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Lupe Fiasco steers clear of attacking Obama in return to DC [VIDEO]

David Daniels Contributor
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SILVER SPRING, Md. — Lupe Fiasco doesn’t “give a f**k.”

“If you ain’t about peace, positivity and change, I don’t f**k with you,” said the hip-hop artist at a Fillmore Silver Spring concert on Wednesday.

The last time Fiasco performed in the Washington, D.C. area, security removed him from stage at a Jan. 21 pre-inauguration event after going on an anti-Obama rant and playing one anti-war song for over 40 minutes.

“Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist. Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit. That’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either,” Fiasco raps on the song.

He didn’t perform the politically explosive track on Wednesday.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, told The Daily Caller before Fiasco’s Fillmore appearance that he didn’t know what to expect from the artist — not knowing if Fiasco was still bitter about the inauguration concert — but he hoped Fiasco continued to use his platform and speak truth to power.

While Fiasco did not take aim at the U.S. government Wednesday, the music industry wasn’t off the hook. He called artists hypocrites who complain about violence, for instance, only to endorse guns in their music.

Watch (video has language):

If Fiasco had approached the performance with a political agenda, however, Yearwood said he would have backed Fiasco.

“If Fiasco was kicked off stage for speaking out, I think that’s wrong. We allow Kanye [West] to rant about Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z,” said Yearwood referring to West’s diss of the song “Suit & Tie” at a London concert. “For [Fiasco] to be in the position that he was in, that’s unfortunate.”

StartUp Rock On, the concert’s organizers, clarified Fiasco was not “kicked off stage” last month for an “anti-Obama rant,” but rather because the repetition of his anti-Obama rant “left the crowd vocally dissatisfied.”

Fiasco explained why he did not vote for Obama to Tim Westwood TV of BBC Radio two years ago. “I hate war and I hate people that love war,” said Fiasco shaking his head at Obama’s desire to take the war in the Middle East from Iraq to Afghanistan instead of pulling out completely.

Yearwood, like Fiasco, preaches peace, but he also promotes the importance of voting. Despite their differences, Fiasco has the Hip Hop Caucus’ support.

“Voting is key, it’s something people have died for … but I respect his opinion,” Yearwood told TheDC. “There’s no gun pushing you to vote — he has a right. He’s articulated his viewpoint, and I respect it tremendously.”

In 2011, Fiasco caught the attention of Bill O’Reilly and others for telling CBS News that Obama is “the biggest terrorist.”

Fiasco claims to be more anti-American government than he is anti-Obama. But this past summer, the artist aimed accusations of bloodshed exclusively at the president.

“On one hand, you have someone who is a great speaker, but kills little children — our president,” Fiasco told Power 99 FM’s Mina SayWhat. “I’m not talking about an accident. I’m talking about ordering a drone attack. Ordering drone attacks that go and kill mothers, innocent bystanders, children. Militants too, but the collateral damage. You’re responsible for that, too.”

The radio host defended Obama, saying his orders were not meant to kill innocent people, but Fiasco quickly countered.

“A drug dealer can say the same thing,” he said. “I didn’t mean to kill all the people in the restaurant. I was just trying to get that one dude who killed my cousin, just so happened that that little girl was there.”

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