Cornel West

**Cornel Ronald West** (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, political activist, author, and actor. He was the former Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has written over twenty books, and appeared in *The Matrix* series as Councilor West.

## Background

For the title of his second studio album, Fiasco recalled seeing one of Tavis Smiley and West's talks in Chicago. They discussed of shifting the paradigm, where how you had to make the things that were seen as "cool" uncool. Fiasco was unsure if his own song "The Cool" stemmed from this or was coincidentally linked. In his song "Just Might Be OK," he mentioned, 'I ain't nicest MC, I ain't Cornel West / I am Cornel Westside, Chi-town Guevara.'

The two met for the first time at Calvin's Festival of Faith & Music on April 3, 2009, where they held a discussion. Fiasco named it as "monumental" and a "dream come true" for him. Afterwards, he performed to end out the night, and West joined him on stage for an embrace.

On October 20, 2010, West invited Fiasco to his lecture at Princeton University. Fiasco joined him on stage to discuss why he uses the n-word; social consciousness; parallels in his lyrics and Afro-American texts; censorship and the relationship between his [Muslim] faith and his life as an artist. To *Chicago* magazine, he was named as Fiasco's inspiration, where Fiasco said, "He's taken on the role as mentor for me, invited me to speak at Princeton."

On July 24, 2011, the two spoke at the Youth Leadership Institute (YLP) held in Los Angeles, California. It was organized by the Tavis Smiley Foundation.

In a 2012 Q&A with *Seattle Weekly*, West said of Fiasco, "Top-down is, of course, to have a president who cares about working and poor people. Bottom-up is to create a movement that puts pressure on the president. And you have to have both. Lupe comes out of the Occupy movement, he comes from bottom-up. Tavis and I embrace both. Lupe saying he doesn't vote—well, no, we disagree with that. But his major point was that the political system is broken. So for him that's not a major priority. He's got a right to that opinion."

To *The Joy Daily Show*, West said, "We gotta support the great hip-hop truth tellers. We gotta support Lupe. [...] But Lupe got my heart 'cause he got courage, he's fearless. Bold. Opinionated, but he acts on his truth. You see, that's a different thing, you see. [...] You can appreciate the artistic contributions for a lot of different musicians. But the ones that have your heart are the ones who are full of heart and deep love in taking a political risk over and over and over again."

## A Bluesman in the Life of the Mind

The celebration of West's retirement from Princeton, "A Bluesman in the Life of the Mind," was held on May 9, 2012, at the McCarter Theatre. Harry Belafonte, Fiasco, and George Clinton performed as guests to surprise West. Fiasco debuted lyrics from his song "Hood Now (Outro)" as a shout-out ('Ivy League was running really well then / They slipped up and let Cornel in.'), and talked about West's impact on his music and pop culture. Additionally, West inspired the album titles *The Cool* and *Lasers*. Before he performed "The Show Goes On," he said, "We don't die or retire. We inspire. The show goes on."

### Set list

1. "Superstar"
2. "Kick, Push"
3. "Out of My Head"
4. "The Show Goes On"

## Gallery

Photo by William ThorenPhoto by William Thoren
## References

1. ↑ "The Cool Wiki". *YouTube*. May 13, 2020.
2. ↑ Graff, Allison (March 13, 2009). "Faith and Music". *Calvin University*.
3. ↑ "Lupe Fiasco, Cornel West highlight day two of Calvin's Festival of Faith & Music". *MLive.com*. April 4, 2009.
4. ↑ McKeough, Kevin (March 21, 2011). "What Lupe Fiasco Is Reading, Listening to, and Wearing Right Now". *Chicago*.
5. ↑ Duong, Paul (July 24, 2011). "Lupe Fiasco & Cornel West at Youth Leadership Institute". *RapRadar*.
6. ↑ Kornelis, Chris (April 18, 2012). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422131654/http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2012/04/qa\_smiley\_west\_on\_music\_politi.php "Q&A;: Smiley & West on Springsteen, Lupe Fiasco, Obama, and Their Fight Against Poverty
"]. *Seattle Weekly*.
7. ↑ "Dr. Cornel West Discusses Obama, Violence in Chicago, Lupe Fiasco & Jay Z on The Joy Daily Show". *YouTube*. February 13, 2013.
8. ↑ "Video: Lupe Fiasco Debuts Lyrics From Food & Liquor 2 At Cornel West’s Retirement". *OkayPlayer*. May 17, 2012.
9. ↑ Kilpatrick, Alice (May 14, 2012). "Lupe Fiasco, Harry Belafonte, George Clinton take stage in tribute to Cornel West GS '80". *The Daily Princetonian*.