{shortcode-ced8eae55b1e66c770bfc3f33f297848e126ca54}
Wasalu “Lupe Fiasco” Jaco smiles at event attendees. A Grammy award-winning rapper and a visiting scholar at MIT, Lupe Fiasco led an event for Harvard Law School affiliates to learn about the Royal Game of Ur this March.
{shortcode-d19e780ffe4d1e1d7e8d1f2939e15d816a2bc2b4}
Wasserstein Hall, the location of Lupe Fiasco’s Ur event, is located at Harvard Law School. The event was hosted by the HLS Recording Artists Project.
{shortcode-ab4fef83a5135f31b9150397bf1b2858d402726f}
Crimson arts reporter Dylan R. Ragas and other participants watch as Fiasco explains the basics of Ur — the oldest board game in the world — which involves two players and originates from ancient Mesopotamia.
{shortcode-de12c3e5b5577026343a05723ac643e1b5849606}
Participants begin to play Ur. Harvard affiliates, including alumni, faculty, and students, were present.
{shortcode-24204a38bae8e9c1d66e6b904a3e9965d078751c}
Ragas asks event leaders a question. Sophia Hasenfus, organizer and staff member at MIT, explains that the société internationale d'UR has been “running tournaments, teaching people how to play Ur, [and] telling people about the history of Ur” through events like this one.
{shortcode-3834fd38a5637a185c8790690d84e89be88fca18}
Lupe Fiasco assists participants as they begin to learn Ur. Mo Light, participant and HLS alumnus, attended the event because he “heard that [his] friends were coming and that Lupe Fiasco was going to be here.”
{shortcode-da31e8c14e71750b8ec49ea6538ca45e1706e47d}
A group of participants gather to observe Ragas’s practice game. “What’s so funny is, when I was thirteen, I made a cover of ‘Words I Never Said’ and I uploaded it to YouTube, and I had to unlist it because it was terrible,” Light noted. “But I’m here to redeem myself and have a good night and play Ur.”
{shortcode-74734ff8efefabf94f97b0f8d738d584318d7aa4}
Players and observers smile, enjoying a game of Ur. The tournament was conducted with multiple elimination rounds, culminating in a one-on-one final competition for a premium Ur board.
{shortcode-14cc423f8004bd2c4b94c739c6d319bfdb01c2ee}
Lupe Fiasco holds up an Ur board, emphasizing that the tournament is structured for everyone to enjoy themselves and have a good time. Fiasco’s love for Ur is evident as competitors learned a lot under his guidance.
—Staff writer Stella A. Gilbert can be reached at stella.gilbert@thecrimson.com. Staff writer Dylan R. Ragas can be reached at dylan.ragas@thecrimson.com.