In light of the horrific tragedy that happened in Charleston last week, hoards of celebrities and artists have weighed in on the matter. Whether it was a simple tweet to let fans know they too are grieving, or more frustrated and angry tweets about the state of race relations and ongoing tensions.

Lupe Fiasco is the latest artist to weigh in on the issue, and has perhaps delivered the most poignant and in depth response yet. Spanning three Instagram posts, he wrote an open letter to White Supremacy. The Kick Push rapper delivered a thoughtful and considered argument, highlighting how he does not believe one race is superior to another, knocking the notion completely off it’s pedestal and referring to it as White Regularity. The rapper wrote “There is nothing about you biologically or physically that denotes an innate mode of supremacy. For that matter there is also nothing about you psychologically, philosophically, cognitively, academically, socially, architecturally, culturally or even financially that signifies a high position above another other group”. 

Receiving countless likes and comments agreeing with his bold but necessary statements, Lupe Fiasco has shone a whole new light on an increasingly difficult and dismal situation. Now, more than ever, is it necessary for those in influential positions to weigh in on these issues and do right by their fans. What are they there for if not to inspire and motivate those that look up to them so much?

A letter. Part 1 Of 3 Dear White Supremacy, First of all you are not really that supreme. While throughout history White Supremacy it must be admitted you have achieved some very dominant positions. These positions have been gained mostly through force or some biological agent such as disease that did a lot of the dirty work for you in advance. I mean anybody can use force on an unarmed populous and anybody can have smallpox. Not judging, just wanted to point out that having a disease that native folks aren’t immune to because they’ve never seen it doesn’t make you strategically smart or tactically superior, just kind of sick. And these dominant positions don’t really stand up to the test of time that long either. There is nothing about you biologically or physically that denotes an innate mode of supremacy. For that matter there is also nothing about you psychologically, philosophically, cognitively, academically, socially, architecturally, culturally or even financially that signifies a higher position above any other group. And to be diplomatic there is nothing about you that denotes innate inferiority as well. So what you really are is something in the middle. You are regular. White Regularity is congruent to all other forms of regularity i.e. Black, Brown, Etc etc. But in regularity there is room for differences and this is where White Regularity shines! Each group gets the same essential universals. Dance, food, music, etc. and it must be admitted that the White Regularity take on these universal institutions has been unbelievably impressive and a great addition to the total world culture. I mean spaghetti and meatballs, Romeo & Juliet, Coldplay, The Tuxedo, lighter that air travel are all world class additions to the collective bucket but they are no less or more impressive than every other regular groups take on the universals either. And if we really wanted to get analytical every invention is built on inspiration from a previously existing invention so the claim of “The Supreme 1st” to do something is highly debatable and except for a few exceptions, impossible! All things human aren’t born from a supreme overlord solely working in isolation.

A photo posted by Lupe Fiasco (@lupefiasco) on

Part 2 of 3 Things are created in collaboration and in tandem with other cultures, knowledge structures and movements and more important, People. I mean if those Muslims didn’t catalog all that Greek philosophy for research we might not even know who Plato was. Now whether this collaboration is forced, which is seen so much but not exclusively throughout human history, does not take away the fact that it is done with the help of somebody else. We are supreme as a spectrum of colors in collaboration. One color does not dominate the other nor can it. Sure Steve Jobs was white. But the guy who built the computer was probably Chinese. And the girl who wrote the programs for the computer is probably from Mumbai. And the raw materials that were used to make it where probably first pulled out of the ground by somebody in South Africa. And if you take this highly collaborated upon piece of high technology to an indigenous tribe in the jungles of Brazil they’d probably use it as a boat paddle. And we can go on and on down or up the rabbit hole all day long and you’ll always find a regular somebody relying on the abilities of a just as regular somebody else that another regular somebody doesn’t even care about. White Supremacy is a lie white regularists tell to themselves in hopes that they can get a one way ticket to the top and hope we other colors overhear it. Here’s the bad news, ain’t no top. Here’s the good news though, ain’t no bottom neither! It’s just the regular ole middle where nobody is safe from being influenced by somebody else’s extreme regularness. Is your swastika flag printed in Mexico? Did you know the swastika is originally from Asia and the subcontinent? Did you know black people had slaves in Africa too? Did you know in the world your considered a minority too? I mean you call us niggers and beaners but you gotta ship all your formerly Native American land, backwood sourced ginseng to China to get money to support your meth habit. Meth that’s made with chemicals produced in India. I mean Hitler hated everything about the Jews expect every possession they had. It’s funny how the things you hate so much you have to rely on the most for your survival. A photo posted by Lupe Fiasco (@lupefiasco) on

Part 3 of 3 And if you wanted to get really ironic and meta about it, White Supremacy has to validate it’s own identity based solely on its relationship to other races! I mean now that’s what I would call joined at the hip. Without us there is no white supremacy because there would be nothing to be supreme over! That sounds so stupid but sometimes the truth is stupid. Stupid like a fox. And no not stupid like a Fox News I mean the real fox. The animal. In closing white regularity (the race formerly know as white supremacy) I myself on behalf of my own black regularity salute you. Good luck with the northwest front I hear it’s beautiful in the spring and probably a strategic death trap if and when Yellowstone finally decides to blow up! Yours Truly Wasalu “Lupe” Jaco

A photo posted by Lupe Fiasco (@lupefiasco) on

Lupe Fiasco and Consequence have finally put out their debut collaboration, Countdown. The release follows the trailer that the pair had teased earlier this year.

In an interview with BET, Consequence spoke about how the track came together. He says he contacted Lupe about working together immediately after heading to LA. He added, “When you hear Consequence and Lupe Fiasco, automatically you think lyrics: It’s going to be a lyric bonanza. But for a record of that nature to make sense, it’s gotta have a dope chorus, otherwise it could turn into a freestyle.” And dope chorus it does have, courtesy of Chris Turner‘s smooth vocals.

The pair have nearly three decades of musical experience behind them, so it’s pretty special to hear this kind of work coming out in a supposedly non-lyrical hip-hip world. Lupe Fiasco has made something of a musical comeback in recent years, coming full circle with his dazzling album Tetsuo & Youth. Potent and challenging, it marks a new chapter in his musicianship and career, surprising many with the depth and detail found in its phrases.

Listen to the track below:

Lupe Fiasco has always been the darling of music critics and the hip-hop intelligentsia. He’s militant in his opposition to pop rappers and loses no sleep over his inability to “compete with Wiz Khalifa for the attention of a 12 year old.” But Lupe still has real radio teeth. A fact known to Lupe’s label of the last 10 years, who have constantly put pressure on the artist to dumb down to get radio play. Many thought it strange when Lupe released a ‘sequel’ to his classic Food and Liquor. Only Atlantic Records could have forced an artist with such integrity to fall for such a money-grubbing hip-hop cliché. Lupe spoke openly on Sway about the direction Atlantic wanted to take Testuo and Youth. It wanted singles with features from household names like Ed Sheeran and Ty Dolla. “Soft ass records” says Lupe. Lupe was soon embroiled in another dispute with Atlantic who threatened to cancel the album. It wasn’t until the hacker group Anonymous  (the archetypal Lupe fan) threatened the label that an official release date was secured. Needless to say none of the original singles were included on Testuo and Youth.

Tetsuo and Youth is the fifth studio album from Lupe Fiasco, and marks the end of his unhappy marriage with Atlantic Records. The album is folksy, clunky and gargantuan (with the cool running time of 80 minutes.) In true Lupe brilliance, he uses the homonym of “sine” and “sign” to warn against giving your life away to record labels… and creating too many parabolas over a straight x-axis…  But Lupe doesn’t waste 80 minutes burning down bridges. Instead he crafts his magnum opus, filled with the incredible imagery and dazzling wordplay that we’ve come to expect from this rap titan.

Separated by the device of four musical interludes representing the seasons, Testuo and Youth is hard to sonically pigeonhole. The first half is lush and idyllic; it tries to evoke the prairie or the music of an ancient peasantry. There’s banjos and hillbilly violin, as well as big orchestral movements. Sacred Geometry sounds like a piece from the courts of feudal China. The second half of the album is very different. It’s grungy, minimal, southern, sparse and even dull. It’s got a mild interest in electric guitar and rock music. The production whilst interesting, is a weakness. One that’s probably dogged Lupe for his whole career. Nonetheless, it’s not a distraction from the centrepiece: imagery and wordplay.

“I prefer my pictures in word form” says Lupe on Mural. Lupe has a keen interest in painting, and the relationship between words and images. He created the cover art himself, and the scenes he conjures on Tetsuo and Youth are some of the most vivid of his career. Adoration of the Magi contains one of the most interesting images in hip-hop; using the frame of the adoration of the magi to explore the music world’s fixation with babies. “Why you ready to die, you just a baby?” Lupe asks, referencing the afro-toting baby featured on the Biggie debut, Ready to Die. “Quit chasing money, never mind, you just a baby” says Lupe, referencing the iconic cover art for Nirvana’s Nevermind. In each of these allusions, he warns against ‘growing up too fast,’ a reflection on young African-Americans becoming hardened gangsters so young, which is of course the visual message behind the tattooed and crying baby featured on Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III (also referenced.) In Deliver Lupe uses the image of a pizza man who refuses to make deliveries to dangerous Chicago neighbourhoods. There’s definitely some humour in this picture, particularly lines that refer to the comical pizza franchises themselves. But that humour is black, because it explores the very real, and very frightening state of Chicago ghettos.

Lupe is distinguished as a rapper for his lyricism. He’s always been a craftsman, and as far as technical skill is concerned, Tetsuo and Youth is probably his best venture. It’s only through detailed study that you can fully appreciate the complexity of his lines. Even on a fifth or sixth listen you’ll still stumble across a clever homonym, some fine assonance or an obscure historical reference that you didn’t see before. Lupe shows off his wicked intellect with a mythological reference on Body of Work. “Oedipus wrecks, motherfucker this better than sex / material potion the love of my martyr / currency soaked in the blood of my father.” This line is my personal standout; it works on about five levels and could be picked apart for days. On Prisoner, Lupe tells us that love involves looking over various errors. Hate, on the other hand, involves habitually accelerating terror, everywhere. It’s only when this line is written out that you can see the acronym for L.O.V.E and H.A.T.E. Lupe takes the very letter components of the word to elaborate its meaning. Sometimes it seems that he has to help out fans, explaining the full depth of his lines – he revealed on Twitter that “pizza man” was also a homonym for “peace of man.” The full line then reads, “peace of man don’t come here no more, deliver(ance).”Again, the line is doubly potent with a reference to religion. This is a twist that not even a rapgenius could figure out.

Just as Atlantic feared, Tetsuo and Youth is not an easy listen. When I have the CD in my car, I can only really cycle between about four songs that have a bigger beat and a fun hook. The rest of the album is much more subdued and introspective – not music to be playing loud with the windows down on the open road. That’s not to deny the albums genius. It grows on you with every listen. It’s abundantly clear that Lupe has constructed something really impressive. Like many great works of art, it may only be properly appreciated in years to come.

7.5/10