Lasers is the third studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on March 7, 2011 by Atlantic Records.

Lasers features production by The Audibles, The Neptunes, Needlz, Alex da Kid, Syience, and long-time collaborator Soundtrakk, among others.

Trey Songz, John Legend, Skylar Grey, Sway, Matt Mahaffey, MDMA, Eric Turner and Sarah Green contribute vocals to the album.

In the interview with Billboard, Fiasco expressed his thoughts on music piracy and fighting track leaks on various blogs.

In a February 2011 interview with Complex, Fiasco has stated:[15] One thing I try to stress about this project is, I love and hate this album.

"[16] In an interview with The Guardian, Fiasco has expressed that during the recording process of the album he has dealt with depression and suicidal thoughts: "It was mentally destructive.

[29] Even though the release date of the album had been confirmed prior, a number of fans protested outside Atlantic Records' offices in New York City on October 15, 2010.

Protest co-organizer Matthew La Corte has told The Village Voice that it should be considered as a "celebration of the release and everyone's hard work".

[27][29] Speaking in a March 2011 interview with New York about the support that his fans have given him to release the album, Fiasco has said: "It was amazing, humbling, and inspiring, to the point where I went back in the studio and did more records … it made everything real, that your music is actually something that people want.

"[32][33] During a concert at Boston College, Fiasco played the chorus of a song called "Shining Down", which eventually led to a snippet being leaked onto the internet.

[34] On May 17, 2009, a low quality version of the single leaked onto the internet, possibly stemming from a rip from the "FNF TV Stream".

[38] The song had received mixed reviews, with Pitchfork Media giving it a 5/10 rating, calling it a "bland refix of The Cool's first single".

[40] In a February 2010 interview with Australian radio station Triple J, Fiasco revealed that although the album had been submitted to his label, they still had no solid release date for it.

The music video for the single was directed by Hiro Murai[47] and premiered on Fiasco's official website on Christmas day, December 25, 2010.

[52] On January 11, 2011, Fiasco revealed during an interview with Providence's Hot 106 that the follow-up single to "The Show Goes On" is titled "Words I Never Said", he said about the song that "It's gonna be really big.

[57] A teaser trailer for the Sanaa Hamri-directed music video was released in January 2011, while the full clip premiered on April 28, 2011.

[77] AllMusic editor Andy Kellman gave it three out of five stars and criticized its "lumbering, overwrought choruses", writing that "If there is one MC whose rhymes should not be dulled for the sake of chasing pop trends, it's Lupe Fiasco".

[67] Jeff Leven of Paste gave Lasers a six out of 10 rating and found its musical arrangements polished and "radio-friendly".

[78] The Guardian's Alex Macpherson viewed its content as a concession to pop music trends, panning its "synthy choruses" and "trite empowerment anthems".

[70] Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album two out of five stars and criticized Fiasco's lyrics, stating "while his flow has a nice bounce and monotonal glide, too many tracks end with one wondering what exactly he's said, if anything at all".

[80] Brandon Soderberg of Spin found it to be affected by crossover tendencies and wrote that "Lasers works best, however, when the grabby hooks, electro beats, and conscious rap rants are all turned down a notch".

[71] Pitchfork's Ian Cohen criticized the album for "surveying the current pop-rap landscape and retaining nothing worthwhile", commenting that "Lasers simply sounds bad, playing against every single one of Lupe Fiasco's strengths and creating new weaknesses".

[73] However, Entertainment Weekly's Brad Wete complimented its themes and stated "Simply put, Lasers beams".

[74] Despite writing that "RnB syrup starts to swamp the lyrical invention", BBC Music's Johnny Sharp noted "several inspired moments" and commented that "Lupe remains a singular hip hop voice, and Lasers is still worth a listen".

[81] Carrie Battan of The Boston Globe viewed that "the album's real sweet spots lie somewhere in the brief, breezy middle ground" between "angsty rap-metal crossover tracks" and "clubby, bass-thumping radio-rap jams".

Club's Kyle Ryan gave the album a B− and commented that its synthesizers "[give] it an au courant hip-hop sound", but criticized its lyrics and called it "schizophrenic".

[84] Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot gave the album two-and-half out of four stars and stated "Its best music shows what it might have been.

The rest feels more like an obligation reluctantly met, a difficult bridge to the next phase of Lupe Fiasco's career".

[68] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times expressed a mixed response towards its music and called Lasers "a chaotic album full of gummy rhymes that look better on the page than they sound to the ear, delivered with a tone of tragic bombast".

[72] Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole perceived "no bridging the gap between Lasers's radical message and its utterly conventional sound", commenting that "In moments of dazzling clarity, Lupe spits hip-hop prophecy, but too much of Lasers is given over to self-serious jeremiads on race, rap, and politics, or pop-rap pandering".