Added: 2 years ago
From: redmond24
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  • Thank you for that! Some edits should be made to the grammar of the writing but it was great.

  • The new Box --> Facebook! Fits perfectly to this song ;)

  • Can you translate this to stupid? lmao

  • @DXFan1269 i wish I still had my GameCube and that game

  • Madden 2007

  • Great song but I wish the analysis was in English I can't understand the lyrics so I would expect the analysis to make more sense instead it's just like the lyrics of the song.

  • Lupe fiasco is way under rated.. He is one of the few mc's that keep hip hop alive.... I do support artists I really like I did buy this song off iTunes.. Thumbs up if u support real hip hop!

  • dont get me wrong, im a giant fan of lupe and i think hes a genious but i think this interpretation is going into a little too much depth and is more confusing then lupe initially intended it to be when he first wrote it

  • I will describe this song whith one word : Masterpiece

  • is this song not called: never lies?????

  • @jonnyabc777 nope its called the instrumental

  • the underline meaning is truly amazing. not alot of rappers like him anymore.

  • Ive got to find the key.

  • i thought the box was a tv...

  • @Flesheater15 nah the songs about the comment you just made

  • This is his best song by far.

    Such depth. Such eloquence. And such a damn fantastic beat.

  • LOVE THIS SHIT.

  • forgot that .com to be exact

  • just go to rap genius

  • I've rapped this song at the poetry jam in my high school yesterday, and I got a huge applause. I had only done the lst verse from 0:19 to 0:55, but man it felt good to be speaking his words. Lupe is my inspiration.

  • Ive studied Plato, Descarte, Artistotle, and plenty of other philosophers. Lupe needs to be recognized in their light because he mindfucks the world just like they do.

  • @IWhoCreate idk what happened to lasers though.... it was a little straightforward

  • @SonicMentality Yeah everyone says that he was forced to dumb it down a little though. In some interview he talked about why he loved and hated that album. So lets hope he gets back to his old self in the future

  • @IWhoCreate I want to believe... but the dyed blonde hair and weird dread locks with kanye-esque clothing, i don't see him coming back.... 

  • PGR4!!

    

  • REKS is still the best artist out my friends

  • the box. is the tv. i went over this song in gen.

  • Lupe is the best! If you like lupe, check a rapper named Ry Geus

  • This is why lupe is so great!! his lyrics run on complexity.. here's a thought.. why don't labels hire him to write for the 95% of rappers on the radio or who can't write for shit! He'll bring hip-hop back just like that

  • @hiphopspriority30 Haha, sorry!..I didn't mean to dislike your comment! I agree with youu!

  • This is the most meaningful piece of poetry I've ever heard.

  • no the box is our way of thinking...being told whats kool, how to act...dress, feel....

  • "The Box" is TV, Lupe is saying that people are controled by the images they see on TV, what is a instrumental track? a track with no words right, with no voice. Lupe is saying the media has taken the voice from hip-hop, that nowadays people just do things simply because they saw it on TV "you cant tell me just who you are, you buy new clothes just to hide those scars" Lupe wants to promote thinking. The big wigs want us to be blind, so they can manipulates us

  • When I 1st heard this track I was blown away, Lupe is a lyrical genius. My personal perception of this song is simply 'Addiction'. Letting that addiction control you inside and out, basically becoming a slave to it. Also, not willing to let that strong addiction go and living your life in its shadow.

    Follow me for other thoughts: @The_Aberrant1

  • its either about the music industry, tv, steroetypes, or everyone thinking the same way... dunnpo too deep, everyone creates their own meaning

  • maniacal tangent- you tube that

  • the box? meaning the tv?

  • @letimarie89 Yep.

  • @letimarie89 think outside the box

  • Anour a guy watching too much TV

  • Am I the only one that heard this and thought of that one Spongebob where they get the box and Squidward gets all mad and goes out at night and steals the box?

  • @brianeatsrocks no i think its just you buddy ^^

  • Not only my favorite song on Food & Liquor but my favorite Lupe Fiasco song just incredible!

  • I love this song. Definitely is the best lyricist in the game. Also gotta say his first two albums were probably the best first two albums I ever heard from a emcee. xD

  • best part of the song 0:01-3:31

  • This song always gives me this vision where some one comes out of a drain pipe (which is Lupe Fiasco) like Mario but in the gear on F&L album cover, in a dark room with neon lights highlighting the clothes and stuff. And as slowly the camera turns theres cube boxes floating with question marks in the middle section. And as soon as the beat drops Lupe comes out rapping in front of the camera and points at person sitting in the corner of the room staring at a purple glowing box but his face can't>

  • @BIGMrighthere be seen.

  • i hsve been listenin to the this song 4 about 2 hours

  • This song reminds me of aristotles philosophical piece called the shadows on the wall, talking about human kind's dependency on technology. How they sit chained to walls and are forced to watch puppets move in front of fire. Well, they sit and see what the world is like on the wall, one man breaks free of the chains walks outside and is blinded by the light, being the truth, the cave he walks up to, being his ascension into a greater understanding of the world and the sun being the knowledge.

  • best part

    2:07 - 2:28

  • Whats the box?

  • @gatoraade2 I think I have it. Media (Such as TV and phones) come in boxes, so if you replace 'Box' with 'TV', it makes perfect sense.

  • Comment removed

  • Amazing.

    

  • Can you guys see the dislike bar?? yea neither can I.

  • @DommDaBomm what is 'dislike' ?

  • Pretty nice concept that holds a lot behind it.. As the media grows and has more influence on our society it'll be a little scary to look around.

  • One thing I thought 'the box' might relate to is the saying, "Think outside the box" under the whole thing of being creative and stuff. 'his voice' is the truth, and emcees vary, swaying from the truth to the false a lot in hip hop. And Lupe seems to be doing pretty well on the truth side for such a mainstream artist, cause its the underground that really holds the truth in hip hop.

    anyway songs that can carry many ideas for analysis are pretty awesome.

  • Mike Shinoda produced this song? Ahhhh, the greatest collide ♥

  • this song amazing never understood it trully untill watching this though amazing

  • Amazing song...

  • Ahhh back then when lupe was underrated :D

  • i love this freakin SoNG

  • i miss madden 07

  • i tohught the box was himself and he was listing to himself to much that it made him crazy

  • Damn, the URL at the end of the video didn't work D:

    I interpreted this song way differently. I figured it was about our addiction to our flaws; depression, ADD, low self-esteem, anything really. Locking yourself in a box. When you first get there, you check it out, you try to make sense of it. You watch the box, curious about how to get out. But as you get more set in your ways, you love the box; your favorite show is Your Own Downfall, and you hope they never stop it.

  • @Densoro You start listening to this THING that's controlling you; it makes you feel empty inside, so you try to fill it with whatever. Maybe you shop and you cop it, or maybe it's things like meaningless relationships, using people, drugs, sex, sitting in front of the TV all day, pick your poison. At this point, you can't tell me just who you are; you have no idea, all you know is this void that you've become because of your beloved flaw. You don't fix yourself because you don't want to anymore

  • @Densoro You could argue that the doctors are whatever genius diagnosed you. Maybe an ex told you that you're a dick and you never let go of that, maybe you were abused and told it was your fault, or hell, maybe actual doctors misdiagnosed you and you've been on the wrong meds for half your life to suppress your behavior. Either way, you never lied; you thought this was all true, so you just did what you could. But you never got the chance to say anything at all, and now you won't.

  • @Densoro As your video says though, interpretation's colored by your own personal experiences =P Maybe I'm just on too much of a self-actualization spree to see the true meaning, could be. But I'd love to hear somebody's thoughts.

  • 2:41 Dam bro way to prove a good point I like that.

  • i love madden 07

  • u are so right

  • i agree wit ukidscottcudi thumps up

  • Everyone trys to be different but in reality everyone trys to be the same. I'm gladwasalu muhammad jaco opened ny eyes. I think listening to all his music and doing all the research changed me as a person. Thumbs up for world PEACE

  • I'm sorry to say but to me the actual meanng of this song is that T.V is brainwashing and everything people see in T.V they try to do and most of society trys to mimic tv.

    " He just sits and watches the people in the boxes"

    Someone sitting on couch watching tv

    "Everything he sees, he absorbs and adopts it"

    Someone sees the newest iphone they go and cop it

  • Madden football 2007 made like this song! :)

  • What a plot twist at the end.

  • This song is amazing! Enough said!

  • Im in love with this song because you can interrupt it many different ways. i fit it into my life..he has the ability to take words, put them into a sentence and create a miracle. . .

  • I love this interpretation.

  • CHECK MY PAGE!! SUB AND COMMENT!! WILL SHOW THE SAME LOVE!!

  • MIND BLOWING SONG LUPE FnFuP!

  • the beat that starts at 10 seconds,what the hell is that from,it reminds me of something from metroid prime lol,but anyway lupe you are a hip hop genius,a god,listening to you is not even a hobby anymore,but more like a lifestyle and necessity.

  • neva lies neva lies uh

  • wow this song is very confusing...i feel like i have a basis of understanding but theres certain parts that question my understanding

  • @heeheemichealjackson thats the point dude, its a mimick of the understanding of life

  • I love listening to lyrics that make me think. Once I find myself slightly confused after listening to it the first time , I listen to it a couple more times to figure out the meaning. It's like a puzzle to me....I try to put all the pieces together to get the whole image.

  • @staynez IKR i love doin tht yhu know wht thay saY... great minds think alike

  • it all made so much sense when i read 'just look at what you are doing now...looking to the box for answers...

  • @duckduck114rsguy eminem and jay-z do talk about things important and meaninful there more so personal in their songs like you must love me by jay-z was a deep song also cleanin out my closet or white america by eminem you just gotta listen to them more

  • @duckduck114rsguy you must not listen closely enough to jay-z. although I would agree if you said he talks about himself too much, is a little too cocky, yes....but he's still a smart mother fucker and says some incredibly deep shit in his songs. check out "most kings"

  • Lupe is a great lyrical artist.

  • Anyone have the instrumental to this?? Please!

  • @youngeshoez95 The Instrumental to The Instrumental????

  • @gandalfr2d2 oh sit

  • They are wrong, this song is about TV and how it removes children's ability to express their true self. Instead they just sit back and try to mimic what they say people on TV have and do.

  • so box aint TV or media u_u ?

  • @xSoupp

    Nahh I think you're right. He's referring to the tv -> media -> government.

    But I believe he's hinting that the government and all this influence has placed us in a box (a mental one) and quite literally because we're all trapped in this system of capitalism.

    We ourselves are the key to our unlocking our box if we see past all the bullshit and realise they actually have no power over us.

  • @Super5thDimension humm right thanks for info, lupe owns in lyrics thats wassup..

  • penis!!

  • madden :D

  • @BIFF1221 hell yeah. best soundtrack ever to the worst madden ever haha madden 07

  • glorious

  • glorious

  • please do "dumb it down"

  • Easy to say shut it off but hard to do it! After so many years of being slaves to it's electrical brain leaching entertainment!!!! We are slowly being stripped of out true self and being placed as numbers! Like the movie I robot if you think about it robots taking Over in the future will was right! The media is too strong for the young voice!!! We are soon to be taken from our verses and being left with an instrumental !!!

  • higer level rap lupe is to complex for the current"dumb it Down" rappers out now

    -I miss fort minor Dx mike come back

    -Lupe & Cudi should collaberate that would be greatness in the making

  • And you can't tell me just who you are

    You buy new clothes just to hide those scars

    You built that roof just to hide those stars

    Now you can't take it back to the start...

  • I took it as someone is stuck inside "the Box" the box being a simple way of thinking.

    Lupe often comes with songs that are "outside the box " or "from left field". So basically a bunch of kids are listening to "Swag rap" and they want to be what they see and hear so they are then stuck inside the box not wanting to hear anything that isnt on TV and about bling girls and violence.. --" he just sits and watches the people in the boxes Everything he hears he absorbs and adopts it."..he blocks it

  • He remind me of someone I know so much..

  • I remember this being the first Lupe song i heard. It was on madden 07 and it just stood out more than any other song.I didn't know completely what he was talking about but I liked it so much that I started to search more and more of his songs.Now he is my favorite hip hop artist and he's helped change the way I think about certain kinds of "raps" and tings that go on in the world as a whole..this is my Lu story lol.

  • @dariano56 this was the first song i heard of Lupe Fiasco, i actually took off all the tracks on Madden 07 only this song played

  • @MrPhantomboss I did the same thing lol

  • Outlawz10BB this song came out way before all that "illuminati" hype.

    my guy everything bad in the world isnt cuz of illuminati. we are destroying the world as the human race.

  • @MrPhantomboss Finally someone smart. People who are not in illuminati have done much less to the world than the people who arent.

  • Man, I always thought I understood the meaning of this song perfectly, but lupe went way more into depth, like when he was talking about the locks and chains. I always interpreted the song as being about addiction in a way, the box being any external object or activity that influences human behavior.

  • illuminati people soo clear cant u see it lupe fiasco is telling you whats going on lupe the best rappper alive

  • 4 retards didnt understand wat lupe was saying

  • Ok first of all eminem is the best rapper, and lil Wayne sucks

  • @JONASxOBSESSION16 eminem is a retarded crack head he has no talent what so ever

  • @bptchargers Old Eminem was pretty good, but now he sucks

  • @InFamous5823 old em was ok to me

  • @bptchargers Yet yr the one sitting at the computer, probably in your moms basement, filling your nasty no girlfriend gut. trolling on people who have success unlike you.

  • @SkillrSilvia lmao your retarded 1 i have a girl 2 im an all state wrestler 3 im an all conference football player 4 im all county LAX player 5 i have close to straight A's get your pants out a bunch cause i said eminem sucks you throw a bitch fit you incompatent fool uncapable of completing the simplest of tasks

  • @bptchargers Yes and I'm a cowboy space astronnaut and my name is Bill Gates, I am a billionaire oh yeah I forgot i am also Lupe Fiasco and Jay-Z as well.

  • @NoHopeForGays lol check my shit up then fool want links vincent deramo (bridgeportcentral.edu) go to athletics then go to football im under the alll conferance team go to wrestling im under all county go to weightlifting i had the number 1 squat number 2 powerclean and number 4 bench and then check lax im also all county

  • @bptchargers yes check me out jayz.com i'm him yo

  • Im mad that im on LUPE FIASCO radio on Pandora, and Walk it out by DJ Unk came on. Wtffffffff

  • just to help you out dude. i advise you to stop Analysing Lupe's Lyrics before you brain explodes.

  • OMG man this song goes deep! keep doing what you doing Lupe!

    

  • real talk, lupe's single-handedly carrying the hip hop game on his back.

  • lil waynes new shit sucks cause it aint his his old shit aight

  • Fuck the box!!

  • hes talking about a TV

  • Ur all fags

  • yo guys, stop fucking replying on my comment unless you gonna say something actually smart.. when someone says wayne is a good rapper he/she is a fucking moron, end of discussion. this song explains ''and he never lies cause he never said anything at all'' why's that? cause all them fuckers sayin wayne is ''best'' is not THEIR fucking opinion! they just follow the crowd! another generic kid that listens what's popular. THINK for yourself, be different, USE your brain and recognize real hip hop!

  • @Plavsha Does that mean me and u are the "doctors"? Not apart of the brainwashed popular, but still apart of the box?

  • @Plavsha 80 pecent of people thought are not actually theirs. Thats what the "never said anything at all" line is talking about. They have done analysis of it. I never thought Lupe was this smart(I knew he was pretty smart but not on this level). He must do lots of research.

  • @Plavsha Bro, I agree completely, I hate obnoxious band wagoners that force their shitty music on the world, but you need to present yourself in a more calm and eloquent way, in order for people to take you more seriously. I could have written this comment in a very condescending way, possibly appearing hostile or immature, but I got my point across with no friction towards you or any other party. That's the true definition of "Food for Thought" the meaning behind Lupe's album "Food & Liquor".

  • al deze mensen maar zeggen dat lil bitch de beste is maar da valt wel mee er zijn zoveel betere rappers dan deze homos die zun reet verkopen vor beetje roem de beste zie je niet op tv want die hebben zelf respect en doen niet mee aan de comercie geeft mij maar de underground en de rest das gewoon fake

  • I always thought this song was a metaphor for TV (the box)... like how people are glued to their TVs and listen to everything it says and conform to society. Therefore everyones just an instrumental to whats going on around them with no voice. I guess everyone has their own interpretation tho haha

  • @LuketheJuke24 That's EXACTLY how i interpreted it too!

  • @LuketheJuke24 That's what i though too!

  • @LuketheJuke24 yeah when trying to listen to the song's depth I always interpreted as T.V. and Media.

  • @LuketheJuke24 i agree! its talking about how kids go doin whatever the tv tells em to do, buy etc. Lupe brings a real message! dont get me wrong lil wayne and young money are enjoyable but there words are empty they dont hit home like LUPES do. LUPE FIASCO>everyone

  • @LuketheJuke24 this is the best interpretation i'v read so far

  • @LuketheJuke24 it took you a paragraph to explain what took him an essay hahaha

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  • @LuketheJuke24 it is a metaphor for tv how tv controlls our lives this analysis is wrong its clearly about tv

  • @MREZoN3

    "The box" is referring to TV in particular but cultural assimilation in general. Just because the video never explicitly refers to TV, doesn't mean it is "clearly wrong"

  • @Caturdayz

    It seems to me that these lyrics can be interpreted in any number of ways, and therefore, there is no "true" meaning. I think it's all about how you interpret it.

  • AS FAR AS THE YOUNG MONEY LUPE DEBATE GOES, I LOVE THEM BOTH. LUPE IS A HUMANITARIAN AND AN ACTIVIST AND AN INCREDIBLY DOPE BRILLIANT EMCEE. ON THE SAME TOKEN YOUNG MONEY SPEAKS FOR A PEOPLE WHO SIMPLY DONT GIVE A FUCK AND LIVE IN THE MOMENT. WHETHER YOUNG MONEY IS WRONG FOR THE LIFESTYLE THEY PROMOTE IS UP FOR DEBATE, BUT THEIR MUSIC RINGS TRUE TO A CERTAIN AUDIENCE. IF YOU CANT GRASP THAT, YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY BE THE IGNORANT ONE.

  • @regularrah I understand what you're trying to say. I'm not trying to disrespect Young Money, but I'm just saying that Lupe deserves more credit.

  • @regularrah Not really its forced down everybody throat threw the radio. I mean come the fuck on man they put that wack nigga on every fucking track on the radio. Tell me that ant force feeding. He is a industry bitch point blank case closed. No defending that wack nigga, dude even goes as far as to rhyme the same word with the same word knowing the dumb ass masses will not give a fuck and still suck his dick.

  • OMG I JUST REALIZED THIS IS ON MADDEN! lol sorry i just realized the beat and intro. this guy is REALLY underrated.

  • Lupe is the most underated hip-hop artist. He has put out songs with actual meanings, while other rappers (aka Young Money), talk about pointless things that no one can relate to. Lupe deserves alot more credit.

  • @starwarskid01 lol YM talks about money and girls

  • @starwarskid01 Als,alot of people eithertry to relate to that young money crap, or they actually relate to it.... which is even more sad than the people just listening to it and thinking it's good music. lol

  • @jessdaman08 Exactly, people can't honestly be inspired about going out and killing or doing drugs. I can understand if someone justs listens to music like that, but if they take it to heart, they'll end up in a lot of trouble. That's why Lupe is one of the only positive artists we have.

  • @starwarskid01 You think Young Money raps about pointless things that no one can relate to eh? That's why when I sign on Facebook, all I see is people quoting Lil Wayne's songs and rarely this guy. Sure, Lupe is a great rapper, but don't compare him to Young Money. Perhaps you can relate to the song "No love" aha.