Rapper
That is, until security escorted him off stage.
Lupe reportedly played anti-war song "Words I Never Said" for at least a half hour, according to Rachel Weiner at The Washington Post. The song says some strong things about president Barack Obama.
It includes lyrics like "Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist. Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn't say [expletive]. That’s why I ain't vote for him, next one either."
Lupe was told to move on the next song, but he refused, according to Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin. That's when the guards came up to take him off of the stage.
Here's what the StartUp RockOn organizers had to say about what happened:
"Lupe Fiasco performed at this private event, and as you may have read, he left the stage earlier than we had planned. But Lupe Fiasco was not 'kicked off stage' for an 'anti-Obama rant.' We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. 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. Lupe Fiasco repeated the one song for more than 40 minutes."
But sponsor Hypervocal did mention Lupe's political views:
Disappointed that an artist took opportunity to use an event celebrating innovation/startups to make a political statement. #StartUpRockOn
— hypervocal (@hypervocal) January 21, 2013
Here's a video of the incident — via NowThis News: