Analyzing Lupe Fiasco's 'Little Weapon'

Chris Gastauer
Tara Dickerson
ENC1102
1 Feb. 2016
Poetry Essay #1
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco or as most of his fans know him Lupe Fiasco is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Fiasco is known mostly for his conscious hip hop style of music, which focuses on social issues including terrorism, racism, religion, prostitution, child warfare and crime among others. “Little Weapon,” “All Black Everything,” and “Prisoner 1 & 2” are a few of his more famous songs. “Little Weapon” takes the listener on a journey which focuses on children and fire arms. “All Black Everything” considered one of Lupe’s most inspiring songs explores the idea that racism was non-existent and African American people were never enslaved or segregated. “Prisoner

“Little Weapon” one of Fiasco’s earliest works, begins with a segment describing varied ‘little’ children who have acquired weapons, in order to highlight the idea of children and firearms. In the first verse Fiasco is speaking from the first person perspective of a child soldier “well I’m like ten, eleven been fighting since I was like six or seven Now I don’t know much about where I’m from” (Fiasco n.p.). Children are usually taken at an extremely young age when they are most impressionable making them easier to train “well I’m like ten, eleven been fighting since I was like six or seven” (Fiasco n.p.). Killing becomes their only reason to live because they are not told otherwise “Now I don’t know much about where I’m from” (Fiasco n.p.). In the second verse Fiasco speaks of “gangsters” who have shot a gun “Think you gangsta, popped a few rounds?” (Fiasco n.p.). On the other hand these children not only have fired weapons they have killed and think nothing of it “These kids'll come through and murder a whole town Then sit back and smoke and watch it burn down” (Fiasco n.p.). Verse three is from the first person perspective of a child playing a violent video game, summarizing the different ways children around the world view killing. To many it is as easy as a trigger pull on a controller “I, aim my hole,

“All Black Everything” considered Fiasco’s most thought producing songs, begins with the same hook heard throughout the work pursuing the concept that Africans hadn’t been enslaved, never having to leave the continent of Africa. “Malcolm Little dies as an old man Martin Luther King read the eulogy for him” (Fiasco n.p) Fiasco brings in an interesting point to mind with this lyric in a world without racism Malcom Little and Martin Luther King would have not been involved in the battle for black rights and both been assassinated at the age of 39. He also makes an ironic point by having Martin read the Eulogy at Malcolm’s funeral being that did not work together and chose completely different approaches to the black rights movement. Fiasco finishes with this work with the image of no matter what race we are, we are all the same when we close our eyes “We just close our eyes till its all black everything” (Fiasco