Lupe Fiasco: Words I Never Said - Ideological Criticism Analysis

1. Words I Never Said – Lupe Fiasco By: Matt Harder Available March 8, 2011

2. Who is Lupe Fiasco? 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.

3. Lupe's Biography 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.

4. Lupe's Biography Continued 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

5. The Song: Words I Never Said 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.

6. Research Questions: 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?

7. Critical Method: Ideological Criticism

8. Ideological Criticsm 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.

9. Goals of Ideological Criticism: To expose dominant, as well as suppressed, alternative, and less-powerful 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.

10. Procedure of Ideological Criticism Research Question Artifact Analyze Artifact Discuss functions served by the ideology

11. WORDS I NEVER SAID

12. LYRICS: 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 upIf 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 suchAnd that aint Jersey Shore, homiethats the newsAnd these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racistGaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shitThats why I aint vote for him, next one eitherAnd I believe in the people.Jihad is not a holy war, wheres that in the worship?Murdering is not Islam!And you are not observantAnd you are not a muslimIsrael don’t take my side cause look how far you’ve pushed them Walk with me into the ghetto, this where all the Kush wentComplain about the liquor store but what you drinking liquor for?.... Pills with million side effectsTake em when the pains feltWash them down with Diet soda!Killin off your brain cellsCrooked banks around the WorldWould gladly give a loan todaySo if you ever miss paymentThey can take your home away!A rebel in your thoughts, aintgon make it haltIf 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 youConsider this your bailing out, so take a breath, inhale a fewMy screams is finally getting free, my thoughts is finally yelling through

13. LYRICS: 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

14. Educational System “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…”

15. Media Criticism “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 suchAnd that aint Jersey Shore, homie that’s the newsAnd these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth…”

16. Political Criticism “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racistGaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shitThat’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one eitherAnd I believe in the people…”

17. Religious Criticism “Jihad is not a holy war, where’s that in the worship?Murdering is not Islam!And you are not observantAnd you are not a MuslimIsrael don’t take my side cause look how far you’ve pushed them…”

18. Socioeconomic Criticism “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 effectsTake em when the pains feltWash them down with Diet soda!Killin off your brain cellsCrooked banks around the WorldWould gladly give a loan todaySo if you ever miss paymentThey can take your home away!”

19. Anti-hegemony Criticism “A rebel in your thoughts, aint ‘gon make it haltIf 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 youConsider this your bailing out, so take a breath, inhale a fewMy screams is finally getting free, my thoughts is finally yelling through…”

20. Implications of Ideologies: 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.

21. In Conclusion!! 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.