Lupe Fiasco Hurt Over Lasers' Leak, "Reading The Comments & Reactions Is Crushing"

Hours after Lupe Fiasco's long-awaited Lasers album leaked, the Grammy-winning rapper hit up Twitter to share his thoughts on the unauthorized release.

"I never thought lasers would inspire so much negativity. Reading the comments and reactions is crushing," he tweeted Monday (March 1).

"To all the Lupe fans who protested and petitioned you did a GREAT thing. Don't let people belittle what u achieved."

"You forced a massive corporation to bow to the whim of the people. Thats a glorious thing." (Lupe Fiasco's Twitter)

The rapper's long-delayed LP illegally landed on the Internet yesterday afternoon.

With pirated copies of his Lasers album now circulating in cyberspace, Lupe Fiasco addresses the leaks and initial critical responses. Lupe Fiasco's third album, Lasers, is scheduled for a March 8 release, but pirated copies have already made their way to the Internet, and Lupe says the negative reviews are "crushing." In an effort to minimize piracy, Lupe and Atlantic have been releasing weekly singles since February 15. During the three weeks leading up to the album release, fans had the opportunity to essentially purchase half of the album via iTunes and also buy an iTunes Pass, which provided access to song snippets and exclusives. (Hip Hop DX)

Prior to the leak, Fiasco admitted hating the LP due to internal conflicts with Atlantic Records.

"One thing I try to stress about this project is, I love and hate this album," Fiasco explained in an interview. "I listen to it and I'll like some of the songs. But when I think about what it took to actually get the record together and everything that I went through on this record--which is something I can't separate--I hate this album. A lot of the songs that are on the album, I'm kinda neutral to. Not that I don't like them, or that I hate them, it's just I know the process that went behind it. I know the sneaky business deal that went down behind this song, or the artist or singer or songwriter who wrote this hook and didn't want to give me this song in the first place. So when I have that kind of knowledge behind it, I'm just kind of neutral to it like, 'Another day, another dollar.' As opposed something like The Cool, which is more of my own blood, sweat, and tears, and my own control. With this record, I'm little bit more neutral as to the love for the record." (Complex)

The solo project, still slated for a March 8th release, marks his first retail effort in four years.

Lupe's last official album release was 2007's 'The Cool.' Last year he revealed that 'Lasers' had been submitted to Atlantic Records more than two years ago, but had been shelved by label executives who didn't think the content would sell. In October, his die-hard fans staged a protest in front of Atlantic Records' offices in Midtown Manhattan, eventually prompting the label to give the album a release date. (The Boom Box)