Released: January 1, 2006

Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco

Producer: Stoupe

They tryin' to censor the influencer
Just makes me sicker, influenza, yeah
I'll abide by the censorship
Soon as they ride I'll get back on my nigga shit
Can't reverse
The boy-game Advanced, complete the genesis
I've broke bread with societies menaces
I've dedicated sentences to the dead, and said hold your heads to my niggas doin’ sentences
I send condolences to the victims but, threats to the witnesses
On my path I was facing a paragraph, myself
So they sentiments is felt
When you hate your own and discriminate of self
In a cell gotta make your home, coz you might never make it home
Suicide on your side might commit it with your belt
Keep your pants on homie
Streets are damn so lonely, like only
A bunch of niggas won’t help, nah
That’s the enemy of stealth
Plus if they get caught how you gonna keep your heart fatigue
The hustler’s diet is the enemy of health, give you heart disease
Arteries hard but its hard to leave the bread alone
Aren’t we hard headed, headed for harm, but don’t fret it homes
From the twist tied to the butt
We be rippin’ it up
From the horror to the cure, don’t force the issue
To you my niggas in the war, may the force be with you

Lupe Fiasco

The Chicago born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco first tasted success when he featured on Kanye West’s hit “Touch the Sky”, a track that shortly preceded his real breakout, his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, and he never looked back. He has established himself as one of the greatest urban wordsmiths of all time, with Genius even dubbing him the ‘Proust of Rap’.

While he’s now regarded of one of the 21st Century’s Hip-Hop greats, he wasn’t always a fan of the genre, initially disliking it due to the prominence of vulgarity and misogyny within it. In his late teens, he aspired to make it as a lyricist. In his early twenty’s, he met Jay-Z, who helped him sign with Atlantic Records in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor), which was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, as did his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

The following eight years of his career saw far less output than many would’ve anticipated. This can be partly attributed to his struggles with Atlantic Records. The executives wanted him to sign a 360 deal; however, as he refused to do so they instead shelved his already completed 3rd album, Lasers, and wouldn’t promote him as they had previously. The overseers at the label also interfered with his music (as they had tried to do with his fan-favorite track “Dumb it Down”); subsequently effecting the quality and sound of his third and fourth albums.