its crazy when there is an article about some stars relationship everyone has somethin to say. but when an individual as credible as lupe says somethin with substance no speaks up. i agree hip hop should partly take responsibility for the violence in america.

I have to agree. Both with what thegreg said and with Lupe. Any other time, some stupid article about Amarie’s shoes or Lil Wayne’s newest p***y conquest gets mad hits. But, when it gets right down to it, we’d rather ignore the issues that we face on a daily basis. Also, hip-hop should take some of the blame for the glorification of violence in America. But, I say that with a disclaimer: it shouldn’t take the full blame, by any stretch of the imagination. So many other factors need to take responsibility for the plight of the world. Hip-hop (I’d be tempted to exchange that word for “Rap”) is only one of those…

Kudos to the gentlemen below and Lupe Fiasco. The focus is always on the glitz and glamour because ppl are so worldly, now.

AWWWWW MAN SO WHAT YOU TRYIN GOT SAY THAT I GOTTA *THINK* ABOUT WHAT KINDA ENERGY I EVOKE OUT OF MY MOUTH NOW???

I DONT WANNA BE RESPONSIBLE, I JUST WANNA GO TO AND FRO AIMLESSLY LIKE A ZOMBIE

It’s about time somebody is realistic with society instead of playing along with its games

Here here

Amen. My hats off to Lupe. It takes a big man to stand up against a culture he’s part of and call for his peers to stand up and take responsibility. Hip Hop is more than just rap. It’s also a subculture of street fashion, graffiti, breakdancing, street lingo, etc. But those elements are not the problem. Rap has given Hip Hop a black eye. It’s the words, attitudes and themes used in post-NWA rap era which has fueled the ever-growing problems with the youth. “Songs” (if you can call it that) about gun violence, casual sex, materialism, beefs, infidelity, drugs, misogyny, flirtation with incarceration and an unhealthy disrespect for authority, elders, each other and society have influenced too many of our black youth to run the streets with ignorance and left them in arrested development. Unfortunately, alot of kids and rap fans actually believe and follow the words in these songs. They listen to and live by this trash as if it’s the soundtrack of their lives. No matter how fake alot of these rappers are. No matter how much they say they are singing from a perspective of parable and hyperbole, there are always those who take their words as gospel. And more than just a handful of fans, but legions of them. Rappers need to take full responsibility for the content of their music and need to hold their record companies and the radio stations responsible too.

Thank you Lupe. Its about time someone notices how distructive that MESS they call music is!!

Let’s see how many comments this receives. If people aren’t calling Jermaine Dupree ugly and Janet Jackson mentally ill for marrying him, the people aren’t so interested typically…

Nothing is wrong. Its just that no one has the passion for music like the past. All of the people that like all the things that go on today are the main ones looking at the musical status of someone they like or is a fan of the select persons. People like us are lookin for that special artist that is going to take over the game and bring the life back into the heart of hip hop. Alot of people like us have turned away from music. There needs to be a movement. We need to build a group and support the positive artist. If we can get strong enough we can wipe it clean. The mean thing I want to say is that we won’t get rid of all of it and we won’t get rid of it in force. We must peacefully rise to the top in order to keep balance. It is not about a war between wack hip hop and real hip hop. We must under stand that war will be everlasting and will result into more violence and more people trying to prove themselves for dumb reasons. We must be the bigger persons in this situation, because how can we expect to be respected if we make ourselves look just as bad as the messages they push?

Lupe, congratulations to you for pointing out how influential music can be on children. The content of music will greatly determine the influence, be it a negative influence or a positive influence. Negativity sells and whenever positivity comes to surface there are many adults who will beg to differ and become angry. Guess we know what type of material they are feeding to their children. It’s not just about the type of material being produced, it’s also about being a responsible consumer. Sad to say, money is power and unless someone comes up with a creative approach to dropping the record sales of such negativity, we can whine all we want to but it will still continue to be produced.

I just find it amazing that we are killing each other and TAPE IT ourselves its condiered MUST SEE TV and if done by other ethnic groups we are ready to unite…Lupe has a point but he nor MANY of those people in the music biz are parents of these kids…IT IS THE PARENTS FAULT for not teaching kids to call 911 when someone is getting the white meat beat out them….watching the video made by bystanders hearing them laugh..while a boy was dying in front of them made me sooo sick to my stomach..Our society has done a complete 360 and has simply gone morbid into finding death of children and raping of children entertaining to watch on youtube.com

The parent should tske the other 2/3 of the responsibility for those animals who killed that poor honor students; now they’re incarcerated and may be in with those older felons who raped, stab and kill fresh meat….if they get out when those murderers night end up talking like Miroiah Carey!

@jazzwztch i agree its not just music there are other factors involved too

HERE WE GO AGAIN…

People are negatively influenced by “bad” hip-hop, for the SAME reason people are negatively influenced by ANYTHING else considered “bad”…

Are yall ready???….

Because there is a VOID….let me say that word again… A VOID in their lives of POSITIVE INFLUENCES !!!! NAMELY, GOOD PARENTS!!!

POINT….BLANK….PERIOD!!!

I was born in 1981…been listening to rap since I was a kid…
I’m talking bout the BEGINNINGS of so-called “gangsta rap”…
From Ice-T, to N.W.A., Ice Cube, etc…

When Dr. Dre dropped “The Chronic” in 92, I was 11 yrs old in the 6th grade.

I f**kin LOVED Dre and Snoop!!! I knew EVERY F**KIN WORD!!!

From songs like “Rat-Ta-Tat” to “B***hes Aint S**t(but hoes and tricks)!!

But guess what???….Yall ready?????..

I had something that’s called a “MOTHER”!!! Ever heard of those???
Not the ones that just s**t out a baby, and go on bout they bizness!!!

A REAL f**kin parent that made SURE I behaved like I had some damn since!!

My mama didn’t even like rap played in the house, and even though I listened to it elsewhere, I was raised with enough since to separate entertainment from reality!!!

All the negative rap songs in the world couldn’t make me cross the guidelines my mama set for me…CAUSE MY MAMA WOULDA GOT ME DEALT WIT, LIKE A REAL F**KIN PARENT SHOULD!!!

THAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH THESE KIDS!!!

I GUARAN-F**KIN-TEE, IF YOU RAISE A CHILD LIKE MY MAMA DID, LIKE YOU SUPPOSE TO, STARTIN WHEN THEY’RE BABIES, THERE AINT NO AMOUNT OF NEGATIVE INFLUENCE, MUSIC OR WHATEVER, THAT CAN MAKE YOUR CHILD BEHAVE LIKE A DAMN ANIMAL!!!

Now there ARE some exceptions when you have good parents, and the child is STILL bad.. but guess whose fault it is then???..

Are yall ready??….The F**KIN KIDS, THATS WHO!!

NOT SOME F**KIN WORDS COMIN FROM SPEAKERS OR IMAGES ON A SCREEN!!!

IT’S CALLED PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!

AND IT’S TIME FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE SOME AND STOP POINTIN FINGERS!!!

POINT…BLANK…PERIOD!!!

sef_ali I feel what you sayin hell I was 10 when the Chronic was released. I also listened to some 2 Live Crew and Too Short. My parents hated that sh!t though but I was raised right. And that is the thing these parents aren’t raising there kids right. But there also should be a balance of good music out there. And these radio stations and BET need to stop being about the all might dollar and start balancing out there music regardless of what people want. I don’t listen to the radio or watch BET either.

Lupe got my respect. Thanks for standing up while the other fake MCs are hiding from the truth. Hip hop is a part of the problem. Unfortunately the evil music industry doesn’t want to sign and promote good positive music.

@ sub-Negro

I agree with you about BET. BET has gotten worse since Viacom bought it from the black man. BET is now is for black teenagers…very sad. BET doesn’t interest the intelligent and well-educated black adult. I try to watch the award shows and I can’t even watch that. That black female BET president is a house negro. She is an embarrassment to the black community and she should resign.

[...] Lupe Fiasco Says Hip Hop Is Partly To Blame For Derrion Albert Killing [...]

LUPE FIASCO…..YOU’RE A NOODLE FOR SAYING THAT….THIS S**T THAT’S GOING ON IS WAY DEEPER THAN HIP HOP…PEOPLE HAVE A CHOICE…TO DO WHAT THEY WANT TO….THIS S**T THAT IS GOING ON TODAY IS DEEPER THAN HIP HOP….IT’S THE HOME…THAT WHERE THE PROBLEM STARTS FROM LUPE…THE HOME! DO NOT GET IT TWISTED……

@ Sub-Negro

I think you’re on the same page, but consider this…

Yes, it would be nice if B.E.T. and the radio had more of a balance of positive music.

I think almost everyone agrees with that. But it’s simply not likely or logical.

Isn’t it more logical, and effective, for people to just raise there own damn kids, instead of trying to “force” an entire industry of COMPLETE STRANGERS who are motivated by money, to change what they do and be some kind of long distance surrogate parent?

#1.) If you don’t want your kids watching B.E.T., guess what??? You have options!! Either don’t buy cable, or program your f*ckin TV!! It’s that simple people!! But of course, there are some people who are too selfish to not by cable, or too lazy/stupid to program their TV, and say “why should I have to sacrifice my beloved cable channels??”….Are you f*ckin’ kiddin me? If you’re so worried about your kids, why WOULDN’T you??? Hell, if you think the images on TV are THAT f*ckin harmful, like it’s the plague or something, WHY EVEN OWN A F*CKIN TV IN YOUR HOUSE????

#2.)All the complaining in the world won’t change the music and images being portrayed. People have been trying, unsuccessfully, for decades to control music, and it’s a sad waste of time.

Remember in the late 80′s, early 90′s there was C. Dolores Tucker and all the other so-called “activists” on TV smashing cd’s?? Well guess what?? Hip-Hop has grown EXPONENTIALLY around the globe since that bull sh*t!!
What makes people think the same old lame tactics are gonna work now??
Hell, Ms. Tucker ended up trying to get herself a piece of the Hip-Hop pie and tried to start her OWN rap label!!

There’s a movie coming out now called “Pirate Radio” about how the establishment tried to ban rock-n-roll, and some die hard fans took over the airwaves and kept it alive!!

Now if they foolishly tried to ban hip-hop, people probably wouldn’t take over the airwaves, but hip-hop would STILL thrive underground and kids are STILL gonna listen!! It’s impossible to eradicate all the recordings that already exist out there, and plus you would just have hundreds, even thousands of new local underground artists that would supply the demand for rap music in their area!! That would make rap music an even BIGGER monster because the youth culture, as it has historically, would feel persecuted and unite!!

#3) Now let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that you actually COULD stop rap music….Guess what???…Those same bad ass kids STILL have a VOID in their lives, because they have sh*tty dead beat parents and their gonna fill that void with something, most likely SOMETHING NEGATIVE!!!

What, did you think rap-music was the ONLY negative influence in the world??
The sh*t that makes up the substance of rap music STILL exists: crime, gangs, guns, drugs, alcohol, porn, etc, etc, etc…

Do you think you’re gonna hop on some high horse and rid the world of ALL that too?? Don’t get me wrong, it would be a nice gesture, but it’s just a sad waste of time.

The smart think to do, if you laid down a created another human being, is to grow up and raise your child…YOUR child….with enough COMMON SENSE to think for themselves and avoid all the negativity in the world.

It’s impossible to be a 24 hour watch dog over your kids.
The lesson is to instill VALUES and COMMON SENSE in your kids, that they can use as a filter for all the bull sh*t in the world, and you won’t HAVE to watch them every second of the day.

Dag Sef! You beat me to the punch. I’ll condense my statement……blame the parents not the music. If he(Derrion) were a fan of the Sex Pistols would you blame punk rock? I understand that Lupe is trying to talk some sense in these youngsters, but he really needs to work being himself insted of jumping from fad to fad. His last album was not all that compared to “Food and Liquor”. And what does Twista want the youth to do? Start pimping their sisters? Hypocrite……

to work on…

peace ya…RESPONSIBILITY & COMMUNITY…i agree 100% with the MC…the Spoken Word is very powerful and our lil brothas, sistas, and cousins look up to us and imitate us regardless of if we want them to or not…so it is very Effective to carry ourselves with Respect…there is a difference between greeting some1 with f*ck you or Good morning so to say words don’t matter is stupid & irresponsible…words are Energy and carry positive and negative influence…words are spirit and these false puppet rappers carryout the destructive will of satan and spread an aryan agenda through music to our people and culure…balance is key

http://music.blackplanet.com/illa/

http://www.blackplanet.com/revolutionarynam/

Lupe is merely speaking the truth on the avenue he knows, musical influence. But just like Bill Cosby, he’ll recieve backlash from those who say, “There are other problems out there too”. My father always taught me, fix the problems you control first and that’ll take care of most of the issue. The only rap my kids hear is Talib Kweli, Common, Mos Def, The Roots, OutKast, Lupe Fiasco and some Nas and Tupac.

All ya’ll attacking Lupe, if you notice he said “partly” to blame not fully. Of course there are other culprits at work. Of course, people have free will. But unfortunately, this music is marketed to youth and today’s youth, especially, are very impressionable in their search for role models. Negative role models or those who refuse to the “role model” title to escape responsibility for their own reckless lifestyle, are seen as cool because the “bad boy” image has been celebrated as far back as James Cagney gangster roles and Marlon Brando in “The Wild One”. These days, little kids wanna be Wolverine while their older brothers and sisters run out and buy cigars so they can emulate Scarface. It’s a poison all around us. And today’s pied-piper rap music is the most obvious place to start disinfection. It’s easy to rap about negative subjects when you’re retiring to a nice cushy 5 star hotel at the end of the night after a show or studio session with room service, bodyguards and a few groupies in tow, not worrying about finances or the threat of violence. Most of the listeners don’t have those luxuries and go out charged up on the lyrics and don’t always use good judgement.

I’ve noticed something, Ya’ll. Correct me if I’m wrong. But everytime there is a ‘Conscious” topic such as this, it’s mostly the Brothers that comment. When it’s some petty celebrity dating/relationship drama, the Sisters chime in, in abundance. Wassup Wit Dat?

Is that part of the problem? The mentality of a lot of Our Sistas that are raising these children by themselves? -hmmm.

I think all of these “roots to the problem, ie Rap, Absence of the Black Man, Single Parent Sistas, etc” are actually just symptoms of a greater problem…that is BLACKS/AFRICANS are colonized. Meaning that another people control Our institutions, economics, media, etc. for their own gain. We haven’t known true Freedom, which is Self Determination, in over 500 years.

Blacks/Africans, get Our heads right, take control of what belongs to Us in our own interests, and get from under the influence of White Power.

someone’s always putting some type of blame on hip hop. That’s like, put part blame on the parents who were shocked when they seen their own sons on that tape. The only ones that are at fault are those animals that did this to him which is shown in that video I am thankful I didn’t see. Where was “hip hop” featured in that video. And is the person that video taped this getting some type of punishment?

I kn everyone wasn’t raised learning right from wrong but there are choices, whether you choose right or wrong, you have to deal with the outcome. Those boys admitted what they did and God and hopefully justice will be done. R.I.P. Derrion Albert

You hit the nail on the head MAJESTIK, we’re so brainwashed, that we think graduating from college means being educated. Commonsense, and a desire to seek out higher than financial growth, is the major reason why we’re lost as a people. The fact that alot of blackwomen on here, only comment on gossip, reflects why these young boys and young women act they way they do. Once the mothers sense of character is lost, the whole community suffers. As far as where are the parents Soco_nest12, we’re a village, who’ve been brainwashed and co-opted to think like crabs in a barrel with that way of thinking. The whole community is to blaim, from the pimpin reverends, to the mediocre educational system-that fails to teach anything afro-centric. To the fathers that are no where to be found, and the women that seem to only open yall legs to the men that wont be around next year.

[...] teen news – local(∆) and national Lupe: Hip-hop partly to blame for Derrion’s killing – Speaking on the beating death of the Chicago high school student, Lupe criticized radio [...]

Good frief I am so SICK of people NOT taking responsibilty for actions. Why is violence blamed on hip-hop? Why not blame the violence on the weak minds of people who commit the violent acts? Thats why people dont ever elevate, because the media and idiots like Lupe Fiasco give reason not to. Lay the blame on someone else then you can keep acting a fool…I have been listening to hip-hop/Rap all my life…starting further back than NWA, and we know they promoted violence, but did I ever go out and kill someone or rob a bank, or jack anybody? No I didnt, because ITS JUST MUSIC! And if someone can be so little as to allow music to determine their behavior, then they need not listen to certain types if they cant control their own actions. EVERYTHING in this world presented to us is upon FREE WILL. Most people dont listen to their parents, authority figures etc…so Im supposed to belive that Lil wayne or UGK can push someone to do dirt? Lets stop giving folks a reason to act a d*amn fool these days…

In a country where black people are STILL being lynched and murdered just for being black, race haters don’t NEED an excuse to hurt or kill black people!!!

Don’t you get it??? Are you that damn obtuse??? It’s like Bruce Lee said in that movie – it’s like a finger pointing to the moon – DON’T WATCH THE FINGER OR YOU WILL MISS ALL THE HEAVENLY GLORY. Don’t waste your time arguing over the REASONS why black people are being attacked and killed – STOP THE KILLING!!! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All this negative talk about Rap and Hip Hop are nothing but a COVER for the real reason they are attacking it. Here’s the REAL reason: Hip Hop and Rap music are being ASSASSINATED because “alternative” cultures cannot easily ASSIMILATE and/or DOMINATE it. Because of the origin and nature of Hip Hop and Rap, you cannot SEPARATE, DISENFRANCHISE or DISASSOCIATE the black community from it, which means that you cannot easily put a non-black face on it and sell it as successfully as you could other popular forms of music. It’s kind of the only musical genre out where NOT being black is a handicap, not an asset, so it has to die. Think about it…

In 1969 The Temptations came out with a song entitled “Cloud 9″ I remember it being the backdrop of my life at that time. None of those lyrics applied to me but if The Temps said it was coool to get loaded, then it was cool. When Superfly and The Mack came out I saw guys want to become drug dealers and pimps. Despite all of the positive music and cinema that was out at the time people ALL PEOPLE have an affinity for the BS. What artists need to r4alize is that they are the prophets and voices of their time and generation. There’s no escaping this. If you are being heard you are also influencing the one’s who are hearing you. The whole movment of the 50′s,60′s and 70′s was fueled by the music and the artists of that time. The wisdom of Sly, the spirituality of EWF, the truth of Gil Scott Heron, the radical conscious raising of Coltrane. Those of you who don’t wanna recognize this missing a great truth about art and its affect upon people. We are a vulnerable people. Yes we have parental problems and if any of you have ever rasied soemething besides hell you’ll know that when children reach a certain age ( around 14) they begin to rely uopn their peers to determine and test the wisdom which was taught to them by thier parents. If the mantra of that time is to smoke weed and get laid…That is gonna compete with the message of stay in school and keep your dress tail down. And if the mantra is “Reached back like a pimp and slapped the ho” or ” Nobody moves nobody gets burned” or pick the damn song, then that will be competing with whatever good that child has been exposed to…And until that child has a wake up call, it will be a major impact upon that child’s decisions. Lupe isin’t blaming all of this on Rap…But Rap needs to be held accountabel for its BS just like the makers of Superfly and the Mack need to be held accountabe for theirs

Lupe is right and I love his music…truly refreshing and i hope he sticks around for a long time. If rappers changed the subject matter black kids would follow.

if someone says black people need to be more responsible they will be attacked by many ignorant blacks who just want all the blame to be on white folks shoulders.
if you notice davettalashley, which is a couple coments down wants to bring up that we are being lynched and murdered by hordes of white mobs as if its 1850 and we are slaves, he doesnt see a difference in that time and the progress we made because he wants a permanent excuse which is the white man.
he will ignore hundreds of cases on black on black violence until he finds a white on black crime to exploit,DO YOU THINK HE CARES ABOUT HIS COMMUNITY OR KIDS OR HAVE HIS OWN AGENDA. BLACK PEOPLE WAKE UP THIS MENTALITY IS NO DIFFERENT THAN A HORDE OF RACE HATERS

Damn almost evryone has an essay, but he’s rite, thts all we listen to. I kno its bull but everyone tht listens to it isnt affected the same way by it. But as of now the “best” music ive heard is stuff by drake, and kanye, eminem. They can flow and they not talkn bout killin nobody. I mean the game need change, it need to go bak to the older skool where it wuz just about expressing urself without tellin somebody u gon kill them.

i m behind lupe 100% every since i heard the cool i been a fan his music compared to most rappers no is a breath of fresh air

I guess some of us cant deal with the hard truth!
Most of these youngins listen to more Hip Hop than they do their simple minded parent.He is on point about all the negative music on our youths!

“The fact that alot of blackwomen on here, only comment on gossip, reflects why these young boys and young women act they way they do. Once the mothers sense of character is lost, the whole community suffers”

Your statement is nothing but the truth!@Ramses_NY

simple~ quit allowing media and the entertainment industry raise our kids!

@greywolf5…I COULD NOT HAVE THAT SAID THAT BETTER MYSELF..YOU TRULY HIT IT ON THE HEAD..

[...] RELATED: Lupe Fiasco Says Hip-Hop Is Partly To Blame For Derrion Albert Killing [...]

First of all, HIP-HOP is not to blame for this childs murder. Music genre
has nothing to due with a person who has a weapon in their hand unlawfully, a weapon that has been attained through ignorance, a mindstate that has no respect for their own life let alone anothers. Certain environments are going to have a higher percentage of casualties such as this, due to the levels of ignorance surrounding possessing guns. Innercity killings are more prevalent because of the abundance of artillery that is readily available. Lupe you were wrong for saying that….!!!!

lupe the great once again

Does hip-hop create an environment of drugs, crime and hopelessness? Or does America’s lack of positive attention to inner city communities do?

I think it’s the latter. Much respect and love to Lupe. But, the problem with black on black is with our race and our nation.

A child shouldn’t be able to obtain a gun by age 10 instead of a good education. Adults who manipulate children for recruitment in street gangs are themselves “child molesters”. They’re screwing with someone’s childhood and innocence for their own selfish needs.

Our President Obama needs to go after youth violence and gang crime with the same vigor into passing Nancy Pelosi’s health care bill.

Lupe Fiasco’s words are powerful. However, they place blame to an entity with little control of changing a society’s perception about Urban America.

Lets forced these so called thugs to educate themselves and make positive hiphop music, that can enlighten the masses instead of push us down like we are now… there are too many black neighborhoods where killing is rampant SMH… Keep it up LUPE FIASCO..you are doing a great job. All those who hate what Lupe is saying you just do not get it. Like OBAMA said its time for a CHANGE, and I am talking about real change.

Look… Everybody knows that when you turn on the radio, you’re gonna hear music that’s supposed to be hip hop and it’s nothing but musical dreams.. It ain’t even music.. They are spells. What else you know that’ll make someone ‘hate’ on someone else?… That’s all we know is hatin, swagg, chicks, money, drugs, and music that amounts to nothing.. Jerks don’t even do a %age of what’s being talked about.. But we like it so much cuz we figure it tells about our struggles.. It’s making a blueprint for our downfall..
We all are blind and stubborn so how’re we gonna get the music to save us?…
Make music to save us…

[...] Lupe Fiasco Says Hip-Hop Is Partly To Blame For Derrion Albert Killing [...]

well put young man

[...] Lupe Fiasco Says Hip-Hop Is Partly To Blame For Derrion Albert Killing Tags: Fatherhood, Hip Hop Recommend to friends! [...]

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