Back in May, news broke that Pete Rock took issue with Lupe Fiasco’s re-purposing of his and CL Smooth’s seminal track “T.R.O.Y,” titled “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free).” Now, in a recent interview with CNN’s Marquee Blog, the Chi-Town emcee updates fans on his relationship with the famed producer.
Lupe explained that the two artists still haven’t reconciled their differences over Lupe’s recreation of Pete’s iconic ode to Trouble T-Roy. He said that he never intended to steal Pete’s original music for the track, but rather bring it into the limelight for a new generation. Despite their issues with each other, Lupe said that he’s going to let time heal the rift between them.
“It definitely wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I’m going to steal that, and nobody’s going to know.’ The original ‘T.R.O.Y.’ came out in 1992, and it was like a 20th anniversary kind of thing,” he said. “All of those intentions were there for it to be resurrecting a classic for a new generation…I tried to honor it. Of course, there was homage being paid, but certain logistics of the record didn’t go through as [Pete] wanted, and then his backlash, and then my explanation, and then there was supposed to be a public kind of mending of the situation on his behalf, which didn’t occur.”
He added, “I’ll just wait this one out, see what happens. Let time reconcile this, time and distance. I still big him up. Shout to Pete Rock, shout to CL Smooth in everything I do because at the end of the day, it is his record.”
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Back in June, Pete Rock said that despite their issues, he’d love to work with the Food & Liquor rapper. DX will keep you updated as more info comes to light.
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