Draft:Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)

"Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)" is song by American hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released as the seventh track off his third studio album, Lasers (2011). It was co-written with MDMA and King David, who respectively provided the featured guest vocals and production. Fiasco wanted to release it as the album's lead single, though his label opted for "The Show Goes On" instead.

The song peaked at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Composition
"Beautiful Lasers (2 Ways)" runs for a duration of four minutes and one second (4:01), delivered over an electropop beat with usage of vocoder.

Lyrics detail suicidal ideation, which Fiasco experienced during the recording of Lasers. He told Chicago Tribune, "I was reading about Hunter S. Thompson and why he committed suicide, the Kurt Cobains, people in the same business as I am who actually carried it out." He added, "I felt like other people must be contemplating this too because of similar pressures to do things they felt were wrong or against their better judgment. This is a very personal album about things playing out in a public space. My lack of enthusiasm for doing this event, or appearing on this TV network, or working with this person—I didn't see it right away, but it was destroying me. I was going through this classic breakdown. It came out in 'Beautiful Lasers.' It's a very powerful, energetic song, and me screaming in it was therapy."

Critical reception
Chris Coplan of Consequence felt it to possibly be "the most emotionally gripping and earnest cut" on the album, where the delivery of rawness and emotionality that's "free of Fiasco's trademark wit and wordplay," can summarize the entire record: "There's BS everywhere, but true Lasers can rise above." Los Angeles Times's Todd Marten agreeably found emotion evoked, with "heartbreak".

Personnel

 * Claudio Cueni – recording
 * Dan Manzoor – guitar, bass
 * David "King David" Manzoor – writing, production, keyboards, drums
 * Jason "MDMA" Boyd – featured vocals, writing
 * Joe Peluso – mixing
 * Josh Berg – mixing assistance
 * Trevor Astey – additional engineering
 * Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco – lead vocals, writing