Lupe Fiasco

Kendrick Lamar turned heads in the hip-hop world this week following the premiere of a new track by Big Sean - Control - featuring the Compton rapper.

It was the instant classic verse from Lamar that caused the stir, with the 26-year-old dubbing himself the "King of New York" and putting himself in the company of some of the game's very best.

"I heard the barbershops spittin' great debates all the time, Bout who's the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga and Nas," he spits.

Continue reading: Hip-Hop's Sleeping Giant Awoken By Kendrick Lamar. What Took You So Long?

Whilst it was all smiles at the White House of the Barack Obama inauguration, not everyone in Washington was sharing in the delight of the President being re-elected for a second term. Rapper Lupe Fiasco was performing just one block away from the Presidential digs in The Hamilton and performed a 30 minute track in his set that focused around a fearsome tirade on Obama.

The Guardian reports that Fiasco performed the song, which contains lyrics like "I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit, just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets" as well as "Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say shit”, before his mic was cut. Eventually the rapper was pulled from the stage by security. The organizers of the event, Hypervocal, moved quickly to explain that the decision to remove Fiasco from the stage wasn’t a case of stopping free speech. “We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act” they said in a statement.

Elsewhere Katy Perry, Usher and the cast of Glee performed at the Kid Inaugural Ball on the Friday night (January 18, 2013) whilst Beyonce, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson performed at the Inauguration itself, before Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and Alisha Keys helped see out the evening at the Inaugural Ball.

Continue reading: Lupe Fiasco Obama Rant Sees Rapper Dragged From Stage

The Lupe Fiasco inauguration performance went out with a bang when he was removed from the stage having criticized President Obama.

The headline performer at the pre-inauguration StartUp RockOn concert in Washingtop, Lupe Fiasco used the opportunity for quite the opposite effect of what the whole night was supposed to be for. Instead of using his performance time to celebrate the second of Obama's terms, he instead rapped about his disaffection and disillusionment with the current US government and Obama's foreign policies. 

"Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say Sh*t. That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either," he said. He performed one song for 30 minutes, reports say that he had been asked to change the track, but he refused. It's nothing new for Fiasco, back in 2011 he referred to Obama as a terrorist. 

Continue reading: Rapper Removed From Stage After Lupe Fiasco Inauguration Rant

President Obama's inauguration is the official stepping stone for his continued term. For those who voted for him and believe in his policies it's an important day, for Lupe Fiasco, whose political views don't run in tandem with almost any American policies, the StarUp RockOn concert, in celebration of Obama's inauguration, was a chance for him to air his criticisms on a vastly public scale.

Despite being the headlining act for the concert, Fiasco spent 30 minutes on just one anti-war track in which he criticized Obama for his war policies as well as telling the crowd that he didn't vote for him, the Huffington Post reports. All of this lead to him being removed from the stage by security. 

The very long track included the lyrics: "And these the same people supposedly telling us the truth/ Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn beck is a racist, Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say sh*t/ That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either/ I'm part of the problem, my problem is I'm peaceful." 

Continue reading: Lupe Fiasco Incident: Fiasco As Lupe Kicked Off Stage During Inauguration Performance

It looks as though playing the bad boy rapper has finally backfired on Chief Keef, who pleaded with a judge to go easy on him on Thursday last week (January 17, 2013), the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The 17 year old was apparently tearful as he was sentenced to 60 days in a juvenile detention center, for violating his probation, on a gun conviction.

Keef made the slip-up when he conducted an interview with the Pitchfork music site at a gun range. Probably not the smartest thing he’s ever done. He also tried to convince the court that he’s really not as violent and murderous as he makes out in his lyrics and pleaded with the judge “I am a very good-hearted person… I am sorry for anything that I have done wrong. ... Give me a chance.” Judge Carl Anthony Walker was not impressed by the Chicago rapper’s pleas, however, and sentenced him to 60 days on the inside. In addition to revoking the probation for Chief Keef (real name Keth Cozart), which he received for pointing a gun at Chicago police officers, Walker also made him a ward of the state. This means that he was removed from the custody of an uncle and grandmother. This was deemed necessary in order to protect the public and because of his blatant disregard for the court orders.

On Twitter, many users of the social media site have been responding to the news with mirth, with one user, @Nigel_D commenting “I’m booking Chief Keef for an anti-gun rally” and another, more seriously, “To all you kids that look up to Chief Keef, there's someone by the name of Lupe that actually stands for something, search him up” (@AimanofArabia). 

Continue reading: Twitter Responds With Mirth As Tearful Chief Keef Sentenced To 60 Days

The new Skylar Grey video of ‘C’mon Let Me Ride’ featuring Eminem is a crash course in a total lack of subtlety. “If you got a sweet tooth/ you can taste my watermelon,” she sings in the opening line… whilst cupping her breast, just in case you didn’t get the joke. Luckily, Skylar’s tongue is well and truly situated in her cheek. Which is pretty much what you’d expect for a song featuring an auto-tuned Eminem singing Queen’s ‘I Like To Ride My Bicycle.’

In fact, if this video was not intended to be comical, we’d all be in trouble: featuring bikini clad girls with three breasts and over-inflated collagen lips, a ridiculously daft but catchy chorus, and footage of Skylar cycling around in a pair of denim cut-offs, on a bicycle adorned with antlers. It's entertainment in its gaudiest, most glorious form.

If you’re wondering who Skylar Grey is, she’s the 26 year-old artist who co-wrote three different versions of ‘Love The Way You Lie,’ made famous by Rihanna and Eminem. She’s also got previous form as a vocalist for Dr Dre, Lupe Fiasco and Fort Minor. She released her debut solo album Like Blood Like Honey back in 2006 and her second Don’t Look Down, is scheduled for a 2013 release. If this latest video’s anything to go by, we reckon Skylar’s going to be one to watch. She certainly seems to have bundles of humour and personality, not to mention talent. Oh and she’s clearly good mates with Eminem. What’s not to like!? 

Continue reading: New Skylar Grey Video ‘C’mon Let Me Ride’ Stars Eminem Doing Auto-Tuned Queen Chorus

These are the questions we were asking as soon as we found out the news- who on earth is Skylar Grey? And What does she do? Is she a female rapper? Is she the newest, hottest urban artist to hit the world? No. No she's not. But, she does have a really nice voice, which is definitely a good start for a singer.

It's odd that no one knows who she is, because she's done collaborations with Dr Dre, Fort Minor and Lupe Fiasco. She also was part of the writing team for Rihanna and Eminem's 'Love the Way You Lie'. Part of the reason Skylar Grey is so illusive is that for many years she was going under the name 'Holly Brook'- a distinctly more 'grey' name than her Grey name. She will be released a single called 'C'mon Let Me Ride' from her forthcoming album 'Don't Look Down', that was originally going to be called 'Invincible'.

Eminem will be producing 'Don't Look Down' which is set to be released early next year. Grey has become Slim Shady's shadow lately, with multiple collaborations as well as appearing on two tracks from  Slaughterhouse's 'Welcome to: OUR HOUSE', with which Eminem was also heavily involved. MTV quotes her saying: "Eminem's increased involvement has been such a blessing; I'm getting guidance from an artist I really admire and trust," Grey said. "Having written many new songs, the album has become a completely different animal, hence the title change. This new single with Em, in particular, is very exciting. We have worked on so many serious songs together - it's a nice change of pace to do something fun and sarcastic." Well, whoever Skylar Grey is, if Eminem likes her then so do we.