By: Matt Harder
Available March 8, 2011
 He
is an American rapper, artist,
producer and CEO of 1st and 15th
Entertainment. His real name, Wasalu
Muhammad Jaco (born February 16,
1982), is better known by his stage name
Lupe Fiasco.
 He rose to fame in 2006 following the
success of his critically acclaimed debut
album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor.
 Raised
in Chicago, Fiasco developed an
interest in hip-hop after initially disliking
the genre for its use of vulgarity.
 He adopted the name Lupe Fiasco and
began recording songs in his father's
basement, and joined a group called Da
Pak.
 The group disbanded shortly after its
inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper Jay-Z
who helped him sign a record deal with
Atlantic Records.
 In
2006, Fiasco released his debut album
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor on the label,
to commercial and critical acclaim.
 He then released his second album, Lupe
Fiasco's The Cool, in December 2007. The
single "Superstar" became a hit, peaking
at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100
 Lupe
Fiasco’s 2011 single entitled “Words
I Never Said,” features independent artist
Skylar Grey, and was produced by Alex
Da Kid.
 The track will appear on Lupe’s
upcoming album, “Lasers,” scheduled for
release on March 8th.
 The song is known for Lupe Fiasco’s use
of opinionated and critical language.
 Is
Lupe Fiasco’s song “Words I Never
Said,” an attempt to take music beyond a
form of entertainment, and actively use
music as a platform for political and
socioeconomic criticism?
 Does Lupe Fiasco’s personal ideology
suppress the hegemonic, or dominant
ideologies of the general public?
Ideological Criticism
 Ideology-
can be communicated through
various artifacts, and relate to values,
beliefs, and perspectives of a culture.
 Hegemony- the dominant ideology,
adopted by the people who are
presumably symbolically coerced into
adopting such views by way of control
from higher entities and groups with
power.
 To
expose dominant, as well as
suppressed, alternative, and lesspowerful ideologies within an artifact.
 To demonstrate communication’s role in
maintaining and establishing hegemony,
and in suppressing less-powerful groups.
 To expose new perspectives and
rhetorical strategies used to support or
suppress ideologies.
 Research
Question
 Artifact
 Analyze
Artifact
 Discuss functions served by the ideology
Your child’s future was the first to go with
budget cuts
The school was garbage in the first place,
that’s on the up and up
If you turn on TV all you see’s a bunch of “what
the f-cks”
Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such
and such
And that aint Jersey Shore, homie thats the
news
And these the same people that supposed to
be telling us the truth
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t
say shit
Thats why I aint vote for him, next one either
And I believe in the people.
Jihad is not a holy war, wheres that in the
worship?
Murdering is not Islam!
And you are not observant
And you are not a muslim
Israel don’t take my side cause look how far
you’ve pushed them
Walk with me into the ghetto, this where all the
Kush went
Complain about the liquor store but what you
drinking liquor for?....
Pills with million side effects
Take em when the pains felt
Wash them down with Diet soda!
Killin off your brain cells
Crooked banks around the World
Would gladly give a loan today
So if you ever miss payment
They can take your home away!
A rebel in your thoughts, aint gon make it halt
If you don’t become an actor you’ll never be a
factor…..
I think that all the silence is worse than all
the violence…
We scared of almost everything, afraid to even tell
the truth….I’m locked inside a cell in me, I know
that there’s a jail in you
Consider this your bailing out, so take a breath,
inhale a few
My screams is finally getting free, my thoughts is
finally yelling through


The different ideological categories that are represented in
Lupe Fiasco’s lyrics have been organized
They have been arranged and analyzed by the types of
criticisms and implications of Lupe Fiasco’s use of symbols
and metaphors:
-Educational Systems
-Media
-Politics (National and Foreign)
-Religious
-Socioeconomic
-Anti-hegemony
“Your child’s future was the first to go with budget cuts
The school was garbage in the first place, that’s on the up
and up…”

“If you turn on TV all you see’s a bunch of “what the
f-cks”
Dude is dating so and so, blabbering ‘bout such and
such
And that aint Jersey Shore, homie that’s the news
And these the same people that supposed to be telling
us the truth…”

“Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
That’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either
And I believe in the people…”

“Jihad is not a holy war, where’s that in the worship?
Murdering is not Islam!
And you are not observant
And you are not a Muslim
Israel don’t take my side cause look how far you’ve
pushed them…”
“Walk with me into the ghetto, this where all the Kush
went Complain about the liquor store but what you
drinking liquor for?....
Pills with million side effects
Take em when the pains felt
Wash them down with Diet soda!
Killin off your brain cells
Crooked banks around the World
Would gladly give a loan today
So if you ever miss payment
They can take your home away!”
“A rebel in your thoughts, aint ‘gon make it halt
If you don’t become an actor you’ll never be a factor…..
I think that all the silence is worse than all the violence…
We scared of almost everything, afraid to even tell the truth….I’m
locked inside a cell in me, I know that there’s a jail in you
Consider this your bailing out, so take a breath, inhale a few
My screams is finally getting free, my thoughts is finally yelling
through…”
 Lupe
Fiasco constructs an ideology that
directly contradicts and suppresses the
hegemonic ideologies adopted by the
general public.
 Wants people to be more aware of the
fallacies and shortcomings of entities
such as media/news, political figures,
and socioeconomic standings.
 Lupe
Fiasco has taken music outside the
realm of entertainment, and used it as a
means of conveying critical, combative
commentary on the previously
mentioned subject matter.
 Directly contradicts the views/ideals of
the general public in an attempt to
change the way people think and act.