Last night (January 20) Chicago native and hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco did what Lupe Fiasco does: cause controversy. At the StartUp RockOn Inauguration concert, Lupe got on stage and went in on some major figures in news talk radio and the President himself, Barack Obama.
“Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist. Gaza strip getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit. That’s why I aint vote for him, next one neither.”
Those are definitely some harsh words. Since Lupe burst onto the rap scene, he’s been known for his penchant to question all authority. So it should be no shock to those who have ever listened to Lupe that he would take this opportunity to further push his agenda. But was last night the right time to do it?
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I watched many people online this morning ask that same question amongst themselves. Many people sided with Lupe and his right to speak.
Marketing executive, Bart Schmidt, held true that Lupe had the right to speak his mind, when and wherever he feels.
“It was a sad turn of events,” said Schmidt. “Agree or not, Lupe Fiasco is entitled to his opinion.”
Phillip Bailey echoed the same sentiments. “If Bush were President, Lupe fans would call him “revolutionary” but rapping about American force under Obama makes him a “hater”?
Jasen Minus, a student from Massachusetts agreed. “It’s America,” said Jasen “He has a right to perform his music. Whoever booked him had no idea who he was obviously. He’s been openly critical of any American president. Not just Barack Obama.”
There were others like news website, hypervocal.com that felt Lupe was out of pocket last night. “Disappointed that an artist took opportunity to use an event celebrating innovation/startups to make a political statement,” they tweeted late last night after the news of Lupe getting thrown off stage hit the world.
Regardless of how you feel, Lupe did what Americans have done since 1776. Speak out against what he felt was a wrong that was not being addressed. Whether you agree with him or not, is the reason why we have the 1st amendment. The organizers of StartUp, RockOn released a statement addressing Lupe Fiasco’s forced exit last night.
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