Rapper Lupe Fiasco thrown out of inaugural party after criticizing Obama during performance 
 
 By Arturo Garcia 
 
 Monday, January 21, 2013 7:11 EST 
 
 Rapper Lupe Fiasco was kicked off the stage during a party celebrating President Barack Obama’s second inauguration on Sunday night after performing a song that both criticized the president and indulged in 9-11 conspiracy theories. 
 
 Footage posted online by Now This News shows Fiasco, the headliner at the Start Up Rock On private event, performing “Words I Never Said,” which he released as a single two years ago. The song includes these lyrics, which can be heard in the video: 
 
 And these the same people supposedly telling us the truth 
 
 Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist 
 
 Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit 
 
 That’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either 
 
 I’m part of the problem 
 
 My problem is, I’m peaceful 
 
 The song also includes the lyrics, “How much money does it take to really make a full clip? 9-11, Building 7, did they really pull it?” 
 
 The video also shows Fiasco seemingly doing an a capella freestyle rap away from the microphone while members of the crowd cheer. Buzzfeed quoted Josh Rogin, a writer for The Cable, as saying Fiasco went on “an anti-Obama diatribe mid-set” and stayed on stage for 30 minutes without doing a different song. The footage does show Fiasco talking to security personnel before being led off the stage 
 
 Hypervocal, one of the three startup groups that organized the event, released a statement saying Fiasco’s performance was not cut because of its content. 
 
 “We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech,” the statement said. “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.” 
 
 Fiasco has a history of being outspoken about issues related to the Palestinian population. Two songs on his 2012 album Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 reference their ongoing differences with Israel; and two years ago he performed at the BET Hip Hop Awards wearing both a Palestinian flag and an Occupy Wall Street shirt. 
 
 Watch video of both Fiasco’s performance and his removal from the stage on Sunday, posted on YouTube by Mr. Viral News, below. 
 
 And the video for “Words I Never Said,” released in April 2011, can be seen below. ||||| Video courtesy Now This News 
 
 Lupe Fiasco was asked to leave the stage during his performance at an inauguration party in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. 
 
 The rapper had been repeating politically charged lyrics for an unusually long time when event officials forced him to stop, according to various attendees. 
 
 “So Lupe played one anti-war song for 30 min and said he didn't vote for Obama and eventually was told to move on to the next song,” Josh Rogin, a reporter at Foreign Policy, tweeted from the bash hosted by StartUp RockOn. “Lupe refused to move to the next song so a team of security guards came on stage and told him to go.” 
 
 Video of the incident posted online shows Lupe rapping part of the song “Words I Never Said” before he’s asked to stop. “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist,” he says. “Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say s—t. That’s why I ain't vote for him, next one either.” 
 
 Media company HyperVocal — a StartUp Rock On partner involved with the event — addressed what happened shortly afterward on Twitter. “Disappointed that an artist took opportunity to use an event celebrating innovation/startups to make a political statement,” the tweet read. 
 
 But the company later stressed that Lupe “was NOT kicked off stage for an anti-Obama rant.” 
 
 In an official statement sent Monday, StartUp RockOn said that organizers “decided to move on to the next act” to end a “bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied.” 
 
 A rep for the rapper didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 
 
 (h/t Tony Romm) 
 
 Read more about: Lupe Fiasco
– Lupe Fiasco chose an interesting venue to go on an anti-Obama rant: an Obama inauguration party. The rapper was performing at the DC party yesterday when he started playing an anti-war song that included the lyrics, "Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say shit. That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either." One reporter tweeted that the song went on for 30 minutes, and the rapper was asked to move on. He didn't, and video of the event shows him being escorted from the stage—but organizers say his words weren't the problem. Rather, according to Politico, one sponsor said organizers just decided to end the rapper's "bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied." The statement adds that the organizers support free speech, but an earlier tweet noted that they were "disappointed" the rapper felt the need to turn his performance into "a political statement," BuzzFeed reports. Another tweet from the audience calls Lupe Fiasco's performance a "nonstop, anti-obama rap," and the Raw Story reports that the song also included 9/11 conspiracy theories.