In “Words I Never Said” by Lupe Fiasco, he uses many strong images in the video to help contribute to the overall message he is trying to get through to the viewer of the government silencing citizens that speak out against them and telling lies to the population so they can get away with things that people would not agree with. When the video starts, a “spiritual leader” is arrested by the cops at a peaceful gathering, which sets the tone for the rest of the video. When Lupe Fiasco boards the bus, he is greeted by a bus driver who is wearing a mask that restrains him from talking. As he walks further onto the bus, everybody is wearing these except him. Lupe Fiasco uses this in his video with strong lyrics such as:

I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit,          Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets,         How much money does it take to really make a full clip?                      9/11, building 7, did they really pull it?

Lupe Fiasco speaks of 9/11 which was a tragic day in American history which is why people avoid speaking of it, due to the fact that people try to not speak of it, there are still many questions remain about possible conspiracy theories one of which Lupe mentions in this song by referencing Building 7. When he says did they really pull it, he is using the term “pull it” as a double entendre of them “pulling it off” as in making it happen, and “pull it” as the architectural reference of blowing a building up. Lupe is the only one unmasked in the video, as he speaks his opinions which he believes to be the truth about these situations, the police rush onto the bus and arrest him to force a mask on him so he can no longer speak, while everybody else just sits and watches. That part of the video may contribute the most to the lyrics he is rapping. The lyrics in this song are clearly stating things that he thinks is wrong with the government, such as the 9/11 cover-ups aforementioned and budget cuts effecting education for the children.  

The people sitting and watched Lupe Fiasco being detained and masked were not just there to show the silence, they were there to show the effort that society puts into fixing these problems. Lupe Fiasco states in his song:

Complain about the liquor store, but what you drinking liquor for?

Complain about the gloom, but when’d you pick a broom up?

Just listening to Pac ain’t gon’ make it stop

A rebel in your thoughts ain’t gon’ make it halt

If you don’t become an actor, you’ll never be a factor

Lupe Fiasco mentions these things because people will complain about the presence of liquor stores in the hood, but he does not blame the presence of the liquor store, he blames the people that are buying their liquor because without the demand there would be no need for it to be there. Tupac is mentioned because as one of the strongest political voices in rap, people will listen to his music and agree with the messages for change he is rapping about, but not take any actions to help promote that change. His final line in that verse may be the most interesting in its group. The line “If you don’t become an actor, you’ll never be a factor” could be another double entendre by Lupe Fiasco. One thing he could have meant with this line is that if people don’t actually take action upon something they believe in, how could they ever be a factor in the movement. He could have also meant that if you are not an actor or a person of fame and wealth, you may not have a voice in the corrupt society that we live in. This isn’t the only time in the song he mentions people not taking action, later in the song he comes back with another verse:

I think that all the silence is worse than all the violence

Fear is such a weak emotion, that’s why I despise it

We scared of almost everything, afraid to even tell the truth

So scared of what you think of me, I’m scared of even telling you

Sometimes I’m like the only person I feel safe to tell it to

I’m locked inside a cell in me, I know that there’s a jail in you

Later in the video, Lupe Fiasco breaks out of his prison cell and fights the guards on his way to freeing the spiritual leader. This displays his view on fear in his video. Where most people would have accepted the fact that they were arrested out of fear, he did not. He broke free and fought his way out because he believes in what he stands for and does not fear what people think of him. When he mentions that he is locked inside a cell in him, and that he knows there is a jail in us, he uses this as a way to let us know that he is aware that we all keep our opinions locked in our head out of fear of what others may think or just because we have been taught that it is better to just conform. But, due to his position in the world as a rap artist, he is able to let a lot more out than we are as average citizens, that is why he only has a cell inside of him where as we have an entire jail.

Also at the beginning of the video, Lupe Fiasco is seen placing a sticker that can be scanned on the side of the bus. The meaning behind this sticker on the bus does not come out until the end of the video. At the end of the video, the sticker is shown on the side of the bus. A girl in a mask walks up to the sticker, removes her mask, and then scans the sticker. Once the scan loads on her phone she looks down to read it and the text is shown on screen. In the text it says things that will make the individual strong such as “We will not compromise who we are to be accepted by the crowd”.  The weather and the girl’s body language play into this part of the video, while she walks up to the sticker, you can hear birds chirping and see that it is a beautiful day outside. Also, she smiles after she scans the sticker and is reading the message. Those play a part into the video because she has finally become a part of the movement for change and she is no longer afraid, and that is looked at as an amazing thing by Lupe Fiasco.