Lupe Fiasco’s Modern Voice Essay

By creatively employing various literary devices and sophisticated figurative language, and relying immensely on witty word-play and double- at some instances even triple- entendre coupled with an intricate rhyme scheme, Lupe Fiasco, dubbed by some as the king of trickiness rap, takes a firm stance against those who constantly attempt to prevail on him to simplify his lyrics to comply with the current hip-hop stereotypes which could in turn improve his prospects for commercial success. Lupe Fiasco elaborated on the song on “The late show With David Letterman” by saying “ 'Dumb It Down' looks at how musical entertainment as a whole is used as a distraction, as a tool, to keep people dumb, instead of focusing on real issues and solutions.”

This lyric states how people have become blind as sheep and are now controlled by the media; having them push less important thoughts into our minds such as the problems you see on the MTV show "Jersey Shore" instead of looking at the real issues of the world. Major news stations spend half of their time on real world issues and the other half on gossip for good ratings. In his lyrics, Lupe is trying to get the media to broadcast real world problems and speak truth to the people, because right now they have the ability to control what we think about, and what we view as the truth.

McBride begins the essay by telling the readers of his nightmare. He once feared that his daughter would arrive home one day with a stereotyped rapper husband with “ mouthful of gold teeth, a do-rag on his head… and a thug attitude” (McBride 1). He came to realize that he in fact, hip-hop, a genre that he once didn’t believe was music, had become one of the most known genres in the world. The speaker first heard his first rap song at a college party in Harlem in 1980. The jazz lover he was, cringed at the rap music he claimed to be so poorly thought out and written. For the next 26 years of his life, he went out of his way to avoid hip-hop music all together, as if It was never there in the first place.

The decade of hip-hop is what some may call it. Tupac, Naz, Biggie Smalls, as well as other artists, were major contributions. Not only for the people who are trying to find their footing, but Buck as well. Throughout the book various lyrics were embedded in order to create a better understanding for its readers. In addition, this book is based upon a 90s lifestyle within Philadelphia, which included drugs, gang activity, crime, hip-hop, and havoc. Malo was directly in the center of everything, the girls, the fights, the guns. His experiences shed light towards what it’s like to as an African American individual living in or near the hood. Not everyone realizes what people go through while living there, but now it gives some readers an image of what goes on. Though times have changed, not all previous feelings

Most people think being a role model is like a popularity contest, they think it's easy. People think all they have to do is fit in with the crowd so they can be popular. But being a role model is not an easy task, although Lupe makes it look that way when she doesn’t even fit in. In the story, “The Marble Champ,” by Gary Soto, Lupe is a very good role model. Lupe shows this by being a good sport, always working hard, and by being intelligent.

This song implies that individual’s are violating the norms and values of society. They start the song with a verse that expresses

In “Song of Myself,” Whitman uses nature, specifically grass, to symbolize various aspects of humanity. Whitman uses the grass to represent America by referring to it as a “uniform hieroglyphic” (“Song of Myself” 20). Whitman is trying to express that grass doesn’t grow any differently depending on who it’s growing for, whether it be white or black, rich or poor, or any group of people. The grass grows where it pleases and by doing this everyone receives the same value. Whitman believes that grass can be found everywhere and is a joining force for all humans. Every person can take part in loving nature because it grows all over the earth, Through this metaphor, Whitman shows appreciation for nature like a Transcendentalist. Whitman also uses nature to explain his idea of life after death. Whitman describes how at the end of his life he will give himself to nature and become a part of it. He gives himself to the grass emphasizing his belief that humans are interconnected with nature. His belief that humans will be returned back to nature after death shows his appreciation for

I read The Voice, The Revolution, and The Key (650 pages!) in 3 large chunks. The book was split into four acts that spanned 25 years. The plot progresses smoothly. It shows how America became rebellious gradually. There is some mystery, some drama, and humor too. The story tells us about Patrick Henry’s family and his life as a kid. Additionally, it potrays the multiple conflicts across the frontier.

In “Song of Myself”, grass is the central image surrounding Walt Whitman’s ideology. The idea behind it is grass, in some ways, is very similar to people in society and natures lifecycles. As Whitman was “observing a spear of summer grass” (5), he began to question the human condition. One of Whitman’s first thoughts was that one individual, like a single spear of grass surrounded by more grass, is part of a large community of people. It’s impossible to differentiate from others, for all people are equal despite cultural, religious, or gender differences. Nevertheless, Whitman’s use of symbolism alludes to the idea that grass reflects the thoughts and condition of people in society.

This song was Lupe Fiascos way of expressing his dislike of the current United States government. He uses many controversial subjects like terrorism and foreign policy to get his point across. By doing so he shows his listeners the corruptness of the country. For example in his song he states “crooked banks around the world would gladly give a loan today, so if you ever miss a payment they can take your home away.”(Fiasco) in this part of his song, he explains to us how corrupt banks scheme to make a quick profit at the expense of one of their customers who can’t afford it. -------------

The Voices is directed by Marjane Satrapi and written by Michael R. Perry released in 2015. The movie was focusing on the importance of mental illness, crime and even romance. It touches comedy to horror. There were mixed reviews in the public getting both good and bad reception.

Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important writers in the history of American Literature. The people of his own time called him a radical, a madman, and a pornographer. These days he is greatly appreciated and entitled as a fearless prophet of a new stage of human development. Sometimes Whitman would be in a slump and he felt that he needed to deflect the people who inquired too directly. This even meant using examples of homosexual elements in his work, as well as unbelievable stories of him having affairs with numerous women and fathering many children, unknown to him. Throughout these sorts of times W. Whitman has gone through both resentment and flattery, nevertheless showing us

On this verse, we can see how Whitman tries to connect to mind, body, spirit and nature. In “Song of Myself” Whitman attempted to change the meaning of American poetry. I described identity issues that pertain to him, but that the audience was able to identify with. Whitman, opened the door to

In order to realize how the acceptance of others affects the “inner self” man has to acknowledge that the outside world influences him, not just physically, but also spiritually. Through the senses man grows to know and really comprehend the “self.” Whitman describes what he learned from looking deep into the eyes of an ox as “more than all the print” he has “read” read in his “life” (Whitman Sec. 13.) Through experiencing the world, he gained more knowledge than he ever could from just analyzing it from afar and without having a relation with it.

In his first anthology of poems entitled “Song of Myself”, Walt Whitman reveals some of his views on democracy through the use of symbolism and free verse poetry. His use of symbolism and free verse poetry creates indeterminacy, giving the reader hints rather than answers about the nature of the poem. In the sixth part of “Song of Myself”, a child asks the narrator of the poem, “What is the grass?” (Whitman). Instead of simply giving an answer, the narrator cannot make up his mind, and stumbles on how to explain the grass to the child. Through the use of specific symbolisms, Whitman, as the narrator, explicates his views while remaining under the façade of explaining grass to the child. The views Whitman conveys remain indeterminate and