Sway in the Morning

***Sway in the Morning*** is a weekday morning radio show hosted by Sway Calloway on SiriusXM Shade45. Lupe Fiasco made several appearances in 2015, 2015, and 2018.

## Background

Fiasco first appeared in 2014, where he discussed the organization Henry Crown Fellowship, the program Stand Up to Cancer, and his upcoming album *Tetsuo & Youth*. He addressed that he did not perform at the inauguration, or tweeted at Beyoncé which said that his album was also coming out. (Someone created a fake tweet, and Fiasco faced backlash while his Twitter was on private; the person who did it apologized after.) Along with doing a four-minute freestyle, he promoted the single "Mission". The videos were uploaded to YouTube on June 4th and 5th.

In 2015, which was named as "one of his final radio interviews ever," he talked about "Deliver," *Tetsuo & Youth*, President Obama and Cornel West, and Kid Cudi. He also did a freestyle that discussed his career beginnings. He had explained on Twitter, "Now that my contract is over [with Atlantic Records] and I have other things that I'd rather be doing I get to make the decision to go back to the shadows." Both videos were uploaded on January 22nd.

In 2018, Robert Glasper appeared with friends including Fiasco, Rapsody, and Anthony Hamilton. Fiasco did a freestyle, which included the following lyrics: "My business is spitting the sentences / Like a judge though, innocent convictions / I don't love hoes / But sometimes I keep the bitches on my side, riches [...] You know my flow's domination / And coronations for the crowns, put it down / I like to boogie down from the Harlem / You know my stardom, I never bargain, I keep a deal though / My discounts so for real though."

## Captions

### 2014

The great Chi-town MC, Lupe Fiasco made his way to Sway in the Morning and blew everyone away with his dope 4-minute freestyle.

No word on when his album is dropping, but you can anticipate it this year. In the meantime, listen to him stand up to cancer in his "Mission" single on SwaysUniverse.com, and watch his epic freestyle above.

### 2015

In one of his final radio interviews ever, Lupe Fiasco stops by Sway in the Morning for an explosive conversation about his "best album," Tetsuo and Youth, candid thoughts on Chicago, and indifferent feelings about album sales.

While in-studio he stimulated our minds by asking which we'd rather have...

"A nice life with no hip hop, or f\*\*\*ed up sh\*t with n\*\*\*\*s rappin on the corner?"

Later explaining that it's "hip hop culture, not black culture."

Releasing his 10th album, Tetsuo and Youth, Lupe calls this his best project to date -- comparing it to history's best art and why/how it's value grew.

Fiasco carries on the candid conversation -- and holds nothing back -- while mentioning Kid Cudi and Azalea Banks. "F\*\*k him," and "F\*\*k her," he boldly states.

Before into his FINAL radio freestyle, Lupe names some up-and-coming rappers that inspire him. Even naming some Sway in the Morning-friends, Kendrick Lamar, Loaded Lux, Daylyt and more

## Freestyles

* 2014
* 2015

**Lyrics**
[Verse]

S\*\*\*a S\*\*\*a Sow

Love, love me now

In love cause I rap this

Feeling like Methodist, Baptist

So I church how I work

You know my worth

I search like emcees

In the dirt how I tempt these

As I go berserk and move purses, move curses, how I does it

And everybody wanna know exactly what was it

"Were you at the inauguration Lupe?"

I don't know, that sounds faker than a toupee

The line was kind of whack and it was kind of subtle but

I had to bubble up, she got a bubble butt

I like lookin' but I don't like hookin'

I be in the crack spot cookin'

Or was I? That may be rumor too

I got a tomb of two, on a mission

Introduce the young boy, west side, chi-town

My town, come through you gotta bow down

Uh, like Bow Wow, yeah

That's dog, Snoop Dogg

Who y'all? Too false

And as my true comes better

I feel like this, I put it together, like

God put birds together with feathers

And bones and beaks

That's how I do, every time that I speak

So who flew the coop? It was Lupe

Out the roof of the coupe

With the top down

Maybe in the trunk though

Where the emcees was kicking that bump so

I had to come though and hit them with the jump, oh

Now what's jump? Let's define that

Maybe it's when you rhyme like me, when you rhyme that

Uh, and maybe that fire, or maybe something higher

The temperature of the minister

I ether you like integers that's a negative

And one's and gun's I got plenty of them

But I'm cool, I'm calm, I'm positive

But I'll knock a n\*\*\*a head off with the llama, kid

Yeah, but, let's not provoke this, try and do this

Rap styles, no smoke shit

'Cause I don't believe in weed, I feel it holds you back"

And whoever told you that was lying, fire, dying, flipping

I'm glad they put lean off the market

Now you a target

Now let's hear them raps without that syrup, homie

I'm talking to you Tony. But who's Tony?

Is it Montana, Ma, Momma, Fontana

Cheese on the cracker

I live it, wine, cheese, everything that I believe

Ramadan coming, starts on June 28th

I get slim, get straight, uh, and that's how we move weight

You see was so fast that you didn't even catch it

I'll bring it back Ramadan we don't eat going ratchet

Like I'm working on the car, she love me like I'm working on her heart

But I'll be back there working on the bars, like it's Coyote Ugly on the stand

A man, uh, bring out the cam, you should film this, record this

Uh, at the Grammy Awards they reward this

Uh, because I do it with a pourpose

But not a porpoise, 'cause that's like a whale

I mean purpose and that's like a tail, never fail

When I do it, when they lock my homies up I bail 'em out as well

That mean I lock 'em and free 'em

That's how you do Lupe? And you give them per diem?

Yeah, these n\*\*\*as G's and they rock with me

We on the road they never stop with me

Shout out to D-boy, shout out to Anthony

Shout out to real n\*\*\*as, Rick Ross ad-libs

Woo, I kill n\*\*\*as, uh

And proceed to proceed

And put seeds in the ground with trees that grow leaves

Shout out to Yeezy, shout out to Barry

Shout out to Crespo my homie Sway looking scary

Was you gonna fuck Kanye up when you turned the mic off?

'Cause I would have done the same thing if that n\*\*\*a tried to strike off

But you know, sometimes you gotta let it breathe

And I know you got the answers, but they ain't got the questions

So you gotta make quanswers

That means you say the question and the answer at the same time

This interview shit, if you ain't know this is really interlude shit

I'm not even dropping hot bars yet, I do this

And my rudeness, exclusively clueless

I love Stacey Dash ass, explusive

Or maybe explosive another dosage

Shout out to Dosage out in Philly

Going really with Jazzy Jeff, now you know this

And I'm losing steam

It feel good, it's like a dream

Shout out to SZA, shout out my n\*\*\*as

TDE, Ab-Soul album coming on you n\*\*\*as

And we rocking *Tetsuo* shit

Mission dropping, weareonamission.org, oh shit

Oh no this your focus, the locust, the Lupe

The wrath, at, I'm out

**Lyrics**
[Verse]

Represent intelligence I did it before

When I came through, sold out all the albums in the store

Shout to Joey Bada$$, that's that, uh

Now we bout to backtrack

When I first started I was seventeen

Came up in the game, had a ring, had a chain, had some things

Shout to Chilly Chill man he showed me the game

Drove me around the city in the black, black Range

But now I'm back, at it attack

Had to do it again, and now we signed to Epic

But I ain't never stretched I got robbed on my first deal

And that's so real you wouldn't even know it

That was about nineteen and I didn't even show it

But I was the best rapper in the crew and they knew

Shout to [?] and shout to Butcher B

And shout to D-Low and [?]

Yea, yea, yea, and bring it back

We was raw dope records

Every single sector we was in, we would bless it

Howard home coming, I did that before

And they ain't even know

Now, was we in this, or what were you doin'

I signed to Arista next and I was brewin'

Shout to L.A. Reid, did my thing on the page

But never planted the seed to turn into a stage

Yea, I was growin' stage up

And when I got up on that joint, I was blowing stage up

Now, I'm back in the rage I said the stage twice

That's cause I set the stage, so nice

You ain't even catch it so I gotta bring it backwards again

On the stage I was attacking my friends

But I was attacking my foes, save no bitches and save no hoes

Sway, you know how it goes in these streets

How it goes in these beats, how I do it so sweet

How I do it so neat and I wrap it in a package

And I bow-tie that every time that I wrap it

I lost a little breath, this is real time rap

In real time, every time, I real rhyme that

Yes, yes, I will rhyme that

And they can't do it like I do, they try to but

You know it's blessings when you come through like this

Impressed like this and how I'm dressed like this

All black cause I'm mourning for my brother

I love Esco, they don't even know, how much above you

I don't place anything

I wed the game like a wedding ring

With a diamond set-it-ting

And you know I'm never settling

I rap burn things down like acetylene

I said this before, only wrestling with settling

I only settle if I wrestle with everything

And I mean it from the heart

From the time when I was in the park on the benches I was rapping

Snapping, trapping and doing my thing

Yea I did the street a lil bit, did the heat a lil bit

Did the beats a lot, and now I can't stop

I dropped my fifth one, I feel so proud

I hope you blow it up while you smokin' your loud

Or you sittin' in your room in the basement and you cherish it

Uh, every rapper I embarrass with the flows and the structure

The beats, rhymes and rhythms

How I give 'em, how I put it together in exorcisms

How it skz's like a schism

Bring scissors how I cut through the rhythm and bring it back again

And again, and again

Shout to all my friends, shout to all my brothers, all my lovers

I love y'all

And shout to Young Thugga, you a good lil dude

I like the way you rap too

See, there's blessings in this

It's a message in this, it ain't no testin' in this

Now, let's get back to the narrative I signed to Atlantic

And everything was good

Until Craig Kallman called WGCI and said "stop playin' Kick, Push"

We was like "what the fuck?!"

Fuck are you doin? Tried to bring my crew down

Tried to ruin us

But you didn't know what you was puttin' into in us

Then Chill got locked up and everything stopped

I wanted to stop rapping, but I couldn't

On the phone when I'm cryin' like "I couldn't"

But he was like "nah, you gotta carry on"

At least for me, your family, you gotta bury songs

That mean you gotta dead 'em

Every time you got in the studio he put the Glock to 'em and head 'em "bang!"

Yea, doin' my thing, shout to the gang

Shout to the man, it's how I maintain living in the mainframe

Should I ever do this before, again, I dunno it's the same

It's a shame but sometimes you gotta get on that paper plane

And fly to the other side of the earth

And show you truly what's your worth and your values

If they don't know you gotta show 'em how to

If they don't understand then you gotta make 'em over it

You gotta do it again, and again, and again, it's over with

## References

1. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco: "I Did Not Perform At the Inauguration" & Depression "That Never Goes Away"". *YouTube*. June 5, 2014.
2. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco Freestyle on Sway In The Morning | Sway's Universe". *YouTube*. June 4, 2014.
3. ↑ Lamb, Karas (June 5, 2014). "Lupe Fiasco Drops A "Top 10" Freestyle On Sway In The Morning & Talks Mission Against Cancer". *OkayPlayer*.
4. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco's Last Interview: Opens Up About New & BEST Album, Kid Cudi & President Obama". *YouTube*. January 22, 2015.
5. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco's LAST RADIO FREESTYLE on Sway in the Morning | Sway's Universe". *YouTube*. January 22, 2015.
6. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco)". *Twitter*. January 13, 2015.
7. ↑ Espinoza, Joshua (January 26, 2018). "Watch Lupe Fiasco and Rapsody Freestyle on 'Sway in the Morning'". *Complex*.