Lupe Fiasco
24 quotes
Biography
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is an American rapper, singer, record producer and music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his guest appearance on Kanye West's 2006 single "Touch the Sky," which peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100.
"That should be the measure of success for everyone. It's not money, it's not fame, it's not celebrity; my index of success is happiness."
"Didn't have a clue that the rapper was helping the rapers, raiders of the villages, the pillagers of the school....shooters of the innocents, tortures of the witnesses, burners of the businesses..and my bracelet was the fuel."
"Heavy problems genocide desensitized environments Sometimes make it hard to sympathize, pardon"
"I used to hate hip-hop, because the women degraded. But Too Short made me laugh, like a hypocrite I played it; a hypocrite I stated, though I only recited half omitting the word b*tch, cursing I wouldn't say it. Me and dog couldn't relate, until a b*tch I dated."
"Gangsta rap-based filmings became the buildin blocks For children with leakin ceilings catchin drippins with pots Coupled with compositions from Pac, Nas's "It Was Written" In the mix with my realities and feelings Living conditions, religion, ignorant wisdom and artistic vision I began to jot, tap the world and listen,"
"Hennessy and Hypnotic swallowin, hydroponic coughin and All the world's ills, sittin' on chrome 24-inch wheels"
"Life ain't meant to come around twice, that's why I gotta get it right. They said I gotta get it honest, now I gotta give them light, but sleep on it, that's why God gave you night"
"I only fear God, know the weapons of the weak, the weakness of the heart, and never fall asleep..."
"Made me a ripper, deliver like a river, content a little more thicker, slicker...and they said oil and water don't mix, now they all down at the beach washing off the fish."
"A match made in Heaven, set the fires in Hell"
"Rap records pressured to laugh, at a life not fast."
"My most coveted thing is a high self-esteem, and a low tolerance for them telling me how to lean, see the most important parts are the ones that are unseen, cause the wings don't make you fly and the crown don't make you king"
"So tell my enemies that they can’t injure me, I know that irritates, you have my sympathies."
"And baby girl what does it matter where your purse from. Your hair done, your nails did, your ass fat...but you're dumb."
"Your child's future was the first to go with budget cuts, if you think that hurts then wait here comes the upper-cut, the school was garbage in the first place that's on the up and up."
"I think that all the silence is worse than all the violence,Fear is such a weak emotion that's why I despise it."
"I think it is important that you have people from all different vanguards, from all different walks of society and different viewpoints to be focused on the struggle for equality and democracy. We need as many champions for the cause and as many events as possible to help keep this in focus."
"It definitely wasn't like, 'Hey, I'm going to steal that, and nobody's going to know.' The original 'T.R.O.Y.' came out in 1992, and it was like a 20th anniversary kind of thing. All of those intentions were there for it to be resurrecting a classic for a new generation. I tried to honor it."
"People don't understand that where I come from, everyone is either a convict, been in jail, been in a gang, is a hooligan of some sorts, but those are my brothers, my family and the people that I travel with. Those are the people that I roll with."
"All the big revolutions, whether it's the Industrial Revolution, the Arab Spring, those changes happened by economic and social shifts brought about by the people's voices, and those things weren't voted for. Most of our changes today are brought about through technology, not by voting."
"In Chicago, you have an absence of strong family units, and that absence gets filled by gangs. You have a failure in the school system, after-school programs and other social programs to help keep kids off the streets. Amnesty International speaks to that in some way, by keeping these issues in the forefront."
"Reggae, oh man. It's the ultimate music. The positivity. The musicality. The whole cultural expressionism of it. The danceability. Just the cool factor. The melody factor. Some of it comes from a religious place. If there were a competition of who makes the best religious music, it would definitely be the Rastafarian reggae."
"This game wears on you. It tears you down. It's perpetual motion for some people who've achieved a level of independence, like Madonna and Jay-Z - they don't need to do music anymore. But there's people who need it. And in that need, that's when it's tough and it tears you to pieces."
"I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's actually causing the other forms of terrorism. You know, the root cause of terrorism is the stuff that the U.S. government allows to happen, and the foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists. And it's easy for us because it's just some oil."