Stogey pretty much nailed it, I'm going to ellaborate.
The following is going to be pretty long, but if you read it, you will understand what Lupe is talking about and understand how fucked up our country has become. Take 5 mins off facebook and read this.
This song is about our own country (America) and how fucking corrupt everyone in power has become, and how people have become blind as sheep led by the media. What Lupe is talking about is real as ever.
In America over the past few decades, big business in nearly every industry (Pharmaceuticals, Mass media, Oil, etc) has become so highly consolidated that there is no competition, creating virtually a monopoly. I'll use mass media as an example to try and make it more clear:
All major major mass media (TV, radio, newspapers, publishing companies, etc) companies are now owned by 6 large corporations.
(Check: freepress.net/ownership/chart/main)
When all our media sources are owned by so few people, they have the power to control and dictate what information we receive. Effectively they have the ability to control what we think about, and what we view as the truth. Some major news networks will try to 'spin' certain stories to give you a false idea of what really happened. (Just look at fox news)
When there is a monopoly in any industry, it is dangerous and allows for a minority power to control all aspects of the industry and even control prices to what they please. But a monopoly in mass media is dangerous. It harms the democratic process of our country. Think about it, the news media is where we get all our information from. Since so few corporations dictate the information flow, Media Hegemony can come into play, as well as the cultivation theory, which both represent ideas of maintaining the status quo in our society, and the idea that the ruling classe's ideas become accepted as the 'norm' in everyday society. With this monopolization of media, news quality has also gone down, hence the jersey shore reference in Lupe's lyrics. Who the hell cares if so and so broke up? Why do we need to know about that? Because they want to make money! They want you to go see that movie that that so-and-so celebrity was just in. The news is becoming more of entertainment than news.
The monopolization of companies is going on in every industry. These giant corporations only care about taking your money. Look at the recording industry and radio as another example. The same corporations that own major radio networks across the country also own major record labels. What do you think they play on their radio stations? Mainly the stuff their company owns. Why do you think shit artists like soulja boy and justin bieber get airplay? Because the record companies play them over and over and over again until they get stuck in your heads! These artists aren't musically talented. They are literally made up by executives who make sure they will appeal to the widest audience as possible. They are even told what to write and sing about. (Just listen to the song State Run Radio)
Just research this album and you'll find that Lupe wasn't happy with it because Atlantic records forced him to do the song the show goes on and limited the content of what could be on his album!
Our federal government is also becoming more corrupt every year. It is a fact that the politician who has the most money for their political campaign will win (majority of the time) With this fact, and given that corporations are the biggest political donors to political campaigns you can easily see how whoever a corporation wants in to win, will win. And it's also important to note that thanks to a recent supreme court ruling, corporations can donate unlimited sums of money - thus making me and you, the average american not very important to whoever is running for president. Don't forget the corporate lobbyist, who everyday are in front of congress lobbying and convincing congress to pass favorable laws in corporations. The corporation don't care who wins the election (dem or republican) just as long as they continue to get their way in political policy. $ is their primary tool.
Do you see the theme here? The big business only care about your money, not you at all. They don't care if their products fucks you up. Hence the lines:
"Pills with million side effects, Take em when the pains felt
Wash them down with Diet soda killin off your brain cells"
And don't even get me started on the crooked banks and the FED.Did you know the FED is a private institution? I thought we lived in a democracy? Watch this video if you're curious about the FED: youtu.be/tp3HEBNvZjk
Another main point Lupe tries to illustrate is that we are all lied to on a daily basis and exploited for monetary gain.
For example: the line where he mentions word trade center 7;
Word trade center 7 housed all sorts of legal documents and at the time the documents containing the evidence of the famous ENRON scandal. Somehow WTC 7 collapsed, even though numerous scientist have said that a fire in the smaller WTC 7 could not have been hot enough to melt steel. (see: sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/03/05/the-mysterious-collapse-of-wtc-7/)
And then lupe mentions the war. Have any of you asked yourself why we're at war? We were all lied to and scared (by use of the media) into believing that Iraq has WMD's and ties with Al-quaeda; The government and CIA fabricated reports and straight lied to us to go to war. Why did we go to war? For money! Think of all the corporations who make profit off of the weapons manufacturing, vehicles, clothing, food, etc. Dick cheney had well known ties with Haliburton. Interesting..
(see: businesspundit.com/the-25-most-vicious-iraq-war-profiteers/)
"When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die"
And did you know that our country spends 300 bill a year on the military! Wow, just think we could all go to college for free or spend some of that money on other useful things like finding a cure to cancer or helping the poor.
Our government lies to us about all sorts of things. Research the CDC and pharmaceutical industry (See: serendipity.li/bf/swine_flu.htm)
In his last verse Lupe talks about fear. He is referring to our current society, where people are afraid to speak their opinions and be different, of fear of being ostracized. Even some journalists are afraid of teling the truth of fear of being ostracized or loosing their job because their boss at the top may not like the truth, because it may hurt his or her profits.
It's all very Sad, but I have hope that with our generation the 'truth' as I like to call it will gain momentum and eventually people will realize all this horrible shit going on and do something about it. (see egypt, middle east) I hope within the next 50 years the people of our country have enough balls to either make massive reforms or have a revolution. I can see the future, but I predict corporate control will only get worse. Eventually there will be a breaking point, unless we become so oppressed and stupid that we don't have the ability to do anything.
"Freedom, we could use some of that, especially where we from" - Lupe Fiasco
Greed and the want for power have corrupted our country.
Educate yourself. Research shit. Find the truth for yourself.
That's all...
Power to the people who thirst for freedom and want good for this world,
-Chris
P.S.:
Lupe, switch record labels. Don't let Atlantic limit your creativity. Join Aftermath with Dre or sign on with Kanye or go independent.
Respect man. Spot on.
The only thing I gotta say is that although I hate his music, Justin Bieber is not a "shit artist." The kid is actually talented, but i do agree that a huge amount of people find him a disgrace because as you said artist like him "are literally made up by executives who make sure they will appeal to the widest audience as possible. They are even told what to write and sing about."
This is the best/most thought out comment I have seen on this website.
Respect man. Spot on.
The only thing I gotta say is that although I hate his music, Justin Bieber is not a "shit artist." The kid is actually talented, but i do agree that a huge amount of people find him a disgrace because as you said artist like him "are literally made up by executives who make sure they will appeal to the widest audience as possible. They are even told what to write and sing about."
This is the best/most thought out comment I have seen on this website.
Stogey pretty much nailed it, I'm going to ellaborate. The following is going to be pretty long, but if you read it, you will understand what Lupe is talking about and understand how fucked up our country has become. Take 5 mins off facebook and read this.
This song is about our own country (America) and how fucking corrupt everyone in power has become, and how people have become blind as sheep led by the media. What Lupe is talking about is real as ever.
In America over the past few decades, big business in nearly every industry (Pharmaceuticals, Mass media, Oil, etc) has become so highly consolidated that there is no competition, creating virtually a monopoly. I'll use mass media as an example to try and make it more clear: All major major mass media (TV, radio, newspapers, publishing companies, etc) companies are now owned by 6 large corporations. (Check: freepress.net/ownership/chart/main) When all our media sources are owned by so few people, they have the power to control and dictate what information we receive. Effectively they have the ability to control what we think about, and what we view as the truth. Some major news networks will try to 'spin' certain stories to give you a false idea of what really happened. (Just look at fox news)
When there is a monopoly in any industry, it is dangerous and allows for a minority power to control all aspects of the industry and even control prices to what they please. But a monopoly in mass media is dangerous. It harms the democratic process of our country. Think about it, the news media is where we get all our information from. Since so few corporations dictate the information flow, Media Hegemony can come into play, as well as the cultivation theory, which both represent ideas of maintaining the status quo in our society, and the idea that the ruling classe's ideas become accepted as the 'norm' in everyday society. With this monopolization of media, news quality has also gone down, hence the jersey shore reference in Lupe's lyrics. Who the hell cares if so and so broke up? Why do we need to know about that? Because they want to make money! They want you to go see that movie that that so-and-so celebrity was just in. The news is becoming more of entertainment than news.
The monopolization of companies is going on in every industry. These giant corporations only care about taking your money. Look at the recording industry and radio as another example. The same corporations that own major radio networks across the country also own major record labels. What do you think they play on their radio stations? Mainly the stuff their company owns. Why do you think shit artists like soulja boy and justin bieber get airplay? Because the record companies play them over and over and over again until they get stuck in your heads! These artists aren't musically talented. They are literally made up by executives who make sure they will appeal to the widest audience as possible. They are even told what to write and sing about. (Just listen to the song State Run Radio) Just research this album and you'll find that Lupe wasn't happy with it because Atlantic records forced him to do the song the show goes on and limited the content of what could be on his album!
Our federal government is also becoming more corrupt every year. It is a fact that the politician who has the most money for their political campaign will win (majority of the time) With this fact, and given that corporations are the biggest political donors to political campaigns you can easily see how whoever a corporation wants in to win, will win. And it's also important to note that thanks to a recent supreme court ruling, corporations can donate unlimited sums of money - thus making me and you, the average american not very important to whoever is running for president. Don't forget the corporate lobbyist, who everyday are in front of congress lobbying and convincing congress to pass favorable laws in corporations. The corporation don't care who wins the election (dem or republican) just as long as they continue to get their way in political policy. $ is their primary tool.
Do you see the theme here? The big business only care about your money, not you at all. They don't care if their products fucks you up. Hence the lines: "Pills with million side effects, Take em when the pains felt Wash them down with Diet soda killin off your brain cells"
And don't even get me started on the crooked banks and the FED.Did you know the FED is a private institution? I thought we lived in a democracy? Watch this video if you're curious about the FED: youtu.be/tp3HEBNvZjk
Another main point Lupe tries to illustrate is that we are all lied to on a daily basis and exploited for monetary gain.
For example: the line where he mentions word trade center 7; Word trade center 7 housed all sorts of legal documents and at the time the documents containing the evidence of the famous ENRON scandal. Somehow WTC 7 collapsed, even though numerous scientist have said that a fire in the smaller WTC 7 could not have been hot enough to melt steel. (see: sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/03/05/the-mysterious-collapse-of-wtc-7/)
And then lupe mentions the war. Have any of you asked yourself why we're at war? We were all lied to and scared (by use of the media) into believing that Iraq has WMD's and ties with Al-quaeda; The government and CIA fabricated reports and straight lied to us to go to war. Why did we go to war? For money! Think of all the corporations who make profit off of the weapons manufacturing, vehicles, clothing, food, etc. Dick cheney had well known ties with Haliburton. Interesting.. (see: businesspundit.com/the-25-most-vicious-iraq-war-profiteers/) "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die"
And did you know that our country spends 300 bill a year on the military! Wow, just think we could all go to college for free or spend some of that money on other useful things like finding a cure to cancer or helping the poor.
Our government lies to us about all sorts of things. Research the CDC and pharmaceutical industry (See: serendipity.li/bf/swine_flu.htm)
In his last verse Lupe talks about fear. He is referring to our current society, where people are afraid to speak their opinions and be different, of fear of being ostracized. Even some journalists are afraid of teling the truth of fear of being ostracized or loosing their job because their boss at the top may not like the truth, because it may hurt his or her profits.
It's all very Sad, but I have hope that with our generation the 'truth' as I like to call it will gain momentum and eventually people will realize all this horrible shit going on and do something about it. (see egypt, middle east) I hope within the next 50 years the people of our country have enough balls to either make massive reforms or have a revolution. I can see the future, but I predict corporate control will only get worse. Eventually there will be a breaking point, unless we become so oppressed and stupid that we don't have the ability to do anything.
"Freedom, we could use some of that, especially where we from" - Lupe Fiasco
Greed and the want for power have corrupted our country.
Educate yourself. Research shit. Find the truth for yourself. That's all...
Power to the people who thirst for freedom and want good for this world, -Chris
P.S.: Lupe, switch record labels. Don't let Atlantic limit your creativity. Join Aftermath with Dre or sign on with Kanye or go independent.
Oh and obviously I meant I can't see the future, not can see the future. haha.
Oh and obviously I meant I can't see the future, not can see the future. haha.
Respect man. Spot on. The only thing I gotta say is that although I hate his music, Justin Bieber is not a "shit artist." The kid is actually talented, but i do agree that a huge amount of people find him a disgrace because as you said artist like him "are literally made up by executives who make sure they will appeal to the widest audience as possible. They are even told what to write and sing about." This is the best/most thought out comment I have seen on this website.
Respect man. Spot on. The only thing I gotta say is that although I hate his music, Justin Bieber is not a "shit artist." The kid is actually talented, but i do agree that a huge amount of people find him a disgrace because as you said artist like him "are literally made up by executives who make sure they will appeal to the widest audience as possible. They are even told what to write and sing about." This is the best/most thought out comment I have seen on this website.