At an unofficial inauguration party in Washington DC, thrown by StartUp RockOn, rapper Lupe Fiasco was given the boot after an egregiously repetitive version of his hit song “Words I Never Said”, which feature the lyrics “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist/Gaza Strip was gettin’ bombed, Obama didn’t say sh!t. That’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either. I’m a part of the problem; my problem is I’m peaceful.”
Apparently, after 30-minutes organizers decided to pull the plug on the performance, and deny that Fiasco’s set was cut short due to political reasons. “Lupe Fiasco was not ‘kicked off stage’ for an ‘anti-Obama rant,'” the company said in a statement. “We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act.”
The Washington Post reports that the party was meant to celebrate Internet start-ups and that StartUp RockOn, the party organizer, denies Fiasco was booted for political reasons. It has also been pointed out that Fiasco was asked to move on to another song, but refused.