Lupe Fiasco
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Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' (commonly referred to as ''Food & Liquor'') is the debut studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 19, 2006, on 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features production f ...
''. He also performs as the frontman of
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band Japanese Cartoon under his real name. As an entrepreneur, Fiasco was the
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of 1st and 15th Entertainment. Raised in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, Jaco developed an interest in hip hop after initially disliking the genre for its use of
vulgarity Vulgarity is the quality of being common, coarse, or unrefined. This judgement may refer to language, visual art, social class, or social climbers. John Bayley claims the term can never be self-referential, because to be aware of vulgarity is to ...
and
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
. After adopting the name Lupe Fiasco and recording songs in his father's basement, 19-year-old Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak. The group disbanded shortly after its inception, and Fiasco soon met rapper
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
who helped him sign a record deal with
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. In September 2006, Fiasco released his debut album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' on the label, which received three
Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
nominations. He released his second album, ''
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' (commonly referred as ''The Cool'') is the second studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released on December 18, 2007, by 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place during ...
'', in December 2007. The lead single "
Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...
" became his first top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After a two-year delay, his third album, ''
Lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
'', was released in May 2011 to mixed reviews; however, it became his first album to debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album was preceded by his highest charting single, " The Show Goes On", which peaked at number 9. His latest album, ''
Drill Music in Zion ''Drill Music in Zion'' is the eighth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released on June 24, 2022, through 1st & 15th and Thirty Tigers. The album was preceded by two singles, "Autoboto" and "Drill Music in Zion". Ba ...
'', was released in June 2022. In addition to music, Fiasco has pursued other business ventures, including fashion. He runs two clothing lines, Righteous Kung-Fu and Trilly & Truly; he has designed sneakers for
Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
. He has been involved with charitable activities, including the Summit on the Summit expedition, and in 2010 he recorded a benefit single for victims of the
2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...
. Fiasco is also noted for his
anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
views, which he has expressed in both interviews and his music.


Life and career


1982–1999: Early life

Fiasco was born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco on February 16, 1982 in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, Illinois. Fiasco is of
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
n descent, one of nine children of Shirley, a chef, and Gregory, an engineer. His father, a member of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
, was a prolific African drummer,
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
teacher, operating plant engineer, and owner of karate schools and army surplus stores."Biography Today", p.58 Fiasco was raised
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
on the West Side of Chicago on Madison Terrace housing project. At the age of three, Fiasco began taking martial arts classes. His parents divorced when he was five, and he went on to live with his mother, but his father still remained an important part of his life. He described his father's influence over the family by saying, "After school, my father would come and get us and take us out into the world—one day, we're listening to N.W.A, the next day we're listening to Ravi Shankar, the next day, he's teaching us how to shoot an AK-47, the next day, we're at karate class, the next day, we're in Chinatown...". In
sixth grade Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...
, he went to live with his father full-time in
Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor, Illinois, Dixmoor and Riverdale, Illinois, R ...
. His father lived next door to a
crack house A drug house (also called a trap house or drug den) is a residence used in the illegal drug trade. Drug houses shelter drug users and provide a place for drug dealers to supply them. Drug houses can also be used as laboratories to synthesize ( ...
and taught Fiasco to use guns to defend himself from drug dealers. Despite his unstable upbringing, Fiasco states that he was well-educated as a child, asserting that his parents exposed him to a diverse array of subjects and that reading was highly encouraged in his household. As a teenager, Fiasco participated in
Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...
competitions. His mother described him by saying, "He was a great spirited child. Smart, a bit complex; he kind of was a
loner A loner is a person who does not seek out, or may actively avoid, interaction with other people. There are many potential reasons for their solitude. Intentional reasons include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, religion, or personal consi ...
; he didn't hang with a lot of people...He always had the glasses. Always had a book bag over his shoulder and some type of a writing tablet." Fiasco initially disliked hip hop music for its use of
vulgarity Vulgarity is the quality of being common, coarse, or unrefined. This judgement may refer to language, visual art, social class, or social climbers. John Bayley claims the term can never be self-referential, because to be aware of vulgarity is to ...
, and preferred to listen to
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
; he idolized
clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
player
Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
. His struggle to learn to play an instrument led him to create
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
instead, which led to his interest in the lyrical aspects of music. He began
rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
his poems in the eighth grade, and upon hearing
Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...
' 1996 album, ''
It Was Written ''It Was Written'' is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album ''Illmatic'' (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for ''It ...
'', began to pursue hip hop. While attending
Thornton Township High School Thornton Township High School, often simply referred to as Thornton is a public high school founded in 1899, located in Harvey, one of the South Suburbs of the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The school is one of three administered by Thornton ...
, Fiasco met gang member Bishop G. The two became friends due to their shared interest in music. Fiasco's father allowed him and Bishop to make mixtapes in his basement, and the two gained notoriety at the school for their music. However, they were kicked off stage during their first performance because their
eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
musical style was not embraced by the hip hop community. Early in his career, he went by stage names Little Lu and Lu tha Underdog."Biography Today", p.61 Growing up, Fiasco was given the nickname "Lu", the last part of his first name, by his mother. "Lupe" is an extension of this nickname, which he borrowed from a friend from high school. "Fiasco" is a reference to The Firm song "Firm Fiasco"; the rapper "liked the way it looked on paper." He also said of his name, "You know how rappers always have names like MC Terrorist—like they're 'terrorizing' other rappers? I knew fiasco meant a great disaster or something like that, but I didn't realize that the person named Fiasco would be the disaster, and that you should be calling other MCs fiascos—not yourself...it kind of humbled me in a sense. It taught me like, 'Yo, stop rushing, or you're going to have some fiascos.'"


2000–2005: Career beginnings

When Fiasco was 18, he began creating music as a solo artist in his father's basement, even though his parents were not keen on having their son be a rapper. He scoured flea markets and secondhand stores, where he was able to find an old
mixing board A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic inst ...
and a
record player A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
, stacks of
vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...
, and mic stands. At age 19, Fiasco joined a group called Da Pak, which was influenced by other California
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...
pers such as
Spice 1 Robert Lee Greene, Jr. (born July 2, 1970), better known by his stage name Spice 1 (an acronym for "Sex, Pistols, Indo, Cash and Entertainment"), is an American rapper from Hayward, California. He began releasing albums in 1992. Career Jive Re ...
and
Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...
. Da Pak signed to
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
and released one single before splitting up. Fiasco later described the experience, saying "We had a song out about cocaine, guns, and women, and I would go to a record store and look at it and think, 'What are you doing?' I felt like a hypocrite. I was acting like this rapper who would never be judged, and I had to destroy that guy. Because what Lupe Fiasco says on this microphone is going to come back to Wasalu Jaco. When the music cuts off, you have to go home and live with what you say." After turning away from gangsta rap, he developed a greater appreciation of the lyricism of Jay Z and Nas. His mother also gave him a record of the influential group
The Watts Prophets The Watts Prophets were an American political poetry group from Watts, California, United States. Like their contemporaries The Last Poets, the group combined elements of jazz music and spoken-word performance, making the trio one that is ofte ...
, one of the first bands to use spoken words with music."Biography Today", p.62 Although he was without a group for the first time, Fiasco continued to record music. One of these first self-recorded tracks was "Could Have Been", which described the career options he could have pursued had he not begun rapping. He viewed the song as a turning point in his career that marked a drastic change in the subject matter of his music. "Could Have Been" was released as a demo tape and discovered by
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
despite the fact that no video was created for the song. Fiasco later signed a solo deal with
Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...
, but was dropped when president and CEO
L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer. He is the founder and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of Ep ...
was fired. During his short tenure at Arista, he met Jay-Z, who was the president of
Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...
at the time. Jay-Z referred to him as a "breath of fresh air", saying that he reminded him of a younger version of himself. Jay-Z later helped him get a record deal at
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. While Fiasco was working on his debut solo album, he released his mixtape series ''Fahrenheit 1/15'' over the internet, which gained notoriety by word-of-mouth. He remixed
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's song, "
Diamonds from Sierra Leone "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (originally "Diamonds") is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his second studio album, ''Late Registration'' (2005). The song was produced by West, Jon Brion, and Devo Springsteen. The producers, with the e ...
", renaming the new version as "Conflict Diamonds". With this remix, Fiasco wished to raise awareness of the
conflict diamond ''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mi ...
business. This caught West's attention, and he asked Fiasco to perform on the song " Touch the Sky" for West's album ''
Late Registration ''Late Registration'' is the second studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions ...
''. The song, which sampled
Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.
's "
Move On Up "Move On Up" is a song by Curtis Mayfield from his 1970 debut album ''Curtis''. Nearly nine minutes long on the album version, it was released as a single in the United States (Curtom 1974), but failed to chart. An edited version of the song spen ...
", became a hit in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number forty-two. After this success, Fiasco's first single "
Kick, Push "Kick, Push" is the first single released from Lupe Fiasco's debut album, '' Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. It was written by Lupe Fiasco and Soundtrakk, who also produced the song. It describes a love story between a male and a female misfit ska ...
" was released earlier than expected. The song was a love story about two people sharing a passion for
skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...
, a topic generally not discussed in hip-hop. Fiasco explained, " kateboarding culture isjust as deep as hip-hop. I'm not the greatest skateboarder, but I'm a damn good rapper, so I made a damn good skateboarding song." The single, and its accompanying music video, helped Fiasco get attention in the hip-hop community, and was later nominated for two 2007
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
. During this time, he recorded guest performances on
Tha' Rayne Tha' Rayne was an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singing girl group that was formed in 2000 and disbanded in mid–2005. Tha' Rayne was a trio consisted of two singing members and a DJ. The original members of the group were Yummy Bingham ...
's "Kiss Me" and "
Didn't You Know Don't, Dont, or DONT may refer to: Films * Don't (1925 film), ''Don't'' (1925 film), a 1925 silent comedy film * Don't (1974 film), ''Don't'' (1974 film), a 1974 film about the monarch butterfly * ''Don't'', a fake trailer from the film ''Grindho ...
" singles, and also on K Foxx's 2004 "This Life".


2006–2008: ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' and ''The Cool''

Jay Z assisted him in the production of what would become his debut album ''
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' (commonly referred to as ''Food & Liquor'') is the debut studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 19, 2006, on 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features production f ...
''. The title of the album is a reference to 'Food and Liquor' stores common in Chicago. He explains, "The store is where everything is at...Food to me represents growth and progression. You eat food and you get strength. You need it to live. Liquor is not a necessity; it is a want. It destroys you. It breaks you down. I can see why it's prohibited in Islam...I've always felt like liquor represents the bad, the food represents the good, and everyone is made up of a little of both." ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' was officially released on September 19, 2006. The album featured production from Jay-Z, Kanye West,
Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田 賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocal ...
,
The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...
,
Prolyfic Prolyfic (born David Lemar Ewing Jr. ; April 2, 1981) is an American Grammy-nominated hip-hop record producer, and songwriter best known for his work with hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco. Early life David Lemar Ewing Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois ...
, among others. The record spawned the singles "Kick, Push", " I Gotcha" and " Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott. The critically lauded album was later nominated for three
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
s including
Best Rap Album The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories ...
. Fiasco won "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" for "Daydreamin'". In the same year, he was voted by '' GQ'' magazine as the "Breakout Man of the Year." He also received four
BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
Hip Hop Award nominations, and it made it to number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number two on the Billboard
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
chart. That same year he participated in the first Cypher at the BET Hip-Hop Awards. In 2007, Fiasco announced his second album, ''
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' (commonly referred as ''The Cool'') is the second studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released on December 18, 2007, by 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place during ...
'', a concept album that expands on the story of the track of the same name on his first album. While recording this album, Fiasco's father died of
type II diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...
and his business partner, Charles "Chilly" Patton, was convicted of attempting to supply heroin to a drug ring and was eventually sentenced to 44 years in a correctional facility. These events greatly affected Fiasco and the subsequent themes discussed on the record. The disc was released in December 2007 in United States while the first single and video from the album, "
Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...
" featuring
Matthew Santos Matthew Santos is an American rock and folk singer-songwriter, musician and painter. His music was used in a series of two radio ads for American Family Insurance. For the record, Fiasco decided not to work with well-known producers as he considered it to be "too expensive", noting the commercial failure of his
Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...
collaboration, "I Gotcha". ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' was very well received by critics and was referred to as "one of the year's best hip-hop albums" by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. "Superstar", a semi-autobiographical account of his rise to fame, was released as the first single from the album, and peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Baseball's
Hanley Ramírez Hanley Ramírez (born December 23, 1983) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Florida / Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Cleveland Indians. Ram ...
,
Troy Tulowitzki Troy Trevor Tulowitzki (born October 10, 1984), nicknamed "Tulo", is an American retired professional baseball shortstop, who played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Colorado Rockies. He also played for the Toronto B ...
,
Ryan Zimmerman Ryan Wallace Zimmerman (born September 28, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman who played 16 seasons for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Zimmerman graduated from Kellam Hig ...
,
Gerald Laird Gerald Lee Laird III (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Arizona Diamondbacks. C ...
and
Ryan Braun Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Braun also played right field and f ...
have used "Superstar" as their at-bat song. The album's second single (released in the UK in April 2008) was "
Paris, Tokyo "Paris, Tokyo" is a Grammy-nominated third single from Lupe Fiasco's second studio album ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool''. It was first presented at the 2007 Lollapalooza in Chicago. The single was officially serviced to radio stations as of April 3, 20 ...
" – a song based around Fiasco's experiences of touring the world between his first and second albums. Moreover, in 2007 it was revealed that Fiasco, Kanye West and
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
had formed a group called
Child Rebel Soldier Child Rebel Soldier, shortened CRS, was an American hip hop supergroup composed of hip hop recording artists and record producers Lupe Fiasco (child), Kanye West (rebel), and Pharrell Williams (soldier). History Child Rebel Soldier was conc ...
. CRS initially released one single, entitled " US Placers" and featuring a
Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
sample. In an interview with ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'', Fiasco revealed that he was writing a novel about a
window washer A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mater ...
, aptly titled ''Reflections of a Window Washer''. In 2008, Fiasco and his band 1500 or Nothin joined Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour which also featured
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
and
N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Recor ...
. The tour stopped in several cities, including his hometown of Chicago. In 2008, MTV named Fiasco the 7th Hottest MC in the Game and announced that he was remixing ''The Cool'' with French
electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki ...
act
Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
.


2009–2011: ''Lasers''

At a performance in New Zealand in February 2010, Fiasco performed new material from the then-titled ''We Are Lasers'' for the first time. He claimed that the album was complete and waiting for a release date from his label, Atlantic Records. However, Atlantic feared that the record lacked commercial singles, and presented Fiasco with songs the label wanted him to record. Fiasco declined, as he was told he would not have any ownership of the songs. He explained, "I don't think the label cares about an album...People just want their number-one record." For six months, the cause of the album's delay remained unclear to the public. In response, Fiasco's fans created an online petition demanding that Atlantic Records release ''
Lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
''. The petition garnered considerable attention on hip hop blog sites as well as over 16,000 signatures. Fiasco stated that the petition "brought imto tears", and in response to the petition, Fiasco released a song titled "B.M.F-Building Minds Faster" to thank his fans. While waiting for ''Lasers'' to be released, Fiasco completed another album, titled '' Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album''. He was unsure if the ''Food and Liquor II'' would ever be released, though he released the song "Go To Sleep" from the record "out of desperation" to put out new music. He also pursued numerous side projects in the midst of the delay. In April 2010, Fiasco formed the hip hop collective All City Chess Club along with Pharrell,
Asher Roth Asher Paul Roth (born August 11, 1985) is an American rapper. He is best known for his debut single "I Love College". Roth released his debut studio album ''Asleep in the Bread Aisle'', on April 20, 2009, by Universal Motown, SRC, and School Bo ...
,
B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...
,
The Cool Kids The Cool Kids are an American hip hop duo composed of rappers Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish. The Cool Kids' music had been released primarily to the independent Chocolate Industries via their own label C.A.K.E. Recordings. Reed and Inger ...
, Charles Hamilton,
Blu Blu or BLU may refer to: Businesses and brands *Blu (Italian company), a telecommunications company *Blu Manga, an imprint of Tokyopop * blu eCigs, a brand of electronic cigarette owned by Imperial Tobacco *BLU Products, an American mobile phone m ...
,
Diggy Simmons Daniel Dwayne "Diggy" Simmons III (born March 21, 1995) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, model, and actor and the fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons of Run DMC. He is currently acting on the hit show ''Grown-ish'' as Doug Edwar ...
, Wale, J. Cole, & Dosage. The group has so far made one song, a remix of Fiasco's "I'm Beamin". Additionally, On July 16, 2010, Fiasco released his
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
side-project Japanese Cartoon's debut EP ''In The Jaws of the Lords of Death''. Japanese Cartoon was influenced by a variety of musical genres, with Fiasco saying, "I've always been a fan of all music...Hip hop is just something I actually know how to do but I always had aspirations to participate in other forms of music. Once I got to create some hip hop, it was like, 'Okay, what am I going to do now?' So my artistic side was like, 'Yo, let's do some rock music.'" More than two and a half years after the album's completion, ''Lasers'' was released on March 8, 2011. The first single from the record was " The Show Goes On", which samples " Float On" by
Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...
. "The Show Goes On" debuted at number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The lead single peaked at number 9 since then. The producers involved on the album include Alex Da Kidd, King David "The Future" and Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, while featured artists include
Skylar Grey Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Mazomanie, Wisconsin. In 2004, at the age of 17, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music ...
,
Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...
, and
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...
. Upon the album's release, ''Lasers'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 204,000 copies. Despite the album's commercial success, ''Lasers'' received mixed reviews from most music critics.''Lasers'' Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Retrieved on March 20, 2011
Writing for
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, editor Andy Kellman gave the record three out of five stars and criticized its "lumbering, overwrought choruses", writing that "If there is one MC whose rhymes should not be dulled for the sake of chasing pop trends, it's Lupe Fiasco". ''Lasers'', however, was nominated Best Rap Album, with "The Show Goes On" nominated for Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song at the
2012 Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted t ...
. Lupe Fiasco later involved himself at the
Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest Social movement, movement against economic inequality and the Campaign finance, influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, Wall S ...
movement where he donated tents and released a poem in support of the protesters. He also released his "Friend of the People: I Fight Evil" mixtape on
Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...
.


2012–2013: ''Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album''

Fiasco subsequently released ''Food & Liquor 2'', as well as put work into a joint album with fellow Child Rebel Soldier & All City Chess Club member Pharrell. Prior to the album's release, he revealed that there would be no more mixtapes after "Friend Of The People: I Fight Evil" prior to ''Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album'', which was planned to be a double-disc with Part I set to release in fall 2012. Its lead single, the Simonsayz and B-Side produced track Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free), was released on May 21, which stirred controversy from an infuriated Pete Rock for using a sample from
They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is a song by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, inspired by the death of their close friend Troy Dixon (better known as "Trouble" T. Roy of Heavy D & the Boyz) in 1990. The song was the lead single off their debut album, ...
. Rock said that he felt "so violated" by the use of the sample, although the original track itself used samples from Tom Scott and
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
. In 2012, Fiasco also collaborated with Australian singer
Guy Sebastian Guy Theodore Sebastian (born 26 October 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter who was the winner of the first '' Australian Idol'' in 2003, judge on Australia's ''The X Factor'' from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2016, and coach ...
on the single "
Battle Scars "Battle Scars" is a song performed by Australian recording artist Guy Sebastian and American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released digitally in Australia and New Zealand on 10 August 2012 by Sony Music Entertainment.Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
studio when Fiasco was in Australia for
Supafest Supafest was an annual music festival held in Australia during April, created by Paper Chase Touring and Entertainment PTY LTD. It started in 2010, spreading out to in five major capital cities (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney), t ...
, and is featured on Sebastian's album ''
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
''. It debuted at number one in Australia in its first week, becoming Fiasco's first number one single. On 21 August it was announced "Battle Scars" would be included on Fiasco's fourth album, '' Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1'', and was released as the fourth single in the United States on 28 August 2012. It reached number 71 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Chart, number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Digital Song Chart and number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Chart.R&B/Hip-hop Digital Song Chart 15 September 2012
Billboard.biz. Archived fro
the original
on 13 September 2012.
The song spent 20 nonconsecutive weeks in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and reached platinum certification. "Battle Scars" spent six weeks at number one in Australia, and has been certified 9× platinum by
ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
. It also reached number two and double platinum in New Zealand and number two in Norway.VG Lista - Top 20 Singles. Issue 49 2012
VG Lista VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...
. Archived fro
the original
on 7 December 2012.
''Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1'' was released on September 25, 2012. The songs "
Go to Sleep "Go to Sleep" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the second single from their sixth studio album ''Hail to the Thief'' (2003) on 18 August 2003. It reached number two on the Canadian Singles Chart, number nine on the Ita ...
" and " Bitch Bad" were also released as singles. The album received generally positive reviews from contemporary
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 70, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 18 reviews. It was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the
55th Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...
. Originally, the album was set to be released as a double-disc album, but Atlantic Records did not allow this arrangement, so the album was divided into two. It was confirmed that a Part 2 will be released in Spring 2013. Lupe has said the album showcases more of his dexterity and lyrical substance. S1 has confirmed to be producing on the album. On January 17, 2013 he canceled the plan for the release of the second part of the original double disk. He then said that he would release another studio album in 2013.


2013–2015: ''Tetsuo & Youth''

On February 10, 2013, on the red carpet for the Grammy Awards he announced his fifth studio album would be titled ''
Tetsuo & Youth ''Tetsuo & Youth'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. The album was released on January 20, 2015, by 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. ''Tetsuo & Youth'' was supported by the lead single, "Deliver". The albu ...
''. Since then, he has released songs that are not slated to be on ''Tetsuo & Youth''. These songs are "Light Blue" and "Jonylah Forever." Upon hearing her name in Lupe's song ''Form Follows Function'',
Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music. Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...
reached out to Lupe on Twitter to give a thank you which led to Fiasco asking her to appear on his next album making her a possible guest artist on ''Tetsuo and Youth''. On August 4, 2013 Lupe Fiasco revealed a new song would be released on September 11, titled "Peace of Paper/Cup of Jayzus". On August 24, 2013, Fiasco revealed the first song from ''Tetsuo & Youth'', "Crack", featuring
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...
. Then on October 3, 2013, Fiasco announced the Tetsuo & Youth Preview tour to take place between November 2 and December 15, 2013. The tour featuring label-mate
Stalley Kyle Alfonso Myricks (born October 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Stalley, is an American rapper from Massillon, Ohio. Music career In 2008, Stalley made his mixtape debut, titled ''Goin Ape'', with fellow Ohio-native rapper Terry U ...
as a supporting act, and The Boy Illinois as an opening act. He also revealed the album ''Tetsuo & Youth'' would be released in early 2014, but was later postponed to 2015. On October 14, 2013, Fiasco released the first supposed song from the album, "
Old School Love "Old School Love" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco. The song was released on October 14, 2013, in promotion of his fifth studio album ''Tetsuo & Youth''. English singer Ed Sheeran contributed vocals to the song's hook. ...
", featuring singer
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
. Then on October 21, 2013, Fiasco revealed that
Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he started his musical career in 2005. Af ...
and
Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...
would also be featured on the album. On May 19, 2014, Fiasco released the first promotional single before the announcement of the album's track list. "Mission" is a track to empower those facing cancer, revere cancer survivors, and remember those who have passed due to cancer-related illnesses," he explains. He has teamed up with
Stand Up to Cancer Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) is a charitable program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). SU2C aims to raise significant funds for translational cancer research through online and televised efforts. Central to the program is a telethon tha ...
as a celebrity ambassador. Together, they are planning collaborations tied to the track that will be unveiled the same year. On June 24, 2014, Fiasco released a second promotional single titled "Next to It" which features
Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...
on the hook. Most recently due to the Ferguson riots of 2014, Lupe Fiasco has ended up on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
feuds with fellow rappers
Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. In 2 ...
and Kid Cudi. The feud between Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco has not been resolved and has reportedly become worse, with Lupe Fiasco making threats on MTV. On August 29, 2015, Lupe surprised fans with a new free mixtape, entitled ''Pharaoh Height'', featuring six new tracks that carry Egyptian-themed titles with cuts like "Valleys," "Kings," and "Pyramid."


2016–2018: ''Drogas Light'' and ''Drogas Wave''

In April 2016, Fiasco announced that he would release a final three albums (''Drogas'', ''Skulls'', and ''Roy''), later becoming ''Drogas'', ''
Drogas Light ''Drogas Light'' (stylized as ''DROGAS Light'') is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released by 1st and 15th Productions on February 10, 2017. This is also his first album under Thirty Tigers following his departure from Atla ...
'', and ''Skulls'', but in October 2016, he announced he wouldn't release those albums between October and January and past 2017 would release new music. On December 12, 2016, Lupe released his "N.E.R.D" freestyle (named after the funk rock duo of that name and over the instrumental to J. Cole's " Everybody Dies"), which included the line "Artist gettin' robbed for their publishing/By dirty Jewish execs that think his alms from the covenant." Brian "DJ Z" Zisook of hip-hop website DJBooth, who is Jewish, wrote an editorial denouncing that line for its alleged
anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
. After "N.E.R.D" was apparently removed by
SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...
for "hate speech," Lupe ultimately tweeted that he saw the situation as a sign from God to retire from music for good, announcing the cancellation of ''Drogas,'' ''Drogas Light'' and ''Skulls''. However, he announced ''DROGAS light'' would be released on 10 February 2017. The new album will be distributed through the record label
Thirty Tigers Thirty Tigers is an American entertainment company which offers music marketing, distribution, and management services to independent artists. It is based in Nashville. History The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland ...
. In March 2018, Fiasco premiered a three-part television documentary called ''Beat N Path'' where he embarked on a journey around China to follow his passion for martial arts. This documentary is a tribute to his late father who was a grand master and ran a martial arts school in Chicago. His experiences will help him write his next single called "Air China". The documentary aired exclusively on KIX in Southeast Asia. On September 13, 2018, Fiasco announced that ''
Drogas Wave ''Drogas Wave'' (stylized as ''DROGAS Wave'') is the seventh studio album by American hip hop music, hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released by 1st and 15th Productions and Thirty Tigers on September 21, 2018. This album is a follow-up to h ...
'' will be released on September 21, 2018. The album is the second part of a planned trilogy of albums, with ''Drogas Light'' as its predecessor followed by ''Skulls''.


2022: ''Drill Music in Zion''

Fiasco's released ''
Drill Music in Zion ''Drill Music in Zion'' is the eighth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released on June 24, 2022, through 1st & 15th and Thirty Tigers. The album was preceded by two singles, "Autoboto" and "Drill Music in Zion". Ba ...
'' on June 24, 2022, through 1st & 15th Too and
Thirty Tigers Thirty Tigers is an American entertainment company which offers music marketing, distribution, and management services to independent artists. It is based in Nashville. History The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland ...
. It was preceded by two singles, "Autoboto" and "Drill Music in Zion".


Artistry


Influences

Jaco's influence include Nas, Jay Z,
Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...
, AZ,
De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...
,
N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...
,
Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...
,
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
,
A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip
, Q-Tip,
Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
and
Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...
.


Lyrical style

Fiasco, along with rappers
Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...
,
Mos Def Yasiin Bey (; born Dante Terrell Smith, December 11, 1973), previously and more commonly known by his stage name Mos Def (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. His hip hop career began in 1994, alongside his siblings in the s ...
and
Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
, has been credited as a pioneer of the conscious hip hop movement, which focuses on social issues. Subjects touched upon on ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' include absent parents, terrorism, Islam and religion, war, and prostitution. Fiasco attributes his interest in social issues to his highly cultured upbringing, as he describes his mother as "very intellectual" and his father as a "
Renaissance man A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
". He rejects the
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
common in hip hop, which he discusses in the song "
Hurt Me Soul "Hurt Me Soul" is a song written by rapper Lupe Fiasco. The Needlz-produced track was released in September 2006 on his debut album ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. Before the opening verse, you can hear Lupe say "Istaghfirallah". In the opening ...
". Despite this, Fiasco is strongly opposed to
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
in music: "If we're going to
ensor things The following people have the surname Ensor: * Abram G. Ensor (died 1959), American politician * Arthur John Ensor (1905–1995), British-Canadian painter and industrial designer * Beatrice Ensor (1885–1974), English theosophical educator and p ...
that are offensive, then we are going to have to blind and deafen everyone. Come on, man. Let's focus on education and literacy and poverty." Fiasco employs various lyrical techniques in his songwriting. The rapper views hip-hop as a medium conducive to storytelling, a primary element of his lyrics due to his background in theater. He wrote plays as a child, which had a strong effect on his songwriting approaches. Fiasco utilizes both
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
s and literal statements in his work, which he describes as "getting from point A to point B in as few words as possible". His use of metaphors is exemplified by the song "Gotta Eat" from ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'', which is told from the perspective of a
cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger topped with cheese. Traditionally, the slice of cheese is placed on top of the meat patty. The cheese is usually added to the cooking hamburger patty shortly before serving, which allows the cheese to melt. Cheese ...
and addresses the poor nutrition in black communities in the United States, while using a continuous metaphor of drug dealing and hustling.


Philanthropy and business ventures

In 2001, Fiasco co-founded 1st & 15th Entertainment with Charles "Chilly" Patton. 1st & 15th is an
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
separate from Atlantic Records named after the traditional twice-monthly paycheck dates. Although his albums are released by Atlantic since he is under contract with it, most of his works are usually produced by 1st & 15th and its in-house producers. Although Fiasco was initially to serve as vice-president, he became CEO after Patton was convicted on drug charges. Fiasco and singer Matthew Santos were two of the most recognizable signed artists. In November 2009, Fiasco announced he would discontinue the 1st & 15th label: "It was just such a 'this isn't right for you right now. This isn't gonna work for you right now. You need to be focused on you. Do you really want that, do you really have the capacity to do it?'" In March 2013 Fiasco took to Twitter to announce that he had become the Creative Director at Higi, a scoring system based in the Chicago area that helps you to discover more about yourself so you can look, live and feel better. In 2005, he founded Righteous Kung-Fu, a company that designs fashions, sneakers, toys, video games, comic books, and graphics for album covers and skateboard decks. Fiasco also runs a fashion line out of Righteous Kung-Fu called Trilly & Truly. He has sponsored a skateboard team and has endorsements from
DGK Skateboards Stevie Williams (born December 17, 1979) is a professional skateboarder who was included in the twenty-seventh position of the "30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time" list that was compiled by ''Transworld Skateboarding'' in late 2011. Early li ...
. In January 2006, Fiasco signed with major footwear and apparel corporation
Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
, becoming part of the "O.G" marketing campaign where rap artists such as
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
and Mike Jones designed their own personal colorway of the Reebok "O.G" model. In 2009, Fiasco performed in ''
The People Speak The People Speak is an online community of young people who want to get involved in global issues. The community engages people of all ages and backgrounds in thoughtful discussions about the value of international cooperation for the United State ...
'', a documentary feature film that employs musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian
Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a politica ...
's '' A People's History of the United States''. On January 7, 2010, Fiasco joined musician
Kenna Kenna Zemedkun, known professionally as Kenna, is an Ethiopian-born American musician, philanthropist and technology creative. His track "Say Goodbye to Love" was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in the 2009 Grammy Awards. Kenna ...
, actress
Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Biel be ...
, and other celebrities and activists for an expedition to the top of
Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
called Summit on the Summit to raise awareness of the billions of people worldwide who lack access to sanitary drinking water. On January 20, 2010, Fiasco released a track called "Resurrection" with Kenna in response to the
2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...
. The song, part of a compilation released through the charity
Music for Relief Music for Relief is a 501(c)(3) charitable trust founded by the rock band Linkin Park in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Throughout its first twelve years, the organization responded to over 30 natural disasters across four continen ...
, aimed to encourage donations for immediate relief and long-term recovery following the disaster. Between 2020 and 2023, Fiasco has been a visiting scholar and artist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, often in collaboration with Professor of Digital Media
Nick Montfort Nick Montfort is a poet and professor of digital media at MIT, where he directs a lab called The Trope Tank. He also holds a part-time position at the University of Bergen where he leads a node on computational narrative systems at the Center for ...
.


Personal life

Lupe Fiasco is an avid gamer and likes to play the ''
Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' series of
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s. He surprisingly won an exhibition match of ''
Street Fighter V ''Street Fighter V'' is a fighting game developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, Windows in 2016. An Arcade game, arcade version exclusive to Japan was released by Taito in 2019. Similar to th ...
'' against professional player
Daigo Umehara is a Japanese arcade fighting video game player. He specializes in 2D arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and or "Ume" in Japan, Daigo is one of the world's most famous ''Street Fi ...
in 2016, defeating him 3-2 using
Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
.


Religion

Lupe Fiasco has stated on MTV's Rap Fix, as well as in various other media, that he is Muslim and that
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
"plays a part in my life and everything I do, to a certain extent... I don't like putting my religion out there, I don't like wearing it like that, because I don't want people to look at me as the
poster child A poster child (sometimes poster boy or poster girl) is, according to the original meaning of the term, a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters or other media as part of a campaign to raise money or enlist ...
for Islam. I'm not. I don't want them to look at my flaws and be like, 'oh, that's the flaws of Islam'." His mixtape series ''Fahrenheit 1/15'' featured a remix of Kanye West's "
Jesus Walks Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
" entitled "Muhammad Walks", which went on to become very popular in the Muslim community. He can be heard using Islamic recitals in "Hurt Me Soul", "Little Weapon", "Hi-Definition" as well as the intro and outro tracks to ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor''. Lupe Fiasco has endorsed the idea that Islam will some day "be the world's religion and conquer the world."


Political views

In an interview with
Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
on the satirical news show ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'', Fiasco stated his credo on political philosophy: "You should criticize power even if you agree with it." In another interview in June 2011 on the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
program '' What's Trending'', Fiasco discussed the political content of his music, stating, "My fight against terrorism, to me, the biggest terrorist is
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
and the United States of America. I'm trying to fight the terrorism that's actually causing the other forms of terrorism. You know, the root cause of terrorism is the stuff the U.S. government allows to happen. The foreign policies that we have in place in different countries that inspire people to become terrorists." He additionally criticized Obama for his stance on the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...
. Fiasco says he did not vote in U.S. elections until 2018. He said on Twitter that he now votes due to the
racial views of Donald Trump Donald Trump, former president of the United States, has a history of speech and actions that have been viewed by scholars and the public as racist or white supremacist. Journalists, friends, family, and former employees have accused him of fue ...
, and that he generally votes for Democratic candidates. On January 20, 2013, he was removed from the stage by the security for refusing to move onto the next song after performing a 30-minute version of "
Words I Never Said "Words I Never Said" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released February 8, 2011, as the second single from his third studio album ''Lasers''. The song was produced by British music producer Alex da Kid and features v ...
", which contains anti-Obama lyrics, in Washington D.C., during Obama's second presidential inauguration. In June 2015, Lupe Fiasco wrote an
open letter An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...
about
white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
.


Discography

* ''
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor ''Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor'' (commonly referred to as ''Food & Liquor'') is the debut studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released on September 19, 2006, on 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. The album features production f ...
'' (2006) * ''
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool ''Lupe Fiasco's The Cool'' (commonly referred as ''The Cool'') is the second studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was released on December 18, 2007, by 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place during ...
'' (2007) * ''
Lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
'' (2011) * '' Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1'' (2012) * ''
Tetsuo & Youth ''Tetsuo & Youth'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. The album was released on January 20, 2015, by 1st & 15th Entertainment and Atlantic Records. ''Tetsuo & Youth'' was supported by the lead single, "Deliver". The albu ...
'' (2015) * ''
Drogas Light ''Drogas Light'' (stylized as ''DROGAS Light'') is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released by 1st and 15th Productions on February 10, 2017. This is also his first album under Thirty Tigers following his departure from Atla ...
'' (2017) * ''
Drogas Wave ''Drogas Wave'' (stylized as ''DROGAS Wave'') is the seventh studio album by American hip hop music, hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released by 1st and 15th Productions and Thirty Tigers on September 21, 2018. This album is a follow-up to h ...
'' (2018) * ''
Drill Music in Zion ''Drill Music in Zion'' is the eighth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Lupe Fiasco, released on June 24, 2022, through 1st & 15th and Thirty Tigers. The album was preceded by two singles, "Autoboto" and "Drill Music in Zion". Ba ...
'' (2022)


Filmography


Television


Awards

In 2006, Lupe was named one of GQ's Men of the Year along with being awarded one Grammy in 2008 along with 12 nominations. He has been nominated for numerous other awards and has also been awarded the Character Approved Award for a Musician by
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 2009.


References


Further reading

* ''Biography Today - Lupe Fiasco'' (2009). Omnigraphics.
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
. .


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiasco, Lupe 1982 births Living people African-American activists 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American rappers African-American businesspeople African-American fashion designers African-American male rappers African-American male singers African-American Muslims African-American record producers African-American rock singers Alternative hip hop musicians American anti-war activists American fashion businesspeople American fashion designers American hip hop record producers American hip hop singers American kendoka American male karateka American music industry executives American wushu practitioners Anti-corporate activists American anti-poverty advocates Atlantic Records artists Businesspeople from Chicago Child Rebel Soldier members Henry Crown Fellows Hip hop activists Midwest hip hop musicians Occupy Wall Street Rappers from Chicago Record producers from Illinois Shoe designers Thirty Tigers artists