Lupe Fiasco Comes to Assembly Hall
Lupe Fiasco—the name itself sounds a bit intimidating. And rightfully so; every hip-hop star should take this monstrously powerful artist seriously. Fiasco is not just a rapper—he uses his intellect to defy the norms of hip-hop by creating political songs that challenge his fans to not only enjoy his music, but to think about the message in each verse.
The Chicago-born star has become famous for teaching teenagers everywhere that profanity is not necessary to create a beautiful song. Rather, he focuses on rhyme scheme, current events, and his strong political views on poverty, warfare, and terrorism. His music has caused a lot of controversy in the rap world for branching out and addressing some serious issues, but he seems to be proud of what he stands for. Fiasco stated in an interview with news show host Stephen Colbert, “You should criticize power, even if you agree with it.”
But there certainly wasn’t anyone criticizing him at his concert at the Assembly Hall on Sunday, October 2. Fiasco’s opening act, The Cool Kids, performed for about two hours before his arrival, which created a very antsy crowd. When he finally did come out, he astonished his fans with a whirl of flips, fist bumps, and water guns aimed toward the floor. His backup consisted of three female singers (including Sarah Green, who sang the chorus in “Hip-Hop Saved My Life” from his album The Cool), a drummer, a keyboardist, two electric guitar players, and a violinist. The diverse array of musicians on stage created the perfect amount of accompaniment for his almighty presence.
Among many of his fans at the Assembly Hall was Liliana Yepez-Conners, a Junior at Urbana High School who was greatly affected by his show. Having never seen a concert before, she said, “I really had no idea what to expect out of my first concert, but I thought Lupe’s energy on stage was amazing. I respect that his lyrics are totally relatable, and about real world topics.”
Another UHS student to attend was John Seyler, a senior who was lucky enough to score floor tickets. Seyler said, “Being on the floor gave me the best raging, fist bumping experience I’ve ever had at a hip-hop concert. His new album is really great to dance to.”
There were also tons of college students at the show. Luke Bial, a UHS alum, went with some of his friends and had the time of his life. He said, “I feel like Lupe came out with a whole lot of energy, and that transferred to his crowd like science. It reminded me of back in the day when I used to spit rhymes in the UHS commons.”
In addition to high school and college students, Lupe Fiasco has something that many other rappers don’t have—appeal to an older audience. The reason Fiasco’s music makes its way to the iPods of adults is that many of them feel that his lyrics are emotional, riveting, honest, and inspirational. Torance Douse, a choir teacher at UHS and the director of Vocal Cords Required, the high school’s a cappella group, confirms this by saying, “I’m a fan of Lupe because he is very versatile as a rapper. He talks about issues that the Black culture faces, which most other rappers are afraid to touch on. The thing that makes him stand out is that he doesn’t rely on pop culture. He’s an intellectual rapper—not a catchy rapper—and he shares a message in every single one of his songs.”
Douse is right—Fiasco does tell a message in each song. But how effective is this message on a stage? Something that really makes or breaks an artist is whether or not he or she can deliver the same energy and sound quality live. And it seems that Lupe Fiasco is not only able to create raw songs that strike people on a recorded track, but right up front at his concerts, too. His majestic demeanor, brilliant word play, hyperactive energy, and compelling voice all factored into an incredible performance on Sunday, Oct 2 at the Assembly Hall.
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Great article, Hannah!
Eeeeee! I remember my first concert. It was soooooo exciting. I didn’t know what to expect though, so I was a bit nervous, like Liliana.