't even have [the] decency to acknowledge us. That's so wrong man. [You're] doing it wrong."

Lupe posted a screenshot of the messages with a simple caption: "Acknowledgment." Luckily for more patient listeners, he took things a step further. Over Eminem's "Stan," he waxed poetic over the strained relationship between artists and fans.

"I know you like a fan," he said, "and felt you did a lot for me. But I had something to do with writing raps. Right? Possibly?"

He continues, breaking down just how little fans' contributions stack up in the grand scheme of things.

"The last thing you wanna hear is some fan saying that you made me...or that you pay my bill. You pay like $10 to keep it real. If you bought every album that's 50 or 60. If you did a show, that's another 35...that's less than $100, not enough to keep us alive."

To be fair, Lupe gave a fair and balanced take, and even thanked Pat.

"I don't wanna play your input," he said, "or your financial transactions to get us where we are, but there's more to our job than just pretending to be a star."

Stream the full track on Lupe Fiasco's Instagram page.

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