After Meek Mill accused Drake of not writing his own music, Lupe Fiasco wrote an open letter to all rappers.
In two Instagram posts, Fiasco advised artists on writing rap music. "To rappers from a rapper...simply write your own rhymes as much as you can if you are able," Fiasco wrote. "Ghostwriting, or borrowing lines, or taking suggestions from the room has always been in rap and will always be in rap."
"Rapping is not an easy thing to do. It's takes years of work and trial and error to master some of its finer points," Fiasco added.
He continued on to talk about how radio and commercialization hurt the world of rap. "It set up ambiguous rules and systems for success that don't take into consideration the quality and skill of the rappers craft," Fiasco wrote in the caption. "It redefined rap as just being a beat driven hook with some words in between and an entire generation has surrendered to chasing the format instead of chasing the art form," he added.
Fiasco also recalled the first time he heard Drake's music. "I vividly remember saying 'what kind of rap name is Drake?' The rest is history," Fiasco wrote.
He didn't leave out Mill. "Once while in Philly I went to do an interview in a shabby and very hood basement studio complex. I peeked into one of the rooms and it was this tall kid with his shirt off bouncing up and down in the booth with an energy that was electric," Fiasco recalled.
The rapper made it clear that he wouldn't take anyone's side. “At the end of the day, for better or worse, rap is alive even if some of its greatest moments are written by ghosts,” Fiasco concluded in his post.
Credit: INFphoto
images via Instagram from Lupe Fiasco