Lupe Fiasco Broke Down Eminem & Kendrick Lamar Lyrics At MIT

Lupe Fiasco introduced in Could that he was “going to show rap at MIT.” Extra particularly, the multiplatinum-certified rapper is instructing on the Massachusetts Institute Of Expertise (MIT) for the 2022-23 tutorial yr because the recipient of an MLK Visiting Professorship, as defined within the YouTube description of his “Rap Concept & Observe: An Introduction” lecture.

“Let your conscience be free. You’re now rolling with the thugs from the MIT,” Lupe mentioned in the beginning of the session, taking part in off of Jay-Z’s “Get Your Thoughts Proper Mami” verse. “Not thugs, however , rappers.”

He confirmed the category photographs of him performing throughout his highschool expertise present and acting at MIT’s 2015 SpringFest as an example that “rap has at all times been a scholastic pursuit for me.” Over 90 minutes, Lupe dove into the academic root of rap and dissected the constructions of Eminem’s “Stan,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Sing About Me,” and his personal “Jonylah Ceaselessly.”

In accordance with Lupe, “Stan” is “hands-down most likely Eminem’s biggest document.” He laid out how Eminem brilliantly coined the time period in fan tradition, which was efficient as a result of he managed to pour common, relatable macros into the track as a substitute of attempting to pressure “a bunch of particulars.” Lupe defined why he felt compelled to write down “Jonylah Ceaselessly,” impressed by the tragic true story of a six-month-old woman named Jonylah Watkins who was shot useless in Chicago in 2013. Her father was the supposed goal.

“Destroyed town. I used to be like, I have to make {that a} track proper now,” Lupe instructed the category. “And the track was about Jonylah rising up, going to highschool, being actually good, going to med college, changing into a physician. … She goes to open up a free clinic within the neighborhood wherein she grew up in, after which at some point, she’s within the workplace. She hears some gunshots outdoors, after which she runs outdoors to this van and will get this little woman. Triages her, stabilizes her until the paramedics can come, and finally, she’s saved. She doesn’t notice that she simply saved herself. Repetition, repetition, repetition, energy. The twist, the ability of that. The shock.”

Lupe used Lamar’s “Sing About Me” for example of when the shock doesn’t repair every thing — contrasting how he and Eminem blatantly mentioned their plot twists the place Lamar leaned extra on evocative symbolism. Lupe promised to show his college students find out how to use “this explicit body” to study “a really particular kind of shock and find out how to put it to use and execute it” by learning tales from the simplicity of “The Three Little Pigs” all the way in which to Lamar’s intricate discography.

“You possibly can speak about no matter you need,” Lupe mentioned. “Simply has to rhyme. That’s the one factor I ask. And it needs to be to a beat.”

The course, per Lupe’s slideshow, will cowl “basic rap primes” akin to shock, rhyme, metaphor, tone, and extra. The complete identify of the category is “CMS.S60 Particular Topic: Rap Concept & Observe.” Registration has begun for the 2023 spring semester.

Watch the total 90-minute introductory video above and be taught extra from Lupe’s tweets beneath.