Dear Lupe
From what you have shared with your fans and the world, it seems like you have a lot of your mind and that your heart is heavy so I will try to keep this concise and straight to the point.
I am a big fan of your music, your politics, and what you represent as a person. I love hip hop and I am working hard on organizing my life, career, and politics around the basic principles of love, peace, and happiness for everyone. It is not easy and a lot of times I feel disillusioned, confused, angry, sad, and inconsequential, primarily because of the world we have inherited and then because of our agency in perpetuating the ills of this world. From reading your tweets after the Chief Keef twitter feud, it sounds like you have felt or feel some inkling of those feelings that I listed. I am writing to tell you first, that a lot of people identify with your heartache and second, thank you for your music, essence, and for all that you have shared with the world.
The heartache:
When I saw the video of you crying on MTV RapFix about the violence and current state of affairs in Chicago, my heart broke in many pieces. My first introduction to the "war" and violence in Chicago was through the movie "The Interrupters". I thought a while about joining the organization Cease Fire after I watched the movie but then became scared that I did not have enough to offer to the situation. So I came home to get my head straight and re-inflame my heart. But while far from the scene, the violence which continues to plague Chicago is never far from my mind. I read about it constantly and growing up and living in the South Bronx, I have a little sense of what violence, insecurity, and guns can do to a person and a community. For the first time today, however, the violence in Chicago was mentioned in a discussion about the teacher strike on CNN, the first such attention I had seen on the national front. Perhaps this will be the start of a deep reflection and commitment by the nation to do what it takes to stop the homicides in Chicago. To say it simply, a lot of people feel you. We all ache.
Thank You:
I am not writing to tell you to stay in the rap game but just to say that you have given us so much already. As a few friends have reminded me, you said a few times before your tweet on the matter that you were making only a few albums in your rap career. I am sad that you may not release more albums but I must admit that I was late on the Lupe bandwagon so that maybe why. While I first heard of you through your verse on Touch the Sky, I was not a fan until a friend sent me Kick, Push II about a year or two after Food and Liquor was released. He said that your music encapsulated a lot of his struggles and thoughts. You would love him if you ever met him. But he is not the only one. I have many friends who have sent or shared your albums with me. One of my girlfriends in college often played Lasers in her car on our way to events. Depending on the song, we would silently reflect (Words I Never Said ), discuss (All Black Everything), or get hype (Show Goes On).
Personally, your music became deeply important to me my last semester in college. It was the most difficult semester in my college career because I could not stay mentally engaged and optimistic about much of anything. Your music saved my sanity and spirit. I listened to your discography through and through almost every day. At this time, I even wrote to a friend that you were my favorite rapper of all times :). I am known from being dramatic about matters of the heart but it is with great solemnity that I say again that you saved my life and that of many others. Do not take this lightly. Hip hop has saved many lives. I truly appreciate it.
So that is all. If you ever realize that you have more to give in the area of music, please give. We do not hold it against you for taking a break. I "checked out of life" for three months and I am back at it stronger and wiser today. Finally, I hope that I get to see you in concert soon. I saw you briefly at a concert at Tufts earlier this year and I was so hyped! I didn't feel really connected to you, however. Perhaps at your next show, there will be one of me in the crowd.
With great love and appreciation,
A fan.
So originally, I included the following in the letter:
Perhaps you could also tell your fellow Chi town native Kanye that I said that he does not care about Black people. He should remember what this alludes to. With his power and influence paralleling or even surpassing that of former President G.W. Bush, especially on the youth and on urban culture, he has not said much or anything at all about the violence in Chicago. The Kanye who introduced me (and many others of my generation) to a deep connection to rap through the emotion and conviction of struggle and faith in Through the Wire in 2002, and then through every subsequent album! The Kanye, the social/ cultural critic and intellectual! The Kanye whose artistic genius I cannot deny no matter how often I try to distance myself from some of his engagements as a fan! I know that Kanye did not grow up poor or in the hood so to speak and I will admit that I do not know what he has said or done privately but it is not beyond him to take a strong public stance against the violence in Chicago as he did against the government's negligence of New Orleans in 2005. So, Ye, from a die hard fan and a Black woman, you are acting like you do not care about Black people! Whatever you are doing, you can do more!
But a friend sent me the following after reading the post:
"It's a war going on outside we ain't safe from
I feel the pain in my city wherever I go
314 soldiers died in Iraq, 509 died in Chicago...
It's time for us to stop and redefine black power
41 souls murdered in fifty hours" - Kanye West, Murder to Excellence
So I guess that it is not beyond Kanye to say something meaningful about the violence in Chicago. And I guess that I could delete the part of the post about him but I would rather keep it in. After all, mistaken perspectives are a part of blogging and learning and allowing yourself to go back and make revisions as you see fit. I still believe that Kanye could actually powerfully influence the state of affairs in Chicago. It seems like his recent feature on Chief Keef's song "I don't like" undermines what should be a public rebuke of the culture that Chief Keef represents and that which his music promotes. If I was Kanye, I would see "I don't like" as a conflict of interest...but perhaps, he sees it as his bottom line and a business opportunity. Maybe Kanye does not not care about Black people. At times, I believe that he cares. I want to believe that he cares at all times. Perhaps with all his Power and influence, I just expect him to be able to (sometimes) stop Gold Digging in the interest of his people (Read my post Everybody Wants Heaven for more on this perspective).
I am a big fan of your music, your politics, and what you represent as a person. I love hip hop and I am working hard on organizing my life, career, and politics around the basic principles of love, peace, and happiness for everyone. It is not easy and a lot of times I feel disillusioned, confused, angry, sad, and inconsequential, primarily because of the world we have inherited and then because of our agency in perpetuating the ills of this world. From reading your tweets after the Chief Keef twitter feud, it sounds like you have felt or feel some inkling of those feelings that I listed. I am writing to tell you first, that a lot of people identify with your heartache and second, thank you for your music, essence, and for all that you have shared with the world.
The heartache:
When I saw the video of you crying on MTV RapFix about the violence and current state of affairs in Chicago, my heart broke in many pieces. My first introduction to the "war" and violence in Chicago was through the movie "The Interrupters". I thought a while about joining the organization Cease Fire after I watched the movie but then became scared that I did not have enough to offer to the situation. So I came home to get my head straight and re-inflame my heart. But while far from the scene, the violence which continues to plague Chicago is never far from my mind. I read about it constantly and growing up and living in the South Bronx, I have a little sense of what violence, insecurity, and guns can do to a person and a community. For the first time today, however, the violence in Chicago was mentioned in a discussion about the teacher strike on CNN, the first such attention I had seen on the national front. Perhaps this will be the start of a deep reflection and commitment by the nation to do what it takes to stop the homicides in Chicago. To say it simply, a lot of people feel you. We all ache.
Thank You:
I am not writing to tell you to stay in the rap game but just to say that you have given us so much already. As a few friends have reminded me, you said a few times before your tweet on the matter that you were making only a few albums in your rap career. I am sad that you may not release more albums but I must admit that I was late on the Lupe bandwagon so that maybe why. While I first heard of you through your verse on Touch the Sky, I was not a fan until a friend sent me Kick, Push II about a year or two after Food and Liquor was released. He said that your music encapsulated a lot of his struggles and thoughts. You would love him if you ever met him. But he is not the only one. I have many friends who have sent or shared your albums with me. One of my girlfriends in college often played Lasers in her car on our way to events. Depending on the song, we would silently reflect (Words I Never Said ), discuss (All Black Everything), or get hype (Show Goes On).
Personally, your music became deeply important to me my last semester in college. It was the most difficult semester in my college career because I could not stay mentally engaged and optimistic about much of anything. Your music saved my sanity and spirit. I listened to your discography through and through almost every day. At this time, I even wrote to a friend that you were my favorite rapper of all times :). I am known from being dramatic about matters of the heart but it is with great solemnity that I say again that you saved my life and that of many others. Do not take this lightly. Hip hop has saved many lives. I truly appreciate it.
So that is all. If you ever realize that you have more to give in the area of music, please give. We do not hold it against you for taking a break. I "checked out of life" for three months and I am back at it stronger and wiser today. Finally, I hope that I get to see you in concert soon. I saw you briefly at a concert at Tufts earlier this year and I was so hyped! I didn't feel really connected to you, however. Perhaps at your next show, there will be one of me in the crowd.
With great love and appreciation,
A fan.
So originally, I included the following in the letter:
Perhaps you could also tell your fellow Chi town native Kanye that I said that he does not care about Black people. He should remember what this alludes to. With his power and influence paralleling or even surpassing that of former President G.W. Bush, especially on the youth and on urban culture, he has not said much or anything at all about the violence in Chicago. The Kanye who introduced me (and many others of my generation) to a deep connection to rap through the emotion and conviction of struggle and faith in Through the Wire in 2002, and then through every subsequent album! The Kanye, the social/ cultural critic and intellectual! The Kanye whose artistic genius I cannot deny no matter how often I try to distance myself from some of his engagements as a fan! I know that Kanye did not grow up poor or in the hood so to speak and I will admit that I do not know what he has said or done privately but it is not beyond him to take a strong public stance against the violence in Chicago as he did against the government's negligence of New Orleans in 2005. So, Ye, from a die hard fan and a Black woman, you are acting like you do not care about Black people! Whatever you are doing, you can do more!
But a friend sent me the following after reading the post:
"It's a war going on outside we ain't safe from
I feel the pain in my city wherever I go
314 soldiers died in Iraq, 509 died in Chicago...
It's time for us to stop and redefine black power
41 souls murdered in fifty hours" - Kanye West, Murder to Excellence
So I guess that it is not beyond Kanye to say something meaningful about the violence in Chicago. And I guess that I could delete the part of the post about him but I would rather keep it in. After all, mistaken perspectives are a part of blogging and learning and allowing yourself to go back and make revisions as you see fit. I still believe that Kanye could actually powerfully influence the state of affairs in Chicago. It seems like his recent feature on Chief Keef's song "I don't like" undermines what should be a public rebuke of the culture that Chief Keef represents and that which his music promotes. If I was Kanye, I would see "I don't like" as a conflict of interest...but perhaps, he sees it as his bottom line and a business opportunity. Maybe Kanye does not not care about Black people. At times, I believe that he cares. I want to believe that he cares at all times. Perhaps with all his Power and influence, I just expect him to be able to (sometimes) stop Gold Digging in the interest of his people (Read my post Everybody Wants Heaven for more on this perspective).
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