Alternative/Suggestion Post

     Consumerism is a broad problem among today’s society, but the topic of consumerism within hip-hop is a straightforward problem that has a limited amount of origins and also a limited amount of solutions.  This viral problem is comparable to global warming because they both do not pose any positive affect to the world and not to mention the various possible solutions are slow processes and contain features that consist of changing the way of society or habits of mankind.  For example, solutions to global warming would have to cut back on the use of traditional automobiles, and solutions to consumerism within hip-hop are for artists to stray away from past mindsets and lyrical tendencies.  In order to change the perspective of society concerning consumerism, artists will have to become educated about the effects of certain lyrics and the things they broadcast in their videos.  In other words, the hype of buying expensive clothes, cars, homes, and jewelry will have to die down and another positive trend will have to be created, such as being successful in the correct ways or finding a positive niche in life.  In addition, corporations or record labels should be encouraged to realize the affect consumerism has and limit the amount of revenue artist receive, which would allow them to obtain residuals from their annual tours and promo club visits. 

     Furthermore, Lupe Fiasco is an outlier type artist that successfully approaches topics that the majority of hip-hop artist would not consider.  It is a known fact that Lupe and his lyrics do not comply with the hype that other hip-hop artists present and he is often overlooked for taking this anti-consumerist role among artists.  He is also not afraid to give his perspective of other touchy subjects such as politics, international relations, and other situations such as war.  In Lupe’s song, Words I Never Said, he unleashes an onslaught of lyrics opposing crises occurring in America.  The message conveyed in this song is that politics are crooked and bias, but the main factor to obtain is that politics are consumerist based or consumerist fueled.  Without money, politicians have no power.    

     In the video, a young girl in a white dress appears to be captured for being open to the public about her perspectives and forced in a chair in a room with her hands and legs bound.  The young girl is then made to watch a video on a large screen of the atrocities of consumerism, drug use, and violence (Fiasco).  All of the characters in the video have an apparatus covering their mouth except Lupe and the girl that was indicted.  The song and video encourages listeners to speak out against the hype of drug use, violence, and consumerism (Fiasco).  In the end, this video's moral is to inform its viewers not to become tangled within the hype of the consumerism, the hype being the things projected in lyrics and videos of today's hip-hop culture.