Hurt Me Soul

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## **from the album *Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor***

### **Label**

* 1st & 15th
* Atlantic

### **Producer(s)**

Needlz

"**Hurt Me Soul**" is a song by Lupe Fiasco, released as the 11th track from his debut album *Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor* (2006). Production was handled by Needlz, where Fiasco reflects upon his conflicting feelings towards hip hop music. He told *The A.V. Club*, "Early on, it was like, "Whatever, I don't like hip-hop." And then as I got into it, it went to the back burner. And then when I started making my own music, I was more about recreating what I was hearing. And then it got to the point where I was like "Hold on." I noticed that I had some control over what I was saying, and the effects that it's going to have on people. I wanted to focus more on the positive side of things, which are more in tune with my morals and ethics."

## Critical reception

Eric Thurm of *The A.V. Club* wrote, "Fiasco takes umbrage at the misogyny that permeates much of rap music ("I used to hate hip-hop / Yup, because the women degraded"), but gets pulled in nonetheless ("But Too $hort made me laugh / like a hypocrite I played it"). He eventually starts to call women bitches himself after dating an unpleasant girl, but he still feels guilty. [...] What distinguishes "Hurt Me Soul" from "Bitch Bad?" It isn't just the specificity of "Hurt Me Soul" as an examination of Fiasco's struggle, but also its acknowledgment that hip-hop misogyny is troubling in part because of the genre's social realism." *AllMusic* described "Hurt Me Soul" as "deep-thinking reflections," while *Pitchfork* named it as the album's "best song."

## Analysis

In the opening verse, Fiasco acknowledges his own hypocritical tendencies during his younger years, and even more so the overbearing presence of hypocrisy in the modern rap scene. Afterwards, he makes reference to the fact that contemporary rap music is being flooded with the glorification or subliminal promotion of misogyny, drug-dealing, materialism and violence. Despite his strong opposition for the genre, Lupe contradicts himself by questioning whether or not hip-hop should be criticized for such things. In doing so, he explains how rap legends such as 2Pac, Nas, Too Short, and Jay-Z (who are frequent sources for such glorification) rap about these subjects as they are in reality "coming true," despite the vulgarity of it all.

As the track arrives at the last verse, Fiasco lists a lengthy catalog of what he believes corrupts the world. Consequently, in the three different hooks, Fiasco speaks as a representative for numerous anonymous people suffering from this corruption, still bearing the general theme that virtually everyone on earth is susceptible to misfortune.

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Intro]

Astaghfirullah

Yeah

Yeah

This one right here, ha

I dedicate this one right here

To everybody out there…

You dig?

Uh-huh

Check it out

[Verse 1]

Now I ain't trying to be the greatest

I used to hate hip-hop—yup, because the women degraded

But Too $hort made me laugh; like a hypocrite, I played it

A hypocrite, I stated, though I only recited half

Omitting the word "bitch"—cursing, I wouldn't say it

Me and Dog couldn't relate 'til a bitch I dated

Forgive my favorite word for hers and hers alike

But I learned it from a song I heard and sort-of liked, yeah

Further, ice and glamorized drug dealing was appealing

But the block club kept it from in front of our building

Gangsta rap-based filmings became the building blocks

For children with leaking ceilings catching drippings with pots

Coupled with compositions from 'Pac

Nas's It Was Written, intermixed with my realities and feelings

Living conditions, religion, ignorant wisdom, and artistic vision

I began to jot, tap the world, and listen

It drop—

[Hook 1]

My mom can't feed me, my boyfriend beats me

I have sex for money, the hood don't love me

The cops wanna kill me, this nonsense built me

And I got no place to go

They bomb my village, they call us killers

Took me off they welfare, can't afford they health care

My teacher won't teach me, my master beats me

And it hurts me soul

[Verse 2]

I had to ghetto boy bop, a Jay-Z boycott

'Cause he said that he never prayed to God, he prayed to Gotti

I'm thinking, "Golly, God, guard me from the ungodly"

But by my thirtieth watching of Streets is Watching

I was back to giving props again, and that was bothering

'Bout as uncomfortable as a Untouchable touching you

The theme songs that n\*\*\*as hustled to seemed wrong

But these songs was coming true

And it was all becoming cool (Cool)

I found a condom on the ground that johns would cum into

And thought: "What constitutes a prostitute is the pursuit of profit

Then, they drop it

The homie in a suit pat her on the butt, then rock it

It seems I was seeing the same scene adopted

Prevalent in different things with the witnesses indifferent to stop it

They said, "Don't knock it, mind your business"

His business isn't mindin' that n\*\*\*a pimpin'—got it

[Hook 2]

They took my daughter, we ain't got no water

I can't get hired, their cross on fire

We all got suspended, I just got sentenced

So I got no place to go

They threw down my gang sign, I ain't got no hang-time

They talk about my sneakers, poisoned our leader

My father ain't seen me

Turn off my TV (Ugh, yeah) 'cause it hurts me soul

[Verse 3]

So, through the Grim Reaper sickle-sharpening

Macintosh marketing, oil field auguring

Brazilian adolescent disarmament

Israeli occupation, Islamic martyrdom (Woo)

Precise, yeah, laser-guided targeting

Oil-for-food bartering, terrorist organization harboring

Sand-camouflaged army men

CCF sponsoring, world conquering, telephone monitoring

Louis Vuitton modeling, pornographic actress honoring

String theory pondering, bulimic vomiting

Catholic Priest fondling, preemptive bombing

And Osama and Obama 'nem

They breaking in my car again

Deforestation and overlogging, and

Hennessy and Hypnotiq swallowing

Hydroponic coughing, and... (Woo!) all the world's ills

Sitting on chrome, twenty-four-inch wheels, like that

[Hook 3]

They say I'm infected, this is why I inject it

I had it aborted, we got deported

My laptop got spyware, they say that I can't lie here

But I got no place to go

I can't stop eating, my best friend's leaving

My pastor touched me, I love this country

I lost my earpiece, I hope y'all hear me

'Cause it hurts me soul

[Outro]

Yeah, whoa-oh

Hurts me soul

It hurts me so, soul

Whoa-oh

Hurts me soul (Yeah)

Whoa-oh

## References

1. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (October 31, 2006). "Lupe Fiasco". *The A.V. Club*.
2. ↑ Thurm, Eric (March 11, 2013). "Lupe Fiasco's "Hurt Me Soul" tackles hip-hop misogyny in 22 seconds". *The A.V. Club*.
3. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Food & Liquor – Lupe Fiasco". AllMusic. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
4. ↑ Fennessey, Sean (September 21, 2006). "Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor". *Pitchfork*. Retrieved September 17, 2009.