Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Lupe poses a Question

Lupe made a rare appearance on his messageboard
And had this to say...

"Them other nigga's I don't Vibe with."

-'Hi-Definition' Lupe Fiasco's The Cool

Hey Guys...Much Love to ya'll...I'm taking this time out to inform you beautiful guy's and gal's about a few things that seem out of order and rather odd to me...I pose the question...

Does the media in hip-hop conspire to create controversy and tension in the culture just for the sake of publicity?

Vibe.com recently started a campaign with the intention of crowning one lucky artist from the vast talent pool of hip-hop as "Best Rapper Alive" (FYI the notion of someone being the "best" of something especially in a category as subjective as music is a rather impossible idea to bring to fruition with any credibility. Its based on bias and political maneuvering when in the public realm. I mean in private you simply like what you like as it fits to how you live your life and how you feel at a particular point.) I do find these rather unfounded events entertaining and even in some instances rather valid when a large amount of research and an unbiased, objective approach is taken using damn near scientific methods to make a list of criteria that tests artists in various formats and divisions to really reach a conclusion that is "This Person Is Based On This List Criteria Is The Best Of Something..." But when these spectacles are done just for the sake of manifesting publicity and controversy at the expense of someone's physical safety and overall state of mind I find them rather disgusting and an abomination of the lowest caliber.

I thought at one point that is was "Us vs. Them" however much a misconception or an overwhelmingly idiotic notion when you take into accounts the odds that are against "Us". "They" have superior weaponry, superior discipline, vast amounts of resources and lack morals and ethics to the highest degree. The fight against them in a rational mind seems rather futile but in a mind taught to believe that the "pen is mightier than the sword" and the weapons of the weak can overcome the mighty weapons oppressive when in the hands of the righteously motivated few. And that you had allies in your elders and in the trusted institutions that were set up to safeguard the truth and use it to empower the individuals who were under their charge. Our source of unbiased, uncontaminated truth that was our beacon to the North guiding us in the darkness to freedom and enlightenment. Faith is ignorance and faith is tested when you become informed and that is what makes you strong. All you have to do to make people weak and keep them weak is to let them have faith, let them be tested by becoming informed and let them even feel that they are becoming stronger but make sure the information they are tested with is tainted and poison. And to make sure they keep taking the weakening poison make it so that they give it to themselves. I ain't a saint. Never claimed to be. But I did believe in ideals and I believed in "Us". And I fought for "Us". I continue to wage war against "Them". Sacrificing wealth and fame for the sake of the state of mind of "Us". I started to realize in the course of my career that "Us vs. Them" is now "Us vs. Us". Our institutions of information are just interested in creating spin, feeding controversy and pumping out useless information in between vibrant ads for things we don't even need from companies without souls.

Why would you create a forum under the guise of "friendly competition" in which you pit individuals whom have at present or have had in the past friction in the real world in direct competition with each other in a virtual setting that you know will re-ignite feelings of ill will amongst the constituents of these people and quite possibly the individuals themselves???

This is insidious and reckless action. And I will not be apart of it.

So I humbly ask all of my fans and friends to boycott any voting and refrain from any participation whatsoever on my behalf in the Vibe Magazine and Vibe.com "Best Rapper Alive" Tournament.

The love and continued support of my musical career and my endeavors outside of music that you guys give are immensely satisfying accolades in themselves. The shine of any trophy on my mantel pales in comparison to the light that I see in the smiling faces of my fans...

Peace & Much Love To Ya!!!

Lupe...Z q

"a kung fu that is righteous will always prevail even in defeat."

Emperor Lu

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Goodness that's more than a question! That's an essay, or something! Wow!

I must admit that when I saw a headline about the best rapper alive thing I found it to be ridiculous, but I didn't think about it in the same light. I did think of all the BS that could come from it, IE how those who didn't get the title might be pissed off, how unnecessary drama might become of it, etc. So I don't know that I was 100% against it, but I didn't see a need for it either.

Interesting perspective. Thanks for posting it up!

Chi City Animated said...

You got it Lu...

Anonymous said...

breathe boy breathe!

Anonymous said...

damn I was gonna vote but I guess not. I was going to do Lu and Nas but regardless some b.s. lil bubble gum rapper is prob. gonna win.

Anonymous said...

whoa that kinda made my head hurt, but i gotcha Lu

Muah!!! said...

Vibe magazine sucks. I like XXL better. And does anybody read the Source anymore?

And I agree, how can you have a statistic-based contest to determine something based on theories anyway? Nobody can be crowned "The Best Rapper" unless everybody 100% agrees. And we're talking about music so that will never happen.

I wasn't gonna vote anyway, I had no idea the contest even existed, but I think I would vote for Soulja Boy. Just because he takes so much flack for being crunk. And I like crunk music. So there we go.

Anonymous said...

vote or die, lupe

K. Denise said...

I did think that was dumb to put him up against Tip...that was just low so I wasn't gonna vote anyway.

We all know who wins those bullshit ass things anyway.

Anonymous said...

no way im reading all that, can someone summarize for me?

Anonymous said...

This is why I love this guy!! This is why I am back in love with real hip hop!! When we are blessed with artists whom are not afarid to speak up about the bullshit in the music industry! I have ALWAYS felt this way about alot of hip hop, r&b, pop media outlets that make consumers "vote" for "whose the best in such and such" and never participated!! Especially after that whole Biggie & Tupac (East coast vs. West coast) shit!! The media outlets (especially hip hop) are still igniting fumes to start a war again and it's disgusting!!

Anonymous said...

I was unaware of the contest too. So out of ignorance I wasn't going to vote. But Lupe makes an excellent point. I hope his protest has a ripple effect on Hip Hop and Mass Media. Hopefully it will encourage fans to be more discerning about information received from all media, not just rap. Lupe's a very admirable man.

Anonymous said...

I was unaware of this contest so regardless I wouldn't of voted anyway lol. I totally get Lu cause it's the same ish I've been saying but he said it in his intelligent way.

The first section sums it up. He basically feels it's wrong to pit ppl against each other just for the sake of an uproar, or publicity. (which throughout history has gained big bucks for big shots)

This is what I think he's talking about. You should read it though, that middle section (about us v. they etc.) is mad on point. I totally agree with him.

People feed us these contests and we believe in them so that we don't stop to think about what we're really voting for. Honestly music is subjective (In Kanye words 'There's no fucking rules for this shit')
So how can it be a best if so many people listen to different types of hiphop and the best to the individual is totally different for someone else. Like Muah said if everyone doesn't agree then it's obviously not the best. Because it's subjective. We like what we like for many different reasons which makes it subjective.

Anonymous said...

Lu is so damned articulate.
I also was unaware as I don't read those lame ass hip-hop magazine...but wow.
People really need to hear this.

Thumper213 said...

your in my final four Lu!

Anonymous said...

(Applause).what gives vibe the authority to "crown the best rapper alive".Peoples concepts are different . I bet they'll pick some ole gay deep in the closet nigga.Like soulja boy.In my eyes Lu is the best raper lyrically