Lupe Fiasco speaks on accusations of being unpatriotic, showing how he feels about certain aspects – the good and the bad – of America.

“Let’s just say that The Great American Rap Album, in its totality, both albums and all the music that’s in it is me trying to define what America is. Trying to figure out what an American is,” he contended. “If you truly are a part of something and even if you say you take the good with the bad, or the lesser of two evils, you still have to take into consideration the evils and you still have to take in the considerations of the bad.”

“America created Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth to make one of the illest hip-hop beats of all time; that’s American culture. America produced that, the beauty of that record. But America also produced Pine Ridge, South Dakota,” he told MTV. “That’s America, does that make you a bad person to recognize that and embody that?”

“What is being an American? What is being patriotic? Do you sweep that under the rug or do you try and help your fellow American? “Do you help them by bringing that situation to the forefront and letting people see it? “I know I get hit for it, but I’m gonna hit y’all back. Now you gotta tell me: What’s America? Is it just New York, is it just Chicago? Is it just the beautiful things?” he pondered.