By Eli Schultz
Edited by Kali Robinson
August 20th, 2015
Racism, immigration, rape, child soldiers, and the military industrial complex: all topics Lupe Fiasco weaves into complex metaphors and channels through multiple characters in his 2007 album The Cool. Lupe’s magnum opus enjoyed notable success upon release, garnering generally positive reviews. Three years later, Kanye West released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to much greater critical acclaim. It earned an elusive 10/10 rating from Pitchfork, while The Cool received only an 8.1. While Lupe tells stories in the third-person, Kanye’s career album was unabashedly self-centered and introspective.
Why would critics and rap fans prefer a chart-topping sixty-eight minutes of auto-tuned braggadocio to Lupe’s sociopolitically charged triple and quadruple-entendres?
Get Inspired with Kendrick Lamar
Written by Kali Robinson
Kendrick Lamar has recently partnered with Reebok to produce this powerful video of Kendrick and the youth of Compton, LA. The video captures Kendrick in his element, rapping the word of his hometown. Kendrick inspires his youth audience with a voice that is revolutionary, familiar to a black experience, and very loving all at once. He spits bars in the video like:
"That boy remind me of a young Martin Luther the way he picks up troopers and rounds up shooters like Malcolm X did"
After seeing the video, I was struck with the desire to look deeper into what Kendrick was about in his music, and decided to write this piece.
Kendrick Lamar has recently partnered with Reebok to produce this powerful video of Kendrick and the youth of Compton, LA. The video captures Kendrick in his element, rapping the word of his hometown. Kendrick inspires his youth audience with a voice that is revolutionary, familiar to a black experience, and very loving all at once. He spits bars in the video like:
"That boy remind me of a young Martin Luther the way he picks up troopers and rounds up shooters like Malcolm X did"
After seeing the video, I was struck with the desire to look deeper into what Kendrick was about in his music, and decided to write this piece.
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