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Remember back in 2006 when Kanye West released the blacksploitation-esque video for "Touch The Sky", the fourth single from his sophomore album, Late Registration. With this video, the world was introduced to another Chicago-bred emcee by the name of Lupe Fiasco. With his short verse and brief appearance in the video, most of us were unaware of what we were witnessing. Lupe Fiasco would be beginning of a new generation of eccentric rap artists who would pride themselves on thinking outside of the box. Later that same year, Lupe Fiasco released his debut single "Kick, Push", and we got a bigger glimpse of his potential; this was the birth of a new star in rap music.
Now hit the fast forward button. After a few years, a few hit singles, a gold album, a world tour or two, much critical acclaim and after developing a cult-like following, Lupe would find himself at odds with his label's parent company, Atlantic Records. His new album, Lasers, was complete in his mind; but after Atlantic pushed back the release of the album a number of times, it seemed as if the album would never see the light of day. Well, as I said, Lupe had developed a cult-like following. After a petition that gained thousands of signatures and a protest outside the offices of Atlantic Records, the company would be forced to set a release date for Lupe's third album, March 8, 2011. Most of us thought this would be the end of it; Lupe Fiasco was going to release his best album to date and he would finally reach the full potential he initially displayed on his debut single. But, just like in 2006, we were unaware of what was going to happen next.
As the release of Laser drew closer, the road to release got rockier. The album's lead single, "The Show Goes On" turned out to be Lupe's biggest hit to date, though, Lupe himself publicly said he didn't even like the record. Then, the second single would be met with much scrutiny due to the song's content. He patronizes the "war on terror", antagonizes patriots with conspiracy theories of the events of 9/11, criticizes the education system, take shots at the media and with one foul swoop, name check Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Barack Obama; all of which happened in the first minute and half of the song. For the most part, I didn't hear much objection to the notion that Beck and Limbaugh were both racists. But, for many, when Lupe declared, "Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say s***/That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either...", the song came to a screeching halt. How could one of our most socially conscious and progressive rappers take a shot at "our" beloved Black President? It wasn't the first time, and we would soon learn, it wouldn't be the last time.
In the months following the release of his #1 LP, Lasers, Lupe Fiasco's name remained on the minds and in the mouths of fans and critics alike. But unfortunately it wasn't always necessarily because of his music. Recently, the Chi-town native fired a few more shots at President Obama, labeling the commander-in-chief "the biggest terrorist". Now, his intentions were not to say that Obama's whole purpose for being was to go around bullying people. It was, however, an effort to question our country's foreign policies, particularly how we deal with the Middle Eastern region and predominately Muslim populated countries. His position may have been valid, but, him calling Obama a terrorist definitely caused a bit of backlash. Many people, like Master Ace, saw it as a publicity stunt, writing his comments off as a ploy to increase record sales. Others, like Bill O'Reilly, saw it as Lupe making an ignorant remark about something he nothing about. Either way, his comments left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.
Lupe never struck me as the type of artist that cared about album sales, so I don't really buy that assertion. Lupe is easily one of the most intelligent artists of this generation, so, ignorant remarks are not necessarily apart of his forte. I believe this is honestly how Lupe Fiasco feels. In his mind, Lupe Fiasco believes what he said. One may be able to argue the point of whether he should've actually said it, but, it can't be taken back so now he has to stand by his statement.
In my humble opinion, Lupe Fiasco's statement has some validity, but is severely misdirected. There is no doubt in my mind that The United States foreign policies are terrible. But, let's be clear, Obama isn't the one who established these policies. Obama wasn't our president when 9/11 happened. Obama isn't responsible for the education system being a total failure. Obama isn't responsible for the economy being in disarray and unemployment rate being so high. Obama wasn't the one who initiated America's invasions over seas in Muslim countries. Obama inherited a lot of the countries current issues from the Bush Administration, and Bush from the Clinton Administration, and Clinton from the first Bush Administration; so on and so forth. The problems that Lupe Fiasco are complaining about, have been an issue since he was a child. None of these conditions have developed in the last 3 years. As I said in the first editorial I wrote on this site, the problems we're facing here in America won't be fixed in four years. Obama couldn't fix these problems by himself, in eight years.
I must admit, when Lupe Fiasco appeared on Fox, it was strange to watch Bill O'Reilly defending President Obama about anything. Under normal circumstances, I look to Lupe Fiasco to be the voice of reason. But, in this situation, Lupe was left stuttering and struggling to find the words to defend his statements. Though, in his mind, he believes the words he's saying, maybe in this case Lupe should've kept his thoughts to himself. But on the other hand, even Tupac Shakur stuck his foot in his mouth a time or two. Perhaps, when Lupe reaches his potential, it'll be in an area other than music. He is an activist...and as an activist, you must take a stand for what you believe in. Right or wrong, at least he believes in something and is willing to stand for it. That's more than I can say for most of these rappers out here.
Now hit the fast forward button. After a few years, a few hit singles, a gold album, a world tour or two, much critical acclaim and after developing a cult-like following, Lupe would find himself at odds with his label's parent company, Atlantic Records. His new album, Lasers, was complete in his mind; but after Atlantic pushed back the release of the album a number of times, it seemed as if the album would never see the light of day. Well, as I said, Lupe had developed a cult-like following. After a petition that gained thousands of signatures and a protest outside the offices of Atlantic Records, the company would be forced to set a release date for Lupe's third album, March 8, 2011. Most of us thought this would be the end of it; Lupe Fiasco was going to release his best album to date and he would finally reach the full potential he initially displayed on his debut single. But, just like in 2006, we were unaware of what was going to happen next.
As the release of Laser drew closer, the road to release got rockier. The album's lead single, "The Show Goes On" turned out to be Lupe's biggest hit to date, though, Lupe himself publicly said he didn't even like the record. Then, the second single would be met with much scrutiny due to the song's content. He patronizes the "war on terror", antagonizes patriots with conspiracy theories of the events of 9/11, criticizes the education system, take shots at the media and with one foul swoop, name check Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Barack Obama; all of which happened in the first minute and half of the song. For the most part, I didn't hear much objection to the notion that Beck and Limbaugh were both racists. But, for many, when Lupe declared, "Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say s***/That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either...", the song came to a screeching halt. How could one of our most socially conscious and progressive rappers take a shot at "our" beloved Black President? It wasn't the first time, and we would soon learn, it wouldn't be the last time.
In the months following the release of his #1 LP, Lasers, Lupe Fiasco's name remained on the minds and in the mouths of fans and critics alike. But unfortunately it wasn't always necessarily because of his music. Recently, the Chi-town native fired a few more shots at President Obama, labeling the commander-in-chief "the biggest terrorist". Now, his intentions were not to say that Obama's whole purpose for being was to go around bullying people. It was, however, an effort to question our country's foreign policies, particularly how we deal with the Middle Eastern region and predominately Muslim populated countries. His position may have been valid, but, him calling Obama a terrorist definitely caused a bit of backlash. Many people, like Master Ace, saw it as a publicity stunt, writing his comments off as a ploy to increase record sales. Others, like Bill O'Reilly, saw it as Lupe making an ignorant remark about something he nothing about. Either way, his comments left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.
Lupe never struck me as the type of artist that cared about album sales, so I don't really buy that assertion. Lupe is easily one of the most intelligent artists of this generation, so, ignorant remarks are not necessarily apart of his forte. I believe this is honestly how Lupe Fiasco feels. In his mind, Lupe Fiasco believes what he said. One may be able to argue the point of whether he should've actually said it, but, it can't be taken back so now he has to stand by his statement.
In my humble opinion, Lupe Fiasco's statement has some validity, but is severely misdirected. There is no doubt in my mind that The United States foreign policies are terrible. But, let's be clear, Obama isn't the one who established these policies. Obama wasn't our president when 9/11 happened. Obama isn't responsible for the education system being a total failure. Obama isn't responsible for the economy being in disarray and unemployment rate being so high. Obama wasn't the one who initiated America's invasions over seas in Muslim countries. Obama inherited a lot of the countries current issues from the Bush Administration, and Bush from the Clinton Administration, and Clinton from the first Bush Administration; so on and so forth. The problems that Lupe Fiasco are complaining about, have been an issue since he was a child. None of these conditions have developed in the last 3 years. As I said in the first editorial I wrote on this site, the problems we're facing here in America won't be fixed in four years. Obama couldn't fix these problems by himself, in eight years.
I must admit, when Lupe Fiasco appeared on Fox, it was strange to watch Bill O'Reilly defending President Obama about anything. Under normal circumstances, I look to Lupe Fiasco to be the voice of reason. But, in this situation, Lupe was left stuttering and struggling to find the words to defend his statements. Though, in his mind, he believes the words he's saying, maybe in this case Lupe should've kept his thoughts to himself. But on the other hand, even Tupac Shakur stuck his foot in his mouth a time or two. Perhaps, when Lupe reaches his potential, it'll be in an area other than music. He is an activist...and as an activist, you must take a stand for what you believe in. Right or wrong, at least he believes in something and is willing to stand for it. That's more than I can say for most of these rappers out here.
~ Remon