Wasalu Jaco, or Lupe Fiasco is a controversial artist that is known for creating songs that are focuses on social issues, no matter how “touchy” the subject may be. He, along with Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli are credited for creating the conscious Hip Hop movement. He is known for his wordplay, using metaphors to convey multiple messages in unnatural and unexpected ways.
Lupe Fiasco first developed an interest in Hip Hop when he was very young. He started off with disliking the genre, due to its vulgarity and misogyny. But after getting into poetry, he started appreciating the lyrical aspects of music. This led him into rapping and grew to like the hip hop culture. At the age of 19, he joined a group called Da Pak, which was influenced by gangsta rappers. They only released 1 single before splitting up. Lupe described his time with the group, saying "We had a song out about cocaine, guns, and women, and I would go to a record store and look at it and think, 'What are you doing?' I felt like a hypocrite. I was acting like this rapper who would never be judged, and I had to destroy that guy. Because what Lupe Fiasco says on this microphone is going to come back to Wasalu Jaco. When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say.” This is what turned him away from the west coast style rap, and more toward the lyricism of Jay-Z and Nas.
Lupe Fiasco received controversy for his song, “Words I Never Said”. In this song he talks about controversial political and socioeconomic topics, such as the 9/11 bombings, government Fiscal Policy, and the occupation of Gaza. In this song, he also describes president Obama as a “terrorist”. The reason he believes this is because he believes that the biggest terrorist is Obama and the United States of America. “I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's actually causing the other forms of terrorism. You know, the root cause of terrorism is the stuff the U.S. government allows to happen. The foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists." This is a very different view on terrorism that I haven’t experienced yet, so when I first heard of this, I was shocked, because this issue hasn’t been put into this perspective. Lupe Fiasco still maintains this political view, which he has received a lot of backlash for.
Lyricism in his music is what Lupe is known for and what made me enjoy his music. He views Hip Hop as way of storytelling, which is a primary element in his lyrics due to his background in theatre. As a child, Lupe wrote plays, which affects his song writing approaches. He is known for his complexity and insane word play. In his song “hurt me soul” he says,
So through the Grim Reaper sickle sharpening, Macintosh marketing, Oil field augering, Brazilian adolescent disarmament, Israeli occupation, Islamic martyrdom, precise Yeah, laser guided targeting
Oil for food, water, and terrorist organization harborin, Sand camouflage army men, CCF sponsorin, world conquerin, telephone monitorin, Louis Vuitton modelin, pornographic actress honorin
String theory ponderin, bullimic vomitin, Catholic priest fondlin, pre-emptive bombin and Osama and no bombin them, They breakin in my car again, deforestation and overloggin and Hennessy and Hypnotic swallowin, hydroponic coughin and All the world's ills, sittin on chrome 24-inch wheels.
This line is a very accurate representation of Lupe’s lyrical capabilities. He explains how all the worlds ill are sitting on 24 inch wheels, 1 ill for each inch, and 24 ills for each hour in the day. It represents how there are these bad things happening all around us, all of the time, and how they are accepted because they are glamorized in the media. Lupe Fiasco creates works of art, able to paint pictures with words, and clearly getting across messages that makes you want to listen to it over and over again.
Lupe Fiasco will always remain as one of my favourite artists, due to lyrical word play and his willingness to rap about world problems, and the fact that they need to be addressed. He will always be a part of the Hip Hop community and someone I respect.
Lupe Fiasco first developed an interest in Hip Hop when he was very young. He started off with disliking the genre, due to its vulgarity and misogyny. But after getting into poetry, he started appreciating the lyrical aspects of music. This led him into rapping and grew to like the hip hop culture. At the age of 19, he joined a group called Da Pak, which was influenced by gangsta rappers. They only released 1 single before splitting up. Lupe described his time with the group, saying "We had a song out about cocaine, guns, and women, and I would go to a record store and look at it and think, 'What are you doing?' I felt like a hypocrite. I was acting like this rapper who would never be judged, and I had to destroy that guy. Because what Lupe Fiasco says on this microphone is going to come back to Wasalu Jaco. When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say.” This is what turned him away from the west coast style rap, and more toward the lyricism of Jay-Z and Nas.
Lupe Fiasco received controversy for his song, “Words I Never Said”. In this song he talks about controversial political and socioeconomic topics, such as the 9/11 bombings, government Fiscal Policy, and the occupation of Gaza. In this song, he also describes president Obama as a “terrorist”. The reason he believes this is because he believes that the biggest terrorist is Obama and the United States of America. “I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's actually causing the other forms of terrorism. You know, the root cause of terrorism is the stuff the U.S. government allows to happen. The foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists." This is a very different view on terrorism that I haven’t experienced yet, so when I first heard of this, I was shocked, because this issue hasn’t been put into this perspective. Lupe Fiasco still maintains this political view, which he has received a lot of backlash for.
Lyricism in his music is what Lupe is known for and what made me enjoy his music. He views Hip Hop as way of storytelling, which is a primary element in his lyrics due to his background in theatre. As a child, Lupe wrote plays, which affects his song writing approaches. He is known for his complexity and insane word play. In his song “hurt me soul” he says,
So through the Grim Reaper sickle sharpening, Macintosh marketing, Oil field augering, Brazilian adolescent disarmament, Israeli occupation, Islamic martyrdom, precise Yeah, laser guided targeting
Oil for food, water, and terrorist organization harborin, Sand camouflage army men, CCF sponsorin, world conquerin, telephone monitorin, Louis Vuitton modelin, pornographic actress honorin
String theory ponderin, bullimic vomitin, Catholic priest fondlin, pre-emptive bombin and Osama and no bombin them, They breakin in my car again, deforestation and overloggin and Hennessy and Hypnotic swallowin, hydroponic coughin and All the world's ills, sittin on chrome 24-inch wheels.
This line is a very accurate representation of Lupe’s lyrical capabilities. He explains how all the worlds ill are sitting on 24 inch wheels, 1 ill for each inch, and 24 ills for each hour in the day. It represents how there are these bad things happening all around us, all of the time, and how they are accepted because they are glamorized in the media. Lupe Fiasco creates works of art, able to paint pictures with words, and clearly getting across messages that makes you want to listen to it over and over again.
Lupe Fiasco will always remain as one of my favourite artists, due to lyrical word play and his willingness to rap about world problems, and the fact that they need to be addressed. He will always be a part of the Hip Hop community and someone I respect.
This song talks a lot about Lupe's political views and what is wrong with the world |
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