Zachary Gottlieb

Kick, Push by Lupe Fiasco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl83mI69nX4

Kick, Push is the Grammy nominated first single released from Lupe Fiasco's debut album, Food & Liquor. It has been referred to as "a needle in hip hop's haystack of complacent songs." In this song rapper Lupe Fiasco tells the story of a boy and his love for skateboarding through a refreshing old school hip-hop style. Fiasco raps about the first minute the boy rode on his skateboard and how his passion grows for the sport as the boy ages and matures. The song has a “cool” kind of vibe to it with high and low horn sounds. I love how the song’s rhythm has high and lows, which reinforce the song’s illustration of the life’s ups and downs. The song’s lyrics discuss how the boy has to determine his own path and how skateboarding means so much more to him than just a sport. At first he fails but what little taste of success he gets keeps him attached. Eventually he grows to love it so much that it affects his lifestyle and even his love life.

I included this song in my playlist because I used to love skateboarding and because of its deeper metaphor comparing skateboarding to life. My favorite line is "Just the freedom was better than breathing they said.” I can relate to this because there used to not be a day when I wouldn’t go for a ride. It's like when you enjoy something so much, you can't live without it. He sings about how the boy falls and busts his lip but his determination pushes him to continue skateboarding and improving. I love the part “But he was feelin' himself Got a lil more swagger in his style,” this shows how all his effort paid off, it was worth it to him for this “swagger.” I remember when I used to skateboard I would use it as I way to escape all the commotion and chaos in my life. The feeling of just riding with the wind rushing by my face was very relaxing, just as it is to the boy in Fiasco’s insightful song.