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Why Lupe Fiasco Believes He's the Best MC Alive! | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Oct 4, 2024
Dive into the world of Lupe Fiasco as he unveils his unmatched Samurai secrets in this captivating episode of "Sway In The Morning." Renowned for his lyrical prowess and deep cultural insights, Lupe takes center stage to discuss his personal journey and the profound influence of martial arts on his artistry. From exclusive stories about his upbringing and his father's unique martial arts teachings in the Chicago projects, to his thoughts on hip-hop's competitive spirit, this video is a treasure trove of revelations. Join Sway and Lupe as they explore the intersection of Black culture and Samurai tradition, offering an eye-opening perspective on the often-overlooked history of Black warriors. Experience a raw and authentic conversation that touches on everything from industry challenges to Lupe's relentless dedication to his craft. Subscribe to Sway’s Universe for more exclusive interviews and content that pushes the boundaries of music and culture. Follow us on social media for the latest updates and insights into the vibrant world of hip-hop. Don't miss out on this compelling episode that's sure to spark conversation and inspire viewers. CHAPTERS: 01:55 - Lupe Fiasco’s Father: The Blackest of the Black 08:16 - Yasuke: The Only Recognized Black Samurai 17:57 - Overcoming Writer's Block 19:55 - Removing Excuses for Success 23:24 - Child Rebel Soldier: Hip-Hop Collective 28:05 - Lupe Fiasco and Google’s Text Effects Engine 31:18 - Lupe Fiasco’s “Text Fx” Explained 33:38 - Publishing Rights for “Glass of Water” 37:11 - Upcoming Tour Dates 39:36 - Elizabeth from Texas: Listener Call 42:03 - Dre from Chicago: Fan Interaction 46:03 - C Brown from Little Rock: Audience Engagement 48:50 - Freestyle Performance
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Applause] I'm going to go ahead and say one of the most amazing MC's yes you can't get that
0:07
from me unless youve done it consistently for years at least 10
0:12
minimum before I even consider it yeah yeah and I remember I recall a Time mm
0:18
when Lupe might have been one two three years in the game and we did our hottest and
0:26
seasonless and I remember seeing Lupe at Radio City Music H we was doing MTV
0:32
something the the the Video Music Awards and we were inside I don't know if you remember just doing a rehearsal and Lupe
0:39
ran up on me in a in the aisle said hey hey why you didn't put me on that list
0:46
yeah I remember that you already remember that I remember all of that scars I still scarred from you still
0:51
wounded from that yeah I'm wounded it's a trigger when when you did that though
0:57
uh the fact that I remember is because I clocked that I archived that moment cuz
1:03
to me that had nothing to do with industry that had nothing to do that was purely culture and mcing like and I know
1:12
who you are sway I've seen you and I know you know why am I not on that
1:19
list well that list has something to do with industry you know and in retrospect
1:26
but I sell records yes I've sold records s you did yes yes you have at that time
1:34
at that time though hear him out at that time I'm just happy that sway finally
1:39
being interviewed so go ahead L get at
1:44
him get him at that time though I can't remember who was on that list at that time it was only enough room for what
1:51
year was this come on hea really it's 2024 what year was it
1:57
l let me ask you a question how many numbers are there how many numbers yeah
2:03
numbers 99 wow that's that's interes question nine numbersin it's a lot of infinite
2:10
numbersin so you could just put as many numbers as you want on there you can
2:15
there's there's enough numbers to be like yo let's add an extra number mhm then you could do decimals okay yeah
2:22
halves halves yeah I like quers you know thirds integers you can get real like
2:28
specific and negatives too I could have been negative you could have negative joint right wow
2:37
sway what's the question why wasn't Lupe on the
2:42
list 200000 number oh I see what you're saying okay okay I see what you mean
2:48
well let's say if we did a list today though you know that list was um aggregated list of uh nine to 10
2:57
different opinions and it was nine 10 people that's crazy people you how many
3:02
did you know cuz you ran up on sway who else was on that that that
3:10
re you crazy he knew Tuma basa wow that cat he knew nadca nesa wow okay
3:21
he knew ran Dukes supposed to be family he knew Jason Rodriguez he knew Rob
3:27
Markman he knew them all see what happens people when you get them in the interrogation room you see the snitching
3:35
telling op I've been telling y for years I just wanted to give them props cuz they're incredible people yeah you know
3:42
they was there and then sometimes people get it
3:47
wrong I'm not saying that it was wrong yeah I'm like we not going to do that no we ain't G to go there okay no no but I
3:53
was but the point I was making to the point yes because this young man um
3:58
overcast who on the show had made a comment before freestyling that I'm going to do it anyway if I mess up I
4:04
don't care and Lupe said something I knew was tried true to his heart you
4:09
should care and when you came to me and said that I loved you for saying it
4:14
because I knew that you cared and I never forget that and from that it
4:20
helped me understand the type of artist you are and the type of person you are even outside cuz it's all intertwined
4:27
ain't it you know when I see you work on your craft and your skill set and you're
4:32
um doing martial arts and you're posting this and you're you're giving context even just through your movement you may
4:39
not even say nothing right but it make you pick up a book and go well let me let me use some you know let me research
4:46
this why is Lupe doing what is he getting from this and the fact that he's introducing us to this is incredible
4:53
right looking up um Samurai your name of your project is uh Samurai right m
5:00
and it made me think how man this is a black man right and he's working with
5:05
the long and the short swords and know I read a little bit about Samurai who is the first what do black
5:13
people matter what do they factor in this history right and I want to ask you
5:18
can you talk to us about that at all yeah um the the first person that I've
5:23
ever seen was samurai sword uh and then Samurai clothing you know uh call it eii
5:31
EI eii kogi which is the hakama the top
5:36
kogi um swords of katanas Dao Sho um was my Dad wow oh snap and I I
5:45
have to keep reiterating to people I did not learn karate or martial arts or the
5:51
samurai Arts from a Japanese person yes I didn't learn it from a Asian person at
5:57
all I learned it from my father father who was the blackest of the Blacky black grew up in the projects of Chicago
6:03
Robert Taylor Holmes black man learned it in Robert Taylor Holmes learned martial arts and taught martial arts in
6:10
the projects of Chicago right and all of his students so the next person I seen
6:16
with the S I saw it was another black man right and then the other person I seen first P person I saw D karate was a
6:22
black man and the other person IO was a black woman the first one first person I seen D Aikido was a black woman right um
6:29
first person I seen Judo was a black man so for me like for me it was black right
6:36
it wasn't like a different culture it was our culture because there was a Pan African flag in there and there was also
6:41
a jimbe drum and then there was also the hood and there was also these other things so for me it was never separate
6:47
from the culture and the way my dad always put it out um he learned martial arts from um a Korean guy um who was
6:56
teaching and he could only learn it from a Korean guy because Japanese people were told by the FBI not to teach black
7:03
people at the time cuz you you're dealing with black panthers and like even the gangs in Chicago Vice Lords all
7:10
these other things that were on watch from the FBI and it was like well we definitely can't teach them how to fight
7:16
you know that's why the nation Islam had to teach themselves their forms of martial arts in Jiu-Jitsu um but you
7:21
couldn't they wouldn't do it so it took like a Korean guy by the name of massin who's actually still alive in Chicago um
7:28
to teach my dad Judo you know teach him karate and teach him other things and then my dad took those lessons and took
7:33
him back to the hood you know and taught gangsters and and criminals and drug dealers and police officers and little
7:39
kids from the hood and every the range of Blackness so my martial arts experience to for me yeah is black and I
7:46
ain't got to get into you know Yas and histories and all these other things which you know I can start just from my
7:52
life and the reason a lot of people even know about samurai swords is because of
7:58
who Lup fias there you go man
8:03
nobody that's how they know like oh yo L yeah Lupe do the swords you know like
8:08
yeah that's how I seen the first you know um that's amazing yeah for me it's it's in all respect due to to every
8:15
culture and every every group of people but at a certain point you know like realize like for me it's it's Black
8:22
Culture uhhuh you know for me martial arts for me the way I was learned it the way I was taught where it was trained
8:28
where we were the people that we were fighting against it was Blackness it was Blackness Yas Yas is um um if you can
8:37
correct me if I'm wrong I feel like he was from mosm Beek and he was uh one of the the only recognized black
8:45
samurai that was non-fiction in the 1500s perhaps right yeah so his story is
8:50
different things right is he he has a cultural presence in Japan and there's also so there's been stories of yasuke
8:57
from Japanese people to Japanese people like internally about you know he was this this this this this black man um
9:04
who went up through through uh I don't know if I can't I only want to start naming things because I wasn't prepared to have a conversation about he was
9:09
serving an Italian Lord and then uh the person that he serves summoned him out because I guess that he black people
9:16
weren't around back then so he kind of that's what the story is that he summoned him out Portugues out of service and then he started serving um
9:23
nobuna I believe is noaga noaga okay and and served him until his death so that
9:28
so that's the stories are are weird because it's like the only people that had access the only European country
9:34
that had access to Japan for a long period of time was Portugal right so it would be and Portuguese had slaves right
9:41
the the people the first country that actually started slave trading with Africa out in terms of European context
9:48
with the Portuguese so the earliest artifacts of kind of slave trade come from Portuguese then get it's passed on
9:53
to like the Dutch then you know the French and then it eventually lands on the British you know all that stories so
9:58
there's something about what they Italians in Japan who were trading with Japan and had slaves and was able to
10:04
kind of you know swap out and stuff like that so my piece is like I think it was Portuguese okay um and that's how it
10:12
kind of went but the story is the same right there wasn't that many black people around they tried to wash off his skin because they thought it was just
10:17
like tall something like that right um but we got to take with a grain of salt at the end of the day what's the goal of the story at the end of the day the end
10:24
of the day okay what's the go story right we need more black Warriors today okay there's actually a film supposed to
10:31
be in production about his life uh that was announced back in April of this year so we'll see there was an anime that
10:37
came out too video games but the the moral of that story is we need honorable
10:43
uhuh right multifaceted able to be in mult in any culture got a black man who's
10:50
Incorporated himself so was he being like you know cultural appropriation right able to manage and work his way up
10:57
through this foreign kind of Peace at the highest level right and then also
11:02
fight and do these other things so we need more of that I hope that's the mor of the story not like oh black people in Venice Samurai yeah okay all right all
11:10
right I like that when when you say when you
11:17
say I will battle any MC go I don't care
11:23
see who it is I was waiting for it I hope it didn't have to go here now
11:30
I will B I don't care who it is old young or
11:36
new or otherwise I will battle any MC on this planet nobody's better than me
11:42
right yeah end quote end quote do I need a
11:49
question no what give me give me a question I to
11:55
no I'm not going to set you up I just when I hear about these trainings and I know the story about your father cuz we
12:00
covered it when a little bit when we came to Chicago years ago but I want people to hear it over and over again
12:06
cuz theyve tend to forget how does that your training you know these philosophies are are they you know they
12:13
they transcend into hip-hop they correlate into your you know your competitive Spirit or your spirit as an
12:20
MC right do that does that help to fuel that I will battle anybody yeah the same
12:27
way you know when you practice your Martial Arts is the the mentality is the same yeah I I give you a couple
12:33
anecdotes and trying to speak through them so we w't go too too long right okay so and you don't think about it
12:40
until you're 40 so I'm 42 now right and you don't think about you know how has
12:45
your because to me I even said it just now it's like I am rap like I don't I
12:50
don't try to do it like I just I that's how I think my brain is just in raps so it's not like I'm going to switch into
12:56
rap mode it's like n I'm going to just open up my mouth and then put a beat on and then raps are going to start coming out they going to be good I don't know
13:03
um so I've been doing martial arts my entire life you know since I I would say
13:08
before I was born because my mama was doing martial arts and I'm hearing you know sounds and I always told people I
13:14
could count Japanese because of the martial arts before I could count to to 10 in English right um but purely for
13:21
the martial arts simply because that was the language of the dojo was you know each right um we used to on the way to
13:28
my on the way to get into this goes to the competition the toughness and my mentality how I look at things how I come across I'm like a the rap David
13:35
goggin or some [ __ ] like that um to get into our Dojo to get into our school
13:41
right to that you could come in through the front door and it like a office and then you know you you talk you know that
13:48
secretary all that but to get into the actual Training hall right it was a bed
13:54
of rocks mhm and you couldn't wear shoes so every day that you're walking into
14:00
the dojo you have and out of the dojo you have to walk across this bed of rocks right so that's one then in there
14:07
in the dojo we used to stand on nail boards right so my dad made these nail
14:12
boards and used to sit and stand on the nail boards right um when we did our
14:19
black belt uh just training uh seminars my dad would make a bed of coals you
14:24
would start a fire get a bunch of coals then rake the coals out and you have to walk across the
14:29
holes uh he would he would put a boiling pot full of water and then he would put
14:35
all these items in it so he would put like weapons in it boards and he a big
14:40
Stone and put this big Stone in this boiling pot of water it would just boil for like the whole day and then when he
14:47
rolling he was like okay reach in there and get the stone oh and Ellis all the students the the the the threey old
14:53
students the whatever year old students all the students would had to get something out and so the wood would
14:59
float on top so people would just get the wood off top right but you had to touch that right
15:05
um there's a thing called the shenai which is used in the art called Kindle which is a bamboo sword and we would
15:13
standing whatever stands and my dad would just hit us light us up to the that was part of
15:19
our demonstration you couldn't move and he just hit you so for me like
15:24
physically and the things I've been doing physically since I was five yeah right and the thing my father would say
15:31
go fight them like you have to go fight that or go jump over that wall or jump out that window or jump over that car or
15:38
walk across that glass or run out in that snow or pick up that fire or catch
15:43
this Arrow right yeah so he would shoot arrows at us you know at the doo this is
15:48
all child abuse this is DCFS hey DCFS are you listen it's too late it's too late now too late now my father's passed
15:56
and I think the statue of limitations is up but this was a daily occurrence wow you know we this was our house this is
16:02
where we lived right um so take all of that and put that into like yo this dude
16:07
want to rap against you okay got it got it so so okay so Royce didn't know what
16:13
he was in for stop it stop it we don't talk about other people on this show okay all
16:21
right well I was thinking about that I know you were see it's happening it's
16:26
happening I didn't bring up no names here every day this is what was a
16:32
beautiful you know interaction but to the to the to the to that point you know I even even and you know shout to all
16:38
the Sosa it uh Chino xl's actually it um was was the reason that we call
16:44
ourselves it at he was a master member at S A grandmas actually because we the same thing with us after only you can
16:51
only like apply for your Masters at 20 years when you're in SOA um but anyway
16:56
or 10 years I apologize but anyway so even all those cats any given moment you
17:02
know on the on the Sosa uh WhatsApp group oh it's on and we talking the best
17:08
in the world yeah right so we talking about Osiris Anem my who's literally the three time best MC in the world best
17:15
freestyle champion in the world right um he's on there and it's like let's go
17:20
it's like [ __ ] you [ __ ] let's go like what's happening you getting destroyed right but then maybe you won't maybe you
17:26
might hit him with a little thing or catch a little piece that he did but at the all the time you're getting better so for me it's about any competition
17:34
anywhere okay in anything yeah if we going to run up the hallway if we F to lift some weights if we F you know do
17:40
whatever right okay cool let's go so that's just my spirit but it comes from that to your point right see that wasn't
17:47
so bad talk to the person it was B it was bad I know I know day every day okay let
17:55
me change the subject then first of all Samurai is an amazing project thank you okay like I for for my
18:03
taste you know I I'm going through songs like gez I don't understand how someone
18:09
who's rapped so long has so much fresh ideas and ways of rapping and presenting
18:16
it it's like it's like a style that ever that evolves just constantly evolves and
18:22
it feels like even you're so effortless when you was freestyling today that this is pure Mastery as far as rapping goes
18:29
in my opin so do you don't get writers block no more no writers block is a myth
18:35
okay once once you establish hey you you have to say it like you manifest like
18:40
that's a myth right then it becomes like you start to like why like so what about
18:47
it you start to pick it apart break it down like what are those what are those things that that uh that hinder you to
18:52
constrain you and then what you start to do is start to lean into those constraints like you lean into the
18:58
limitations right you start to realize that they not as big and bad as you thought that they were right um you
19:03
start to develop and you start to win against the constraints right you start to get comfortable with mistakes then you realize mistakes are just
19:09
opportunities to build and evolve into new things and that we are mistakes our body every day is making mistakes
19:16
adapting to certain things interfacing with different environments and different inputs and then we out of that
19:21
at a c either it could go bad you know too many mistakes you got cancer right
19:27
um too many builds up the other way though right you beat cancer right um but you gotta live it
19:35
you gotta do it but you know there's no writers block that's not a thing I teach that to my students there's no right
19:42
there's no set so one you have to turn in assignments right there's no now there's
19:48
no I couldn't do it because I had writers block there's no such thing as writers block yeah right yeah and you just proved it to me I don't know how to
19:54
Freestyle we freestyle every day you just did it right let's let's go so I try to remove as many excuses out of my
20:01
way and then of the out of the way that the people that are around me um for them to get better yeah to improve
20:07
what's been a challenge for you personally like to remove excuses
20:13
from you know I deal with that I'm a villain you know like that there days
20:20
where like y I'm a bad person you know like I've done some some bad [ __ ] um but
20:27
it it it's weird because I'll I'll I'll be down on myself I'll be feeling something you know I have an argument
20:32
with one of my business partners or you know I I get caught up into something personal right um and I'm just sitting
20:40
there soaking trying to come to terms with you know what what's the issue like how come how come every time I say
20:45
something and people take it harshly or you know rub people the wrong way everywhere you know every situation even
20:52
now with with uh with overcast when he in the lobby you came over water talk to yo but dog I said
20:59
I Said Lupe you got to know this kid he's up and coming he got beats you know this I think it might be a connection
21:04
here Lupe looked at me like [ __ ] he didn't say [ __ ] though he just looked at me but see I didn't take that no way I
21:13
got a rest in [ __ ] face you really it was a crazy I looked at him like I didn't take it no way I ignored
21:20
it right and then then y'all so so as as like as as trivial as that but the
21:27
possibility but I know I know what's going to I know what I'm doing like I kind want to know if he can really rap I
21:32
don't give a [ __ ] about nothing else yeah can you rap yeah right if you can't rap I don't give a [ __ ] what is
21:37
happening right that's just how at 42 I ain't got time right that's just what that is is it it it and so I don't want
21:44
to say trivial is that because we came up had the ill freestyle session and he can't he actually can rap so I'm out
21:49
there listening to his music and watching watching him like oh this you okay cool I got you um all the way to
21:56
like in the streets was [ __ ] like yo why you in these meetings with these killers with the resting [ __ ] face and
22:02
it's like cuz they Killers like I don't know how the [ __ ] I'm supposed to I'm supposed to look tough like what you supposed to do I don't know I know this
22:08
nigga's a thief this nig's that so so I'm trying to manage like my Persona and manage my output and and stay present
22:16
but also kind of like be wary of like how I carry myself my my partner chill
22:21
shout chill he just checked me the other day he's like yo you just can't be talking to [ __ ] like that and I like but I that's that's the only thing I
22:27
know I'm David gokin and shout out David so things so things like that that's that those things bail on me
22:33
really deeply to be honest you know and trying to I'm I'm managing how to do that how to kind of be a better per I
22:40
said to be a better person but the kick of what I was gonna get to and I I land on this is I would be soaking on that
22:46
thinking through that you see me like what L thinking about he's thinking about how he's a [ __ ] ban or something right um you know somebody
22:52
walk up to me like yo man you changed my life or like verbatim you the reason I
22:58
get up in the morning wow right and it kind of that duality of me down on
23:04
myself but then being like did literally this little white lady is the reason
23:09
that I'm the reason she gets up in the morning and continues to stay up and every day is a fight for her and I she
23:14
uses me to inspire her to get us like it [ __ ] me up in in beautiful ways yeah that doesn't sound like a
23:21
villain you know yeah you know I get that Lupe Fiasco is here man I always wanted to ask you about child Rebel
23:27
Soldier why you keep bringing up these contentious is that contentious it was
23:33
kind of contentious I didn't know that was contentious it's not for reasons that you think not for me and P are cool
23:40
me and yay are cool it's just that the fans feel like betrayed because the project never
23:47
happened yeah but then they blame me and it's like it ain't my fault it's kind of
23:52
like how he blamed you for the list and you threw it on other people wow you saying he's throwing it on other
23:59
so hea hea ain't got no loyalty huh is that what it is I'm just here for the fact I'm just here for the facts a
24:06
Quantum after we I to be any n any
24:14
anybody ABK that's just what this is It's the two richest [ __ ] in the
24:23
group y'all putting it on the poorest [ __ ] in the group to bring this
24:29
across the Finish Line right uh-huh P eating caviar golden sandwiches LV Y is
24:36
stitching up two different Rick Owens coats to wear in the shower type [ __ ]
24:41
you know what I'm trying to Corral these two like
24:49
godamn then just but it's your fault Lupe I can't what you mean anyway your question though I cut it off
24:56
so man but I I had read that were going to try to and tell me if it's wrong jump
25:02
started by doing things solo so I'm give you the whole story okay and it's it's not it's not long so there's super fans
25:10
of CRS right super duper fans even even shout out to vashy when V vashy just
25:16
shot our first video us places but that was like I'm talking decades ago or whatever ago but it was like fans people
25:21
like yo I'mma shoot that video If y'all in it or not I'm going to get some look likes and just go for it right um so
25:27
there's a lot lot of like fan momentum around it as a movement and like a cultural piece because the people involved the quality of it all that
25:33
right so it's it's real legit [ __ ] right you play with people hearts and emotions things happen right so we always talked
25:40
about it it kind of fell to the wayside it was NE it was never officially anywhere so it wasn't officially at any
25:45
label I think yay put out some stuff on a good Fridays um but it never like landed in the place and then again you
25:52
know [ __ ] get rich and crazy and [ __ ] Golds left right but that whole time is
25:57
incubating with people like Tyler like different folks so you like oh [ __ ] that CRS [ __ ] what's up and P reached out to
26:04
me I like yo Pete we got a like what's up and one of the talks was like yo we
26:10
old [ __ ] and Rich and doing other [ __ ] why don't we just get the dudes who would be us now and then just give them
26:17
CRS and let them do it you know and let such and such replace such and such and such and such replace such and such and
26:23
we did and it just feels like one of those I don't know if you're familiar with this group in Japan um called
26:29
Exile um they switched the members out right so it's like it's still Exile but
26:35
the members change like manood wow right y um it's like yo what that was this you
26:40
know CR CRS was the hip-hop Exile or something like that right um and then it
26:46
it kind of like that kind of went nowhere and it was like you know what [ __ ] it I'mma just put a record out the
26:52
the initial CRS was like me just rapping over radio head beats it started with me just rapping over radio head Beats cuz I
26:58
thought it was weird and left and people find it interesting and that's how you get CRS and you know for real names the
27:03
CRS yay want to be in blah blah blah and it's was like all right I'm going just go back to that original energy of me just rapping over radio head beats and
27:10
I'm just put this [ __ ] out and what happens happens and name it CRS so I did that okay called shrink okay out like
27:17
maybe a month ago I saw that and they sent the biggest cease and theist
27:22
what yeah radio head was like [ __ ] all that [Laughter]
27:38
I listen I tried I I'mma just I'mma just push it through right just go the same momentum that we first started we just
27:44
put something out let people attach to it and radi okay we going attach this lawyer to that [ __ ] okay you going to detach that [ __ ] from YouTube and I was
27:51
like all right cool so I'm I'm I'm stepping away from CRS okay thank you Lupe thank you brother I appreciate that
27:58
man so it ain't going to happen what else unless y'all get together what else I got you got other salacious
28:05
controversial no no no um that's why you bringing up the TV screen to hide no no
28:10
no but I can show this is just like some quick this ain't on there bro come on man uh it's a couple things you done you
28:16
did a song where you had AI what was the you did a song for the first that first song you did with AI um with Google with
28:24
Google I'm sorry um yeah text effects okay so buil the been at was when I was
28:29
my first year at MIT Google approached me shout out to all the Google folks here Google they based in New York soout
28:34
to all my peoples um they want me to be a part of their you know let's build a
28:39
project using machine learning and what do you want to do like I want to mind Bitcoin it's like we can't do that that
28:47
was a joke you a get that yeah no I got damn that work with a room full of white people like two weeks ago read the r
28:54
right [Music] it's after it's after
29:02
noon looking at we supposed to be off the air at no
29:07
all right anybody want to leave go ahead go ahead anybody want to leave go ahead it's fine he said it didn't work okay
29:13
but go ahead go continue so that so I was I want to do something make RPS okay right but I don't want to make something
29:19
that makes the WPS completely um I want to take my thought processes in the little micros that I call them I want to
29:25
create little you know little of the micros that I do so word flips or
29:31
uh acronyms or um even construction similes and stuff like that so they took
29:36
their large language model was called um uh I what was called at the time it's called Gemini now um or at least on the
29:43
front end um but it was called I think Bard or something like that uh and they built this thing called this text
29:50
effects engine on top of it which is basically like special effects for your writing process you know um it doesn't
29:58
write full wraps for you it just it kind of like um isolates and refines and
30:05
makes efficient those little pieces that I do so they map my brain out and we had a whole bunch of sessions and built the
30:11
interface and built built the AI we launched it last year um it won a bunch of awards um for for various reasons um
30:20
and it's still available today so if you know if you're rapper I built it for I want it to be like rappers yeah but it's
30:25
for writers word Smiths you know all these different pieces so can you explain that again I'm a little
30:31
confused can can you might explain it just a little bit more so meaning is it like a like a chat GPT like they're din
30:37
of AI like if I want to be a rapper and I asked it to can you write a rap song for me is that what it does so it it
30:43
trained off of your lyrics and off of your style not not my lyrics and my style the the the the little pieces of
30:51
my thought process when I go into writing a rap so it's like this is how I create simile so create an engine that
30:57
just creates simile is how I create simile this is how I break apart words so create a little engine that breaks
31:02
aparts words the way I break apart words so it expands like non tools total right which is representative of my thought
31:08
process but it you can't go there and like write me a rap like you can with chat GPT right make me a whole song It's
31:13
Not Meant to take the artist completely out the picture it's meant to kind of like accessorize and empower the artist
31:20
that's I want to give a little more time to that it's actually dope and so what we do is that that's called so in Aral intelligence there artificial
31:26
intelligence there's three spaces to it so it's machine learning big data right but what we talk about a lot is the Big
31:32
Data piece of it and a lot of biases that associated with these artificial intelligence and generative AI is that
31:38
these machines are not learning off a proper data set and so what happens is you get an output that's normally biased
31:44
or isn't complete or isn't good outputs so the fact that they were using a
31:50
Lyricist such as yourself to understand the lyrical breakdown the melodic
31:56
breakdown right the simulations are often used in rap as in terms of American literature so to to use you as
32:03
a human data set I think that is really revolutionary in a breakthrough and so I
32:08
wanted to make sure we gave that just a little bit more time because that's genius I didn't even know if they did
32:15
that but they literally used you as a human data set where normally a data set could be something like encyclopedia
32:21
that you have the machine read or like a recipe cookbook you know but it's usually based upon text
32:28
um and so the fact that they use you as as a human data set I I think that's brilliant sir oh thank you thank you me
32:35
me too aren't you glad I brought that up yeah you know what what I've been listen
32:45
I've been doing the past like two three years you know I've been doing a bunch of dope like a lot of dope things have
32:50
fell into excuse me have fell into my lap um glass of water craziest way so glass of water was you know me using it
32:58
so you know we we we we built it over like about I think maybe 16 weeks or
33:04
something like that and then we had do like once it was done we had to kind of do promo and stuff for it so me using it
33:09
to write glass of water co-write glass of water with the AI um was was like the
33:16
the culmination of like okay let's show people how to use it and like the power of it and that's just very Bas level
33:21
like it's it's it's folks that are much smarter than me who are able to take my thought processes and Elevate them even
33:27
higher um so but yeah it's a it's a fascinating kind of thing to see myself as a as a AI
33:33
you know yeah co-written by with AI yes glass of water so when when you do the
33:40
splits how does that work when you do what the
33:45
negotiation who gets the publishing is glass of water a song It's a song it was a song that I made almost like a demo
33:52
song to show you how to use how I would use text effects right okay um
33:58
and every everybody can check this out you can go to my YouTube page you just Google text effects Lupe Fiasco it'll pop up you can use it you can use text
34:04
effects it's text effect the the the website is a little long but if you just Google text FX uh Google it it'll pop up
34:11
and you can use it and work with it um but who owns the publishing um I don't
34:17
think it's a publishing issue because not to get in your business but it seem like there are some things negotiated you kind of in my business though no no
34:23
no no because I'm talking about the back end though it sounds like it's not a it's not a commercial song your
34:29
agreement is with Google on the back end but it's for users who want to use it but like a demo yeah it sounds like it's
34:36
not it's not for commercial use well no well that's the thing because it doesn't create full work okay you know it
34:42
creates what I call again micros so it might be a line in a record or it there's there's a there's a a tool
34:48
called scene right where you type in like um uh luxury limousine and it'll just
34:57
generate all these different scenes of like what a luxury might feel like or smell like cuz I want to get into kind
35:03
of the olaa factory aspect of of of of since like using rap we don't really use sense sense the way things smell a lot
35:11
um so okay let's push that uh and so it'll like create just scenarios just a
35:16
little line like the you know the the leather the red leather of in the back
35:22
of a limo smells like roses right and you can't put that into a wrap I mean
35:27
you you just be very just like brutal and put that in there but it's more so to trigger like thought process to give
35:32
you a vision and it give you multiple versions so it's like it's like a writing coach and but certain tools
35:38
certain tools are like a writing coach inspiration some things are very direct so some it'll give you aimile like luxury LI or limousine it'll give you
35:45
similes for limousine right um and then how you use that is up to you I was
35:51
going to say that I've never released anything commercially using text effects right not yet but I think the and I
35:58
think it's an interesting question conversation to be had so I'm lit not trying to get in your business no but this is a real
36:04
conversation about intellectual property right when it comes to G of AI it really comes down to IP right that's the
36:09
biggest issue that a lot of artists are afraid of when using generative AI is who gets a chance to actually own the IP
36:15
and particularly when these language models are learning off of something like this and so the reason why I said this isn't not understanding the full
36:21
context of it isn't for commercial use because it's a tool or a Aid to assist other MCS or writers into use it and so
36:28
once they use it as a tool it's just it becomes their commercial use if they
36:33
choose to use it but because of I'm not going to use Lupe but use a neutral example if they use me for example want
36:39
to do political news right if they want to know how I think about politics how I use it they're training off of my mind
36:45
so then once somebody goes to insert themselves how to use politics it's no longer mine yeah because I help train
36:52
the machine on how to use it so my deal is on a on the back end kind of dynamic
36:58
but if they use it to print for the New York Times as oped and they got paid for it that's on them but for me I I gave up
37:06
my mind and my intellect so it's it's a really fascinating conversation come on
37:11
Lupe is here man come on new album is Samurai okay the tour starts tomorrow
37:17
tour starts tomorrow and right here in New York come on the city that never
37:22
sleeps not a PE tickets are cheap I'm going got pull up in your Jeep your limousine yeah you want yeah when is it
37:29
tomorrow hopping be rapping over some beat free boys right here I'mma hit you with
37:35
the like a jungle gy I hear your uncle slim I hear your
37:40
auntie fat but I want all of them to come to the show I want them to rock and
37:46
roll hip hop and soul I'mma hit you with all types of variations it's going to be a scary place to do your bling to do
37:53
your thinging to do your thinging I'mma Jump Around I didn't say
37:59
Dingle I know that's what you thought but I didn't say that yeah the show the tour wait stop
38:05
the tour starts tomorrow in uh Brooklyn and then it goes I think like 20 cities
38:11
um I know we in Harford the day after Philly the day after that but you can go Lupe Fiasco docomo I know the last show
38:17
was uh in La okay November 25th uh November 10th we in Chicago uh we in
38:23
Atlanta somewhere in there Denver um couple Ohio
38:28
spots uh yeah we going to be San Francisco we going to be in the bay okay so yeah pull up Lup fiasc shows get a
38:36
ticket love you brother just want to tell you if I never told you I love you man I appreciate you absolutely man Lupe
38:43
ask got a couple more questions for now St that was easy Heather don't what
38:50
about the people you kept on hold this whole time say hi to them mad people what we here for hey I will say
38:56
something about ious xm's mix yes like the mix and The Mask cuz I got Sirius XM in my Jeep mhm it is very very clean and
39:05
vibrant and loud and I'll play the same song on like off my phone like off apple
39:10
or whatever off Apple music it's not the same it doesn't have the body you know but shout to Sirius XM for that you know
39:17
quality acoustical thickening yeah we try yeah we try man
39:23
we we wejust the levels the frequencies on the satellite to make sure that it projects properly extraterrestrial yeah
39:30
man very digital it is extraterrestrial look at that y somebody right right hey
39:36
Elizabeth you're in Texas we got Lupe on the line go ahead Elizabeth I'm so sorry
39:41
you guys had me laughing so hard so sorry Mr Fiasco my question to you is
39:47
where did you get the inspiration from the Sun the song Sunshine that I use on
39:52
my wedding day and thank you thank you thank you so much for that song
39:57
you're not a villain dog yeah come on you just said this Wow this about this woman I
40:05
kidnapped no I'm just joking that was a v a villain I had to make it no got to
40:11
put the villain in it um no it was it was a song about a woman I met you know and it was just like wow you and it's
40:18
dedicated to her you know she know who she is but yeah okay Liz oh that is so awesome cuz that's
40:25
actually what happened with me and my h um I met him through a mutual friend went to Canada go visit he loved me so
40:32
much ended up falling in love came to Texas moved in and we recently just got married so thank you I love congrat
40:40
waiting to this for you here listen to this list hey for you and your husband
40:45
hey come on all
40:52
[Music] right fresh to death she is
40:58
she is not let me she
41:04
is cut that off cut that off yeah there you go Liz oh L dang so yeah there's a
41:12
there there's a villain to that to this story for that song for real right so
41:18
for real charges too much for Beats I'mma just say that okay too much for Beats way too much for Beats at that
41:25
time this 06 056 and so couldn't afford a for real beat so I was like yo soundtrack make a beat
41:32
that sound like the nept that's what that is yeah that's how I knock off Neptune know that
41:41
all hello stabs hear it yeah oh yeah that is them you can hear it hear it's
41:49
that f gazy for real right there G for real hey Liz thank you Liz
41:55
you're a citizen okay Dre in Chicago what you want to say real quick that's villain Here song
42:01
about theft hey I want to say what up to L I want to say what up to everybody on
42:07
the morning show I appreciate all y'all I listen to every morning on the way to work citizen morning yeah hey for sure I
42:13
had I had a chance to meet y'all when y'all came up here to Chicago to the um to the Hooters downtown I met uh sway I
42:19
met you have the be and I met chy G as well I appreciate all yall I love y'all
42:25
hey funny story though I actually grew up with we
42:30
with yeah we these I had the bless be a part of tornado martial arts wow under
42:38
the under the Mastery of Master jaob oh wow what what school you know which
42:44
school um the one that we had right across the street from d what was that on 35th in michig 35th in Michigan yeah
42:50
yeah you know father marin oh no way your father since Marin you know we doing the the um we're we're planning
42:57
right now the memorial uh for my dad a celebration of his life in Chicago I
43:04
think it's November 11th so since mom my dad just told me about it like a couple
43:10
days ago he told me about it so yeah you know I'll be there for sure you know me I'm bringing my family through and everything that's love Dre hey what was
43:16
Lup like when y'all was younger did he had that that face he talked about the rest oh yeah for sure he he he always he
43:22
always had that face I'm not gonna lie to y'all man hey but he was the first dude that I actually thought was a cool
43:28
person that wore glasses no lie to you Lup he probably about six years older than me you know what I'm saying so I
43:34
was about seven or eight one time and I was talking to him and he used to tell me that he could shoot Fireballs through his like through his hands and [ __ ] you
43:41
know what I'm saying like l so I used the act like hey man I need you to I need you to show me how to shoot them Fireballs man he's like hey when you
43:47
turn 13 I'll show you how to shoot Fireballs I'm still waiting on him to show me how to do it okay wow you could
43:53
really what does that mean shoot Fireballs so so just real quick like anything did you hear me talking about
43:58
uh my dad and the school and stuff we had to do yeah absolutely with the nail boards with the Shai standing in the
44:04
stands getting hit on our arms our shoulders our legs um using our hands and feet to blow out candles like with
44:10
kicks and punches yeah man all of that [ __ ] is valid man for real for real yeah but do you do you do you generate fire in your
44:19
hands and throw it so so my dad okay has a has a technique that he only taught to
44:24
certain students where they could throw fire for I I'm I say it with the face
44:32
like I'm serious like he taught it was a certain technique it's a secret to it okay but you could throw a fireball
44:38
across the room wow a pre-generated fireball or you generated with your hands and throw it that's magic
44:47
okay so it's been a great day everybody
44:52
B martial art and there's magic you got a are we done I gotta
45:00
go who got to go I gotta leave okay cool D you're a citizen man thank you brother D don't against see BR just take one The
45:08
Last One S you been think he draggon ball right now I'm get that people find a way to
45:15
hate on this but I'm I'm I'm so serious like my dad taught student he got
45:21
certain students one of his students his name is Percy Bell um who actually was on the
45:27
Mortal Kombat did a did a like a traveling stage show so this the time
45:32
when Mortal Kombat was popping like the video game all that and they had did like the movie but then they did like a
45:38
stage show and one of his students name is Percy Bell Still Still Still instruct still teaches to this day it's one of my
45:44
father's top students and he was one of the the um the performers at the uh at the stage show and my father taught him
45:50
when he was like 14 15 had to throw fire from his hand yeah I believe you bro I
45:56
you know I'm just asking questions man you know C Brown you you take us home C Brown what's your question man man good
46:03
morning good morning thank you C Brown real fast Heather trying to go yeah already
46:10
already hea I damn don't mean to hold see I got you on the line seeway
46:16
was about to book out and I'm like you've been waiting for a long time you going to ask the last I appreciate I got
46:22
you I greatly appreciate y'all and I and I and I actually was another brother that came from Dallas and met y'all at
46:29
hudas in downtown Chicago so I show enough appreciate the love y'all gave me
46:34
that weekend uh just wanted to call in and get Lupe his flowers uh on my list
46:40
he is top five uh MC and uh you know anything good coming out of the shy and
46:47
anything good coming out of Little Rock that's where I'm originally from uh I'm going to represent and uh Lupe to me
46:54
represents the finance of what uh town has to live in my 44 years living so uh
47:01
much love to you Lupe and love the freestyle with you over and
47:08
uh apprciate bro thank you man wow man man hey thank you brown we appreciate
47:14
you brother thank you for your call that's that that's that Little Rock Chicago Gangster Disciple connection
47:19
right there that's banging and little I saw that I saw that on give us some beats so we can just and you just I'm
47:24
just RPP and fade me out and y'all can do whatever y'all need to do I'm going get up out of here give me some beat he going to say bye over
47:30
freyle wrap it up while we doing that we want to thank my man for coming by
47:35
overcast right salute to overcast salute to L light on the Mike hea hea Trac G
47:42
mik Mike my man D I go by the name of sway
47:48
swi say sity swiy swiy swiy swi yo Lupe
47:53
don't play take us home take us home we about to go back to the crib they say
48:01
that Eve came from Adam's Rib but I don't believe that uh you dig I think it's mitochondrial in da when they talk
48:08
about how we come from and where we stay that's how we play and you know we do this thing all day I'm on the on the
48:14
microphone up here with SED we on Serious XM you better text them and call them and tell them that he up there
48:20
doing something the Paul and they call him Paul when he was in the Bible but that's just me and my psycho I'm a
48:26
psycho off my cycle I'mma grab my rifle I'mma do something spiteful but I'mma be polite though they say he in case this
48:33
race in this space l got a rest in [ __ ] face switch Place switch States and jump
48:38
from the jam a shout to homie calling in from from Little Rock from Dallas and from Emily for that Sunshine one time I
48:45
ain't going to spit no more gun lines we going to talk about beauty and prosperity and doing things properly and
48:50
moving through the hood not sloppily or awkwardly we going to talk about who we voting for who we going for what we know
48:57
off shout to everybody who lost someone shout to everybody who don't Boss No One
49:02
shout to everybody who keep it all to their self and and prosperity and wealth and everything for Del and we talking
49:08
about mathematics we talking about not being crack addicts or having bad habits we talking about improving our tactics
49:15
being Masters and getting money from our masters we talking about not being blasted being plasted unless we talking
49:21
about being made in art being sculptures we looking out for the culture of vultures we shooting down Birds we going
49:26
to turn them into Popeyes and pop guys if they try to rock with us they not stopping us you know who I be Lupe on
49:33
the mic representing that m i t n the C hi
49:40
goodbye wow one of the dopest ever off the top
49:47
I've heard a lot I've heard a lot [ __ ] Lupe
49:55
Fiasco come on man Lupe man love this guy Samurai that's the name of the project hip hop is alive it's alive and
50:03
growing Lupe say his name three times Lupe Lupe Lupe on that note we have
50:10
nothing Lupe left to say
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