“This is our first event,” said co-organizer of The Fiasco Street Team, Luella Mink. “We figured since our inspiration to form the team came from us being anxious to spread awareness and inspire a new generation of leaders, it only made sense to hold a discussion on the current state of Hip-Hop, where it’s at, and where it’s going.”

Some of the things that will be discussed include Hip Hop being used for social change, its effect on communities and corporate America and a variety of other controversial topics.

“We feel the history of misogyny and the negative materialistic messages to the youth have devalued Hip-Hop and turned many people against it,” explained Mink. “It’s imperative to speak on these topics and ask hard questions to get hard answers.”

“We want youth leaders to listen, ask questions, and actively participate in our dialogue to prepare them to discuss these issues with friends and family,” Mink added. “We want the attendees to critically think about Hip-Hop and music and not just accept the songs and messages that come from their radios. We want to instill a gear in Hip-Hop that can drive the youths’ minds to progress and create change and just do good in general.”

Will you be attending this discussion panel? How do you feel about the topics that will be discussed? Is Hip Hop down the right path, if not, why?

“Howard Zinn said war is terror, right? Howard Zinn has a very deep past, a very powerful political thinker. He was a soldier, actually fought in World War II. He was a guy deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement in the South, [author of] “A People’s History of the United States.” A very powerful dude who I look up to very much so. His words, that war on terror, war and the definition of why we wage war is definitely terror. The people who wage war, what are they? There is no… redefining it for the sake of making yourself feel better when you go to sleep at night. When you bomb a village for no reason at all other than that it’s a hindrance for rearranging some type of political structure or some type of energy structure in the world, or putting yourself in a better strategic position in a region so you can take over that region’s resources? That’s terror. That’s not bringing freedom and liberty to people by eradicating an entire town and killing thousands and thousands of people, millions of
people, and standing behind that. So that’s terror.”

Lupe also stated that he was glad he never shook his hand when he had the chance to back when he was in his presence before his inauguration.

“I’ve met president Obama when he was still senator Obama playing basketball the night he was nominated to be president of the United States of America in Chicago, and I had this opportunity to be amongst him while he was doing that.  I didn’t want to be a hypocrite and shake his hand. And then it’s like oh man, but you shook his — it was just something personal to me, I’ve got to see what this guy does. That same night he went on TV and was in Grant Park and did the whole thing, I was watching it, and he gave the speech. It was like okay, this is cool, aright. He said we need to get out of Iraq, and I’m like that’s dope. Then he said we need to get in Afghanistan, which is “where the real war is.” That’s Barack Obama. I’m like nah. I don’t agree with that. That’s not where the real war is. What war are we fighting? So from that day… I’m glad I didn’t shake his hand, because I don’t agree with that.”

“Overall, I think it’s great. Being actually there from the beginning of it, and seeing it kind of mobilize into being something that was an idea or like a challenge, to see the people orchestrate it and to see it actually take place, then to see it kind of spread, and now seeing it become kind of more of a global kind of thing – I think overall, I think it’s great. It’s a great conversation, a great kind of place where people can go. I’ve been to like five of them in different cities, just checking up on them, just seeing what was needed from a support side, but at the same time, too, to take a temperature of exactly what was going on and to see.”

When asked about where he saw the movement going, he said:

 “That’s kind of been my thing, is going to different ones to get that on-the-ground kind of… doing some reconnaissance, I guess, and seeing exactly what the momentum was and what direction it was heading in and where it could, I guess, kind of make that same… for my own personal sake, to see exactly where this is going to go. I think it’s going to be something that is an institution, in the sense that it becomes how we hold dear things such as the Constitution, you know? Or we hold dear things such as the Declaration of Independence, or we hold things dear such as the Civil Rights Movement.

We always have these kinds of eras or these philosophies or these events that we kind of hold dear to and always go back to as we start to try and plan our future, what we use as kind of a precedent to make our decisions upon. I think the Occupy movement is going to be that. It’s going to be a precedent step, where normal people came out and voiced their opinion in a major way. Normal people came out and colluded and got together to discuss, openly, all their different ideas about the world. About themselves. The way society could be shaped. I think it’s that #occupy – Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Denver, Occupy Chicago, Occupy the hood, what have you – that Occupy is going to become a precedent for…remember we were going to use that as the flag. This is a new flag, representing the new kind of era or a new generation. The youth of the generation to come is going to use this as a precedent to deal with the way they live their lives.”

“When you’re done Watching The Throne, turn around and watch me, when you’re done with the Carter 4 come back to me for more, when you’re done with that Drake, no, I ain’t trying to hate but I’m back up on my grind and I’m about to skaaaaate on these niggas,” he rapped. “Put it on your blog and your tumblrs on your twitters that Lupe said that he’s the best, n***a!”

Lupe Fiasco recently released his Lasers album, which has been doing great in sales. We’ll just have to wait and see how well he continues to do to see if he really reigns supreme in the rap game. He recently announced the dates for his Generation Laser tour. Take a look at this video of Lupe Fiasco’s freestyle gig:

Lupe Fiasco Freestyle at UIC

Lil B is a rap artist from The Bay (Bay area of North California). His album title alone caught Lupe’s attention and the intentions of naming it that awards him props from Lupe. He goes on to say that what he liked best about the album was one line – “The Hood is a Lie!”

“[It] speaks louder to me than the best, most well-timed, Just Blaze produced and Hype Williams directed punchline any rapper can think of! You can’t buy that type of provocative, chilling social commentary. You have to live that. Furthermore it commands respect, and not that phony ass “48 Laws Of Power” “saw it on Gangland” respect either. I mean that Malcolm Martin Luther Junior respect. And if the youths are making these types of statements in these times and in the midst of all that is against them I have no choice but to be Gay (Happy) too!” Says Lupe.

That alone gave Lil B an entrance into Lupe’s library of “liberation rock”.

Some could definitely say that Lil B’s album is a great piece of art. It shows lots of self expression – some people will applaud, and others would criticize. What do you think?

You’ve heard Nas complain in his song “Hip Hop is Dead” back in ’06, and it seemed to be the case with a new wave of crunk and party rappers, and other so-called rappers who many would vote out the game if given the opportunity. Except for a select few, such as Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Kanye West, Mos Def, Common and Talib Kweli.

With the new album release, “Lasers” from Lupe Fiasco, it looks like hip hop won’t be dying without a fight. This seems especially true with Nas also releasing a new album, which had a song leaked called “Nasty”.

You’ve already heard a couple of songs from “Lasers”, like “The Show Goes On” and “Words I Never Said”. “Lasers” went straight to the top on the 200 Billboard, ranking number one for eleven weeks.

Lupe Fiasco is a breath of fresh air and can finally be something to look forward to on radios, BET and CD players. He speaks truth and knowledge, unlike what we’ve been hearing from the usual rump-shaking tracks that have been overloading the media (T-Pain, Soulja Boy, New Boyz and so on). Hopefully true hip hop prevails and we can throw out the skinny jeans, crazy dances and weak songwriting.

Lupe Fiasco explains how the music industry is slowly spiraling downward with urban music labels focusing on commercialization trends rather than musical passion. He says that “People come out of the music business fucked up because you have to become so numb to things and you have to do things completely against your morals.”

He specifically goes on about how people write songs about killing people, selling dope, and other things that they normally wouldn’t do. They have families and little kids, Lupe Fiasco emphasizes, and yet other artists do that for the money and not for the heart of music.

Lupe Fiasco continues to share his sentiments on the matter by saying how other artists continue to produce such music where the integrity of music becomes completely the opposite of the real person. He says that, “When I look at how the product we create is the soundtrack to people’s lives, this shit is everywhere. I hate the music business will all my heart. I hate this shit.”

Lupe Fiasco also addresses how he gave the records “Airplanes” and “Nothin’ on You” to fellow artists B.o.B. when he recorded them first. Lupe Fiasco says, “He took those records where they needed to go. To say, if it is was my records would be different.” He went on to discuss how the record fit B.o.B.’s song types more than his own.
Lupe Fiasco recently released his new album Lasers under the label Atlantic.

But this isn’t the only hip hop artist that thinks this way. Others like Nas, Twista and Common have the same views. They all condemn the “culture of violence” hip hop has established and is believed to have led the group of teenage gang members to commit that horrendous crime that day. Lupe also argues that the artists themselves are partially responsible for inciting various influences, from poverty to violent films. It’s true that hip hop does have some positive songs and messages out there, but the negative far outweigh the good. And the negativity in hip hop is a lot more popular because it is considered more “hard” or “gansta”. The communities are too at fault for taking hip hop too seriously and trying to implement them into their own lives.