As a rapper, one’s goal is to reach the proverbial mountaintop of their profession. Well, Lupe Fiasco did. Literally. Along with Kenna, Santigold, Jessica Biel and several others, the group braved the trip and found themselves at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest point and one of the largest mountains in the world.  The expedition was known as “Summit On The Summit.”

Obviously the group wasn’t climbing strictly just to say they climbed a mountain. The mission was to raise awareness for the global clean water crisis. Through no fault of our own, it is often easy to take clean water for granted. This isn’t true for many parts of the world, especially in many nations in Africa. We’ve all seen the commercials with young kids forced to live in the worst type of poverty imaginable. In many cases, even clean water is considered a luxury which is beyond difficult to comprehend.

This is a change for hip-hop. What Lupe did may come off as simply “climbing a mountain.” When you take into account he risked his life by braving the elements for a cause that benefits the world and not just his musical career, respect has to be given. By no means am I saying every artist needs to perform acts like this. What I am saying is, hip-hop needs to embrace this and broadcast it to the public as a positive because the next time a rapper is arrested and the media tears down our music YET again, we can at least show the commendable efforts of our culture.