I'm not a Lupe Fiasco fan, at least not a big fan, circa "The Show Goes On", indeed the Lasers album, I thought he was more than a slogan. But I was less thrilled in 2012.
But man the guy is tough as nails. While, the obvious fault lies with an administration that invited an outspoken opponent of the adminstration and expecting him to pkay nice. Fiasco has attacked the adminstration over things like the use of Drones on innocent people and has goneon the record as saying he hasn't voted for and won't vote for Obama.
So when he got on stage, you just knew trouble was brewing. The Huffington Post report: "Although Fiasco was booked as the headliner for the StartUp RockOn concert in celebration of Obama's reelection, the 30-year-old Chicago rapper apparently had no plans to cheer the current administration. Instead, after taking the stage at The Hamilton in Washington, he reportedly announced that he didn't vote for the president in the 2012 election and spent more than 30 minutes performing an anti-war song."
Apparently that was too much for secruity who pulled the plug on the performance. Of course, if they had left Lupe to perform the story would've been dead in a ditch, by responding they give the man what he wanted. And what he deserved. I can't imagine any one else, Jay-Z folks?, coming close to this political statement and artistic mayhem. It doesn't matter how good or bad it was, and a half hour Lupe rap sounds like hell on earth to me, just the sheer thrill of open political dissent in the closet area of an Inaugural is thrilling.
I couldn't respect the man more and if he was any good he would be a harbinger for a hip hop collective which, even at its most openly alternative, doesn't have the edge of a Public Enemy any more. The problem with Obama is he is the alternative and if I was still an extreme Left Winger I would see Obama as a hypocrite and a mainstreamer and that with his power he should be soaking the rick and middle class to feed the poor. I'm not and I don't, I would like a 40% flat tax for everybody regardless of what they make, maybe a Value Added Tax added to every single purchase.
I also like dissent. I approve of disagreement. And I approve of Lupe Fiasco.