Lupe Fiasco 'inspired by Black Panthers'

Lupe Fiasco has claimed that his new album is inspired by the Black Panthers.

The 'Show Goes On' star told Metro that Lasers took a lead from the 1966 declaration from the revolutionary African-American organisation founded by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton.

Fiasco said: "My starting point was a 14-point manifesto, based on the Black Panthers' manifesto, with different ideals like 'we will not compromise who we are to be accepted by the crowd' and 'we want a universal and meaningful education system'.

"I used that as the premise for this album; I wanted it to be more open and popular, about issues that everyone could relate to. One of the first things we did was film people reciting manifesto lines... The whole point was to get people to activate."

Of the long-awaited release of his third album, he added: "It was corporate usurpation. Although my last album [The Cool] was nominated for four Grammys, the label told me it wasn't a success and I went back to being treated like I was brand new.

"I went on tour to prove that I could sell out shows and get a massive reaction to the tracks the label didn't like. But it took the fans to stage a massive protest and an online petition with 30,000 signatures before the label said, 'Let's have a meeting'."

Fiasco recently claimed that the reaction of his label to his work nearly drove him to contemplate suicide.