The Neptunes always give Lupe beats that are a cut above their standard bass-synth fare. “Love Letter” is a great mix of 80s and 90s pop. Alicia Keys sings an epic extended hook; between this and “Empire State of Mind,” Alicia Keys is on a roll when it comes to rounding out rap singles.
It’s unclear if this song will be on Lasers or if it’s the finished version. The file tags suggest it’s a rough version. See also: “I’m Beaming.”
Update: YouHeardThatNew says this was a song that Alicia did with Chad Hugo for her 2007 album As I Am, but didn’t make the cut and somehow Lupe got a hold of it for Lasers.
Update 2: Rap Radar points out that Alicia Keys’ engineer Ann Mincieli is pissed. She claims that Chad Hugo gave Lupe this song “illegally” without Alicia’s knowledge. She tweeted, “He gave a whole song and Pro Tools Session with all vocals to Lupe.Thats total disrespect.” In retaliation, she posted official Neptunes drum kits.
yeah but don’t forget that nas also did a song with alicia way back when on “god son” called “warrior song”… that was dope as well