Into the Mind of Lupe... and June

"My Inspiration. My Beloved. For My Pops..."

Tue Feb-27-07 08:35 PM by FNFUP UP AND AWAY

I buried my father today…you may not know him but if you ever listened to my music then he is the Ghostwriter in the cut…He was the foundation of my thoughts and beliefs…He was the one that dared me to be different in light of peer pressure & the status quo…He dared me to stand for justice and righteousness in the face of ridicule and exclusion…He introduced me to The world of Music…He gave me a purpose…a reason to live and something to fight for…Something to Rap about…He gave me the weapons of self-defense…He showed me the realities of this world that lie behind the facade…He taught me the importance of a man’s word in this world…for it is all that he truly has…besides faith in God…My father was a great man…He literally fought the “Good” fights in the face of insurmountable odds for the sake of the struggle and for the hearts & minds & spirits of his people…He waged a war of enlightment and amassed an army of light to fight against the forces of darkness and the soldiers of ignorance…He touched the lives of innumberable amounts of people whether it was through Martial Arts, Music, Religion, Social & Community Activism, The Sciences or just seeing his hand-painted, brightly decorated Church Van full of young kids from the hoody hood on his way to 63rd street beach pass you by…

May Allah Have Mercy On His Soul & Allow him Into The Gates Of Heaven….I Love You Baba…..We Love You….

“Tell The Truth” -His Last Words To Me….Salaam….

Sincerely,
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco A.K.A “Lupe Fiasco” son of Gregory Hamza Jaco A.K.A “Baby Rollin’ Thunder” “Tanaka Sensei” “Baba”

This post was written via Okayplayer.com over a year ago, but I still get chills reading it. You see, my grandmother past only a few days before Mr. Jaco.. in combination with the death of a 23 year old cousin due to malaria two months before, and then the violent murder of a 19 year old friend of mine, Wasel Ali, a few months later.. I decided the best way to deal with everything was by not dealing, by not thinking about it. I know it sounds horrible, but you have to see that it was the only way I kept going... being in denial. Later on in the year I hear the song Fighters, and so much comes back. I saw someone who went through similar pain that I did and could look PAST the injustice and instead, to something much greater than that... "The Army of the Light"... it may sound cliche but the more times I listened, the more of a realization it became to me that those that are gone are with God now, and I had to confront that. The proper thing for me to do was to accept it, close the chapter in my life and bookmark it to reflect on. And it was hard, so hard, but eventually I did. This is actually was what my first conversation with Lupe was about when I met him at VCU last February. I said "You know, I have to tell you something important to me.. I have to thank you for the song Fighters... you see, my grandmother died this time last year and.. it hit me, it hit me hard.. but the song... I feel like it was for me- I, I mean I know its for you but I feel like-" And then he said something to me that will make me respect Lupe Fiasco for the rest of my life. Four simple words, he just nodded and looked at me in a way that I could feel he understood me completely and said.. "It was for you." And I won't forget that... he is a good person. Some people say the Cool should have ended with Fighters, that Go Baby made the album lose its gloominess; I see that as the best decision made.. it was symbolical, it was upbeat, and it made the message of Fighters even stronger: keep going.

Thanks Lu.

Reading the entry made me reflect on this memory
and decide to share it with you all.

-June-

RIP Rugaya Ibeit 02/06/2007
RIP George Hamza Jaco 02/26/2007
RIP Wasel Ali 02/27/2007

We love you all.