Rapper Lupe Fiasco certainly lived up to his name Sunday night as he got booted off stage during his headline performance at the StartUp RockOn Inaugural Celebration at the Hamilton in downtown D.C.
The rapper was already a controversial choice for such an affair, having called President Obama a “terrorist” in a 2011 interview with CBS.
At the party, Fiasco opened his set with his 2011 single “Words I never Said,” in which he criticizes Obama for the president’s silence after the bombing of the Gaza strip. He rapped the song over and over again for more than 20 minutes. “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn is a racist, Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say s---,” he continually rhymed.
The rapper also criticizes the War on Terror and questions the Sept. 11 attacks in the song, asking “9/11, building seven, did they really pull it?”
Audience members became increasingly irate as Fiasco’s endless loop continued, with loud boos and jeers.
After a staff member approached the performer to ask him to change songs, the rapper continued with his lyrics and his mic got cut, the lights were dimmed, but his band played on and so did he. When Lupe Fiasco refused to stop, several bouncers confronted the rapper with their backs turned to the audience. He was eventually forced to leave the stage to the outrage of much of the audience.
“We’re sorry Lupe Fiasco couldn’t join us tonight. It’s OK, not everybody always has their best night,” a voice reassured over the loudspeaker after Fiasco’s performance. He was replaced by a DJ.
A representative for StartUp RockOn declined to comment when asked if Fiasco’s personal beliefs raised any concerns when they were considering him to perform, or when asked how long Fiasco was scheduled to perform for.
The StartUp RockOn Inaugural Celebration was produced by Event Farm, HyperVocal, and Fighter Interactive to honor innovation and risk taking in startup businesses.
