Lupe Fiasco is the latest member of the hip-hop community to weigh in on the murder of Derrion Albert, a Chicago teen who was beaten to death by gang members. Discussing the situation with Chicago radio station WGCI (107.5 FM), Lupe pointed out that perhaps hip-hop itself played a role in the teenager's death. "Hip-hop has to take some fault for that," the Windy City rapper said. "Just in the fact that the amount of violence and the amount of negativity that's in hip-hop and the music, it attributes to so much that goes on, negatively, in the hood."
While fellow rappers like Nas, Twista and Common have condemned the "culture of violence" that led the group of teenage gang members to beat Albert to death, citing a variety of influences from violent films to poverty, Lupe argued hip-hop artists are responsible as well.
By way of explanation, Lupe claimed that, although positive messages do exist in hip-hop, they aren't as popular as negativity.
Socially conscious rap "lacks entertainment value," he explained. "It lacks a certain kind of hype around it. A certain 'coolness' about it. So it doesn't fit on the radio."
To that end, Lupe assumed responsibility to some degree, for not making a stronger attempt to promote positive hip-hop. "It's by example. I haven't been exercising my celebrity, in a sense, since I've been so laid back. I kinda feel like it's my fault because I should have been out there doing more. I have a message and a certain celebrity and certain popularity and I should be exercising that."
Lupe's highly anticipated new album, 'Lasers,' is scheduled for a Dec. 15 release.
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