By working with the likes of Jay-Z, Mike Shinoda, Snoop Dogg and Unkle, Lupe Fiasco has created a diverse group of fans. And when fans from somewhat dissimilar groups take Lupe to task their enthusiasm can quickly turn into criticism. When talking with Richie Hardcore of Auckland, New Zealand’s 95bFM, the Chicago emcee said he welcomes the contradiction—real or perceived—of working with an artist like Snoop Dogg.
“There’s definitely a hypocrisy to the situation,” Lupe explained. Whether justified or not, Lupe Fiasco was been branded with the label of a conscious emcee right before signing with Atlantic. Those who think Lupe’s previously unreleased mixtape material, such as “Gangsta (Up In Here),” is closer to Snoop Dogg than A Tribe Called Quest may have a valid argument.
“But there’s also the human duality—we’re walking contradictions,” Lupe added. “I’ll critique the world Snoop Dogg paints with his Snoop Dogg brush. But, I’ll know the song that he used to paint that world by heart, and I’ll dance to it when it comes on. And I actually like Snoop Dogg—as a person, as a rapper, as a businessman and an individual. I love Snoop.”
Lupe added that his upcoming track, “Words I Never Said,” has an angry tone to it, and when combined with some of the more melodic singles. According to Lupe, he and his A&R fought hard to make sure the song was included on Lasers because it gave the album a voice. “Words I Never Said” will premiere on February 1, while the Lasers album will be released on March 8.
Lupe reflects an artist too caught up in his own myth. His pretentious raps, on top of his egotistical rants reveal an artist who cares more about being influential than being great.
This whole duality embrace was mastered only by one artist in the history of Rap. His name is Tupac. And Lupe is no Tupac. To be truthful, Lupe is the rap version of the kid with the glasses in class who we all think is smart because he wears glasses and says things we cannot understand.
In short, it is time we see past his shades.
in short: we should try to understand what he says and then realize that he actually is smart.
THE JOURNALIST SWALLOWS…..
U WERE THE KID THAT ALWAYS GOT BEAT UP BY SOMEONE LIKE MYSELF IN GRAMMER SCHOOL….PUNK
LUPE FIASCO IS THE GOAT….BEST RAPPER ALIVE….AFTER LASERS….BEST RAPPER DEAD OR ALIVE
In short, he sold out to a secret society to brainwash those who seek consciousness in Rap.
How can you claim consciousness and embrace hypocrisy?
1. he never claimed conciousness.(read please) 2. every man who is a man is at some point going to have to embrace that he is hypocritical. its like we all want a queen (at least i hope) but that doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes catch ourselves lookin at fat behinds that degrade themselves. 3. he NEVER said he mastered it or said Tupac’s name so why are you comparing him to Tupac (who honestly DID NOT master it either but we can differ in opinion) 4. we need to ALL join a secret society where we actually learn to read what is being said instead of interpreting it the way we want to…
The Journalist is right.
Search Lupe Satanism in Hip Hop on youtube.
This guy Lupe souled out for real.
This whole notion that someone is evil/soulless for saying things it takes us more than one listen to understand is ridiculous and pretentious. Lupe has stated he takes as much as ten weeks on some verses, so don’t be surprised if you don’t fully understand everything on your first lesson. I don’t believe Lupe is the greatest rapper of all time, or even the greatest rapper right now, he’s definitely one of the better ones though. This whole ideology that we can damn an artist who takes things in new directions because we don’t understand it is foolish. How do hip hop critics look laughing at the simplicity of soulja boy and lil wayne then claiming lupe/kanye’s music is of the devil because it goes over your head? That in and of itself speaks on the hypocrisy of every man and moreso on the low self-esteem of certain hip hop “critics”. Think for a second on how you look shouting at demons everytime you don’t understand hip hop lyrics? God forbid someone should use extended analogies and the like rather than elementary school metaphors.
the journalist is speaking the truth. these dudes are selling their souls for a chance at immortality. lupe is talking peace, while trying to free chilly and doing songs with known occultist jay z.
emiles, you are blind as a bat in broad daylight. keep up the truth, journey.
1. Am I the only one who thinks it’s funny how every hip hop critic thinks he or she is a revolutionary genius speaking of occult/illuminati?
2. I’d like to hear what anyone who has posted above ACTUALLY knows about what the bible says regarding the devil, the actually history of the illuminati, or the history of the occult.
3. Am I the only one who finds it funny that even though all of Lupe’s music is positive, people still find reason to cry devil? Hip Hop critics need to stop associating the most successful musicians with evil, it’s self defeating and ignorant.
i dunno about lupe, personally. but the journalist makes a valid point. tupac was the first “in rap” to “master” duality. his whole life was a duality. lupe to me seems like a cheap knock off. as far as the occult and the bible’s teachings. remember, satan will always present himself as an angel of light. that is the deception. the priests, politicians and musicians we hail as agents of change and truth are really occultist/secret society types.
lupe said he admired/looks up to jay z and snoop. and then he says you (emiles) say he is positive?
as the bible states (kj) 1 corinthians 10:21, Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
i like penis
stop bickerin folks. as an objective outsider i side with the journalist. yo anonymous, y are you quotin the bible?
lupe’s muslim kid.
maybe people should stop half reading what he’s saying and pulling things out of context.
how do you not see the fallacy of believing all agents that do good to be the worst type of evil? have you noticed that no one is claiming Eminem or Kesha to be illuminati, only hip hop artists, it seems to be the word of the day among hip hop fans and they use it to sound smart.
the bible verse you quoted says the devil is bad, well that’s common sense, admiring hip hop’s pioneers isn’t succumbing to the occult.
Lupe says point blank, he may disagree with the subject content, but at the end of the day a good song is a god song. I may not agree with homocide, that doesn’t change the fact Steady Mobbin is a great song.
emiles, you prove my point. you are exactly what the word is talking about. kesha, the rolling stones, the beatles, run dmc, creed, etc. are alll occultist.
this is not a black or white thing, unlike the masonic checkered floor pattern. this is lupe revealing he is in the know. he is laughing at you for thinking he is a positive example. he’s pushing the same game common is pushing… universal mind control.
how could I have been so foolish, clearly every pop artist has joined forces to form a pagan cabal and drop hints of their diabolical plot in their club hits to laugh at the more clever minded fans like yourself. when justin bieber is leading hordes of demons across america then I might believe you, til then I guarantee you Lupe Fiasco is laughing right now, not at me but at these ridiculous assertions
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause[a] shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. (matthew 5:22 nkj)
get’em anonymous– brutha pulled out da good book on em.
btw, journalist is rite. lupe talks like he be knowin everything, except for makin a hit.
holla!
you’re half reading again or maybe you could tell me when I ever called you a fool? my argument is not with you but this whole ignorant farce. this is coming from a devout catholic.
damn take it easy on’m! I always hated that illuminati stuff…Lupes the greatest!
God separated the light from the darkness. there was and is no gray area with God. lupe is playing with fire and he will get burned eventually. i love how finite beings try to understand something that’s infinite like God.
i dont even know why you argue with people like this…fact is, if he’s an occultist songs like Blood Diamonds and Steady Mobbin’ are STILL on point and they generate positivity. you can’t beat that type of story…if it makes you feel good and generates you toward doing positive things, let it. i’m sure all these guys who are talkin occult, occult, occult say that same thing about the books they read as well cuz there’s no way ONLY musicians can be that way alone, you might as well say this website is run by occultist as well so they’re postin on an occultist website. so all this intelligence they recieved is basically occult…alot of people would also argue the bible is written by occultists but these guys are quoting the bible so go figure, maybe they too are occult lol.
LUPE FIASCO IS THE GOAT…
TODAYS GOAT!
FUCK WHINING POP SHIT LIKE EMO-NEM,WAYNE DRAKE FAKE HIP HOP
LASERS, nobody gonna be better than Lupe after this thing drops its gonna be crazy, Lupe isn’t the GOAT but def the best alive. He’s too intelligent for most people though. Cant wait to cop LASERS, that and Gutter Rainbows are albums of the year already nd maybe SC2/LS2
He’s not intelligent. What he says is simple. He is a man stuck in his own ego maniacal world.
What does he spit that is so complex?
All his lyrics come from ancient text/occult teachings. He is a puppet.
replying to anonymous,
1. give one example of said occult teachings
– things you don’t understand aren’t occult
2. we don’t know how smart lupe is,but we do know he’s well read and eloquent as a speaker.
3. his songs are gripping, and deal with issues most rappers don’t touch. one of those issues has never been the occult.
– Dumb it Down, BMF, Blood Diamons etc.
4. people need to stop bringing up illuminati/occult when talking about rappers.
– most don’t know the history behind the illuminati
-it often is only directed at black artists, by black fans for whatever reason
– screaming illuminati at something you don’t understand doesn’t make you smart
@emiles…thank you, whoever that anonymous cat was clearly doesnt kno wut the hell he’s talking about. jus leaving a comment full of nonsense simply cus he can click a button n begin to type. n anoymous whoever u r for u to say lupe is not intelligent jus make u look ignorant ya damn self. u clearly dont listen to his lyrics enough to understand his way of thinkin. or maybe u should check out his interviews when he talks then think about how intelligent u think he is.
Dis kid used to be ill, he whine too much meng, steady crying, get ur business straight , come back to earth , you gonna be erased by J cole.
Some of you cats are the most simple minded people in the world. He called into a talk radio show, TO TALK, what the fuck do you expect? He’s gonna say some shit, that’s why it’s called TALK RADIO! They ask him a question, he’s a gonna answer it. That’s the whole point, same thing as green means go, 2+2=4.
your mad dumb kid
i swallow
yall are too stupid to reply to….LOL cant wait for lasers though…
If the so called ‘conscious’ artists never name the culprits behind the music which
dumbs us down, then why are we considering them conscious??? Lupe, Common, Talib, I respect them all as great artists but if they cosign the so-called “Uncle Tom’s” of the music industry (through collaborations) suck as the ‘Rick Ross, Gucci Mane,Young Jeezy, Jay-Z’ then they just represent a different side of the same coin and financially perpetuate the entity responsible for ‘dumbing it down’.
It’s like a game where the music corporations sell us the poison and the cure, but if the cure doesn’t address the poison, then that’s not a cure! Lupe, Talib’s,etc..are great artists, and conscious compared to the Soulja Boy but at the end of the day, they should not be held in a different light, even with the classic lame cop out excuse “No one’s perfect, we’re all hypocrites” argument…
Well put.
i agree w/ both da jurnalist and peopleplease
I dont think its a ‘lame’ cop out, because it’s still the truth. I sort of agree with you but I think too often people hold celebrities up to this psuedo god level. It’s ridiculous to blame rappers for ANYONE’S own lack of intelligence. They may have that idol status in media but dont let the media tell you how to think. Blame the parents for not trying harder. Ultimately, I’m feeling what lupe said because who wants to hear lupe in the club…???…we’d rather hear waka doin it with no hands lol. So yea, even waka (did i spell that right) has his place in hip hop. If you really wanna see more conscious thrive and obtain mainstream status, then teach your kids today how to appreciate it (either directly or indirectly by just teaching them how to think and question everything they’re fed).
i like satan and penis
journalist & peopleplease make sense… da rest of yall trollin. geta life
I’m not the biggest Lupe fan but I actually feel him on this because people are walking contradictions. We bitch about how unhealthy our nation is and then go to McDonalds, say we respect women and then put on Yin Yang Twins or whoever, etc. Idk why someone said Tupac was the master of that, that’s the entire human race. It’s cool to hear someone admit it and explore it. Still probably won’t cop Lasers unless it gets some crazy type of reviews, money’s not that good…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZfU1_sju8E
@Journalist, are you serious?
Not too many people with Lupe’s skill set are on a positive tip. You say he is trying to be more influential than great, but name 5 artists out that are even on his level. It really doesn’t matter how you slice it. Only a select few rappers “hardcore” or “conscious” have ever touched his lyricism.
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lupe’s a ploy. he never stood for consciousness or truth. he’s a sell out. thumbs up to all those who see past the shades.
if that doesn’t give him intellectual honesty nothing will.
he gonna flop and then cry like a bitch
I dont understand why people are bringing up the Bible. Lupe is Muslim…On top of that, the whole concept of Illuminati is retarded.
Lupe speaks hos mind. Something a lot of us are afraid to do