Lupe Fiasco: 'I'm on both sides of police war'

Rapper Lupe Fiasco is torn by the ongoing war of words between African-Americans and the police because his siblings are cops.

Five Dallas police officials were shot and killed on Thursday night (07Jul16) as a gunman in the city protested the recent killings of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, who were targeted by cops in Louisiana and Minnesota.

And, as celebrities join human and civil rights activists in trying to make sense of the shootings and seek justice, Chicago, Illinois native Lupe, real name Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, admits he feels for both sides.

Taking to Twitter on Friday (08Jul16), he revealed two of his brothers and a sister are "active police officers", and his father was a former "state police deputy" in Illinois.

In a series of tweets, he wrote: "No matter what color you are please don't allow yourselves to be enveloped in this new vicarious fear that was born last night... Some of you will see it as a sign of pride... as a justice served... Some of you will see it as a lens to see black people at a distance through & as confirmation of a weak prejudice lurking maybe now revealed.

"About 95% of my friends & family have criminal records both federal and state. Currently serving time or recently released... 1 day my sister is asking me to borrow an AR-15 to start tactical training & another day one of the homeys needs a pistol cuz he got into it (sic)...

"I walk on both sides. And whenever something happens like this I always talk to two people, my sister the detective & my partner the convict. My partner says he always has to remind the murderers he's locked up with that they are in jail for killing black people too. Me and my sister talk about police protocol, crime in general, quotas, use of force, traffic stops and miscellaneous police politics."

He ends his lengthy missive by urging his fellow African-Americans to "Be smart. Be clear. Be safe", adding, "If you are not a police officer and you need to have a gun to go outside, it's a sign that you need to stay in the house. black or white."

Lupe Fiasco isn't the only star to speak out about the horror of Thursday night in Dallas - John Legend and Queen Latifah, who also has police officials in her family, have addressed the killings, while rappers Snoop Dogg and The Game took to the streets of Los Angeles on Friday (08Jul16) to join a peace rally.

Speaking at a press conference at the conclusion of the peace march, Snoop Dogg said, "We wanted to move in peace and show that L.A. can be unified... Today was the first step of many steps... This is a great start."